Migrating an existing Joomla website from Joomla 3 to Joomla 5 is a much bigger process than a normal Joomla update. Unlike the upgrade from Joomla 4 to Joomla 5, moving from Joomla 3 requires careful preparation, because many extensions, templates, and custom modifications created for Joomla 3 are not compatible with the newer Joomla architecture.
After performing Joomla migrations for many websites, I noticed that most migration problems are not caused by Joomla itself. The most common causes are outdated extensions, unsupported templates, old PHP code, database changes, and server configuration differences.
This guide explains the most common Joomla 3 to Joomla 5 migration problems and practical solutions.


