Every website owner knows how frustrating it is to encounter errors.
When your website isn’t functioning properly, it’s not only annoying, it can also hurt your business by turning away visitors and hindering sales.
But here’s the good news: most WordPress errors are easier to fix than you think.
At WPBeginner, we’ve helped countless website owners resolve these situations. We’ve encountered (and fixed) almost every error, so we know how to troubleshoot exactly.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through our tried and true WordPress troubleshooting steps. These are the same methods we use to fix our own sites.
What is a WordPress Error and Why Should I Care?
WordPress errors are mistakes or problems that occur on your WordPress website. They can appear as messages, broken pages, or just not functioning properly.
Some of the most common WordPress errors include the “white screen of death,” internal server errors, and database connection issues.
You should be concerned about these errors because they can clutter up your website and make it look unprofessional.
A broken website can turn away visitors, leading to high bounce rates.
Additionally, unresolved errors can affect your website’s performance and security. This can cause slower loading times and introduce potential vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit.
Therefore, it’s crucial to fix WordPress errors quickly. This ensures that your website runs smoothly and that your visitors have a good experience.
How to Fix WordPress Errors
Now that you understand what WordPress errors mean and why they’re important, it’s time to learn how to fix them. Troubleshooting these errors might seem tricky at first, but with the right steps, you’ll be able to handle them with ease.
Here is a brief overview of all the steps we will cover in the following chapters:
- Study your error messages
- Creating a Complete Backup of Your WordPress Site
- Clear your browser cache
- Clear WordPress Cache
- Deactivate all plugins installed on your website
- Switch to the default WordPress theme
- Refresh Permalinks
- Back up and delete the .htaccess file
- Fixing WordPress Site URLs
- Check reading settings
- Troubleshooting Email Issues
- Scan for malware and backdoors
- Bonus: Get better support
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1. Research your error messages
Typically, when you have problems with WordPress, you’ll receive an error message, such as a 404 error, in the tab where you’re trying to access your site.
To learn more about the “page not found” error in the image below, see our guide on how to fix WordPress posts returning a 404 error .
Other times, you may see error messages within the WordPress admin area, such as HTTP errors that may appear in the media library.
Every WordPress error is different. If you receive an error message, it makes more sense to look for specific instructions on how to fix that error rather than general WordPress error troubleshooting information.
Now that you have visited the WPBeginner website, you have found the right way to fix all common WordPress errors. First, you can check out our guide on common WordPress errors and how to fix them .
If your error is not on this list, then the next step is to find an article that mentions the error you are experiencing.
To do this, just type or paste the error message into the search bar at the top of the page. For example, searching for "error establishing a database connection" will bring up a complete guide to fixing database connection errors .
WordPress also comes with a debugging system that logs any error messages displayed on your website. You can read the logs to learn more about the problem you encountered on your WordPress website.
2. Create a full backup of your WordPress website
First of all, the first thing you should do is to create a complete backup of your WordPress website .
Backups allow you to easily restore your WordPress site if something goes wrong. They are your first and most important line of defense against security threats, hacker attacks, and data loss.
If you are already using a WordPress backup plugin, make sure you have a recent backup saved somewhere safe.
Since backups are so important, we recommend creating multiple copies of WordPress backups and storing them in cloud storage like Google Drive or Dropbox.
Some WordPress backup plugins allow you to save your files to multiple locations. For example, Duplicator allows you to choose between different online storage services, including Amazon S3, Dropbox, Google Drive, and more.
If you’re not using a backup plugin yet, then you should start using one now. To help you get started, our experts have hand-picked the best WordPress backup plugins below .
If you currently don’t have access to the admin area of your WordPress site, don’t worry. You can still back up your database and files manually.
3. Clear your browser cache
Many times, your browser may not recognize that a WordPress page or post has changed, so it loads the outdated page from your browser cache. This means you are seeing an older version of the page or post.
If you're seeing outdated content, then you may just need to clear your browser cache. This process will vary depending on your web browser.
4. Clear WordPress Cache
If you’re using a WordPress caching plugin like WP Rocket, then you might be seeing a cached version of your site.
Some of the top WordPress hosting companies , such as Bluehost , also have caching software built in. This will cause you to see a cached version of your site even if you don’t have a caching plugin installed.
So, if your website is showing outdated content, you might just need to clear your WordPress cache.
5. Deactivate all plugins installed on your website
Typically, errors are caused by conflicts between plugins, between themes, or within WordPress core.
The easiest way to fix these errors is to deactivate all WordPress plugins. You can then reactivate those plugins one by one and see when the error occurs again.
If you have access to the admin area of your WordPress site, then you can go directly to the plugins page.
First, select all plugins, then choose Deactivate from the Bulk Actions drop-down menu.
Then, you need to click on the Apply button to deactivate all selected plugins.
Certain errors may prevent you from accessing the WordPress admin area. If this happens, you can deactivate the plugin using FTP.
First, you need to connect to your WordPress hosting files using an FTP client.
If you haven’t used FTP before, then see our guide on how to upload files to WordPress using FTP .
Once done, let's wp-contentopen the folder in our FTP client.
Here you will see a folder called plugins.
You can now Control-click or right-click this folder and select Rename.
Once you are done, you need to rename this folder to plugin.deactivateThis will deactivate all WordPress plugins.
For more detailed instructions, you can check out our article on how to deactivate all plugins when you can’t access wp-admin .
After deactivating the plugin, just check if the problem is still occurring on your website or WordPress blog. If your website is now functioning fine, then you know for sure that the issue was with the plugin.
Now you can simply reactivate your plugins one by one to see when the problem occurs again.
To do this, you need to go back to Plugins » Installed Plugins . Now you can find the plugin you want to reactivate and click on its Activate link.
Once the problem recurs, you will know which plugin is causing the problem. You can then uninstall that WordPress plugin and look for another one to replace it.
6. Switch to the default WordPress theme
Sometimes your WordPress theme can cause issues with your website. To determine if the problem is caused by your theme, you can try switching to a default WordPress theme such as Twenty Twenty-One or Twenty-Twenty Two.
These themes are built by the official WordPress team. This means they are less likely to cause conflicts or have bugs than other third-party themes.
To switch to the default WordPress theme, go to Appearance » Themes .
You can then hover your mouse over any of the default themes.
Then, just click the Activate button.
If you are unable to log into the admin area of your WordPress site, you can switch to the default theme using FTP.
First, let's connect to your website using an FTP client. Once that's done, you can go to /wp-content/themes/your folder.
In this folder, you will see all the themes installed on your WordPress site.
Before making any changes, it’s a good idea to download a copy of your current theme. This will make it easier to restore your theme once your testing is complete.
To download the theme you are currently using, simply locate the folder containing the theme's name. Then Control-click or right-click the folder.
After that we will select "Download".
Once you have downloaded this folder, you can go ahead and delete all themes within your FTP client except for the default WordPress themes (such as Twenty Twenty-Two).
Since your active theme is no longer available, WordPress will automatically switch to using the default theme.
If this resolves the error, then you’ll know that your theme was causing the problem.
If so, we recommend that you look for a new theme for your WordPress site.
If this doesn't fix the problem, you can restore your original theme. The easiest way to do this is to use the copy you downloaded to your computer. For more detailed instructions, see our guide on uploading files to WordPress using FTP .
7. Refresh Permanent Links
WordPress uses an SEO-friendly URL structure. However, this permalink structure may not be updated or set up properly, causing unexpected 404 errors on your website.
If you are getting 404 errors, you can try regenerating your links, which will rebuild and fix your permalink structure. You can do this with the click of a button without changing anything on your WordPress site.
To regenerate your permalinks, you need to go to Settings » Permalinks .
Now, just scroll to the very bottom of this page and click “Save Changes.”
After a few moments, you should see a message confirming that WordPress has updated your permalink structure.
8. Back up and delete .htaccess files
Are you experiencing an internal server error? .htaccessThis could be caused by corrupted files.
.htaccessThe easiest way to repair the file is to delete it. Once you’ve done that, WordPress will .htaccessautomatically create a new file.
To delete your current .htaccess file, you will need to connect to your website using an FTP client. You should then be able to find it in the root directory of your website.
To get to this root directory, simply open the folder that says your website's name.
Then go ahead and open public_htmlthe folder.
You should now .htaccesssee your files in that folder.
If you don’t see it .htaccess, your FTP client may be set up to hide sensitive files. For more information, see our article “ Understanding and configuring the .htaccess file in WordPress ”.
Before you do anything, it's a good idea to create .htaccessa copy of your current file. That way, if anything goes wrong, you can easily restore the original file.
To download .htaccessa file, click it and select Download.
Once you are done, you can go ahead and .htaccessdelete the original file in the FTP window. After that, simply navigate to Settings»Permalinks» in your WordPress admin area.
Finally, click on the ‘Save Changes’ button. WordPress will now .htaccesscreate a new file for your website.
9. Fix WordPress Site URLs
If your “WordPress Address” and “Site Address” options are set incorrectly, it can cause redirect issues, 404 errors, and other common problems.
To review your URL settings, let’s go to Settings » General .
On this page, find the fields for “WordPress Address (URL)” and “Website Address (URL)” You need to make sure that both URLs are exactly the same.
If you don't have access to the administration area of your WordPress site, you can change these URLs using FTP.
Once you have connected to your site using an FTP client, there are two ways to access these URLs.
Update the WordPress URL and Site URL settings in the wp-config.php file
Using this method, you’ll add some code to your site’s wp-config.php file.
You will find this file in the root folder of your website and in other folders, wp-contente.g.
Once you find this file, click on it and select View/Edit.
This will open the file in your computer's default text editor (such as Notepad).
In this file you need to find the following line:
/* That's all, stop editing! Happy blogging. */
Before this line, let's add the following code:
define('WP_HOME', 'http://example.com');
define('WP_SITEURL', 'http://example.com');
Don’t forget example.comto replace the domain name with your own. You can then save the changes and upload the file back to your server.
Update URLs using functions.php file
You can also update these URLs using your theme’s functions.php file.
In your FTP client, you need to go to this wp-content/themes/folder. Then, let's open the folder of the currently active theme and find its functions.phpfiles.
functions.phpNext, all you have to do is click on the file and select "View/Edit." This will open the file in your computer's default text editor .functions.php
Just add the following lines to the bottom of your functions file:
01.update_option( 'siteurl', 'http://example.com');02.update_option( 'home', 'http://example.com');
You should now be able to access your WordPress admin area.
Once logged in, go to Settings » General . You should now be able to change your WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL) by following the same process as above.
Once you are done, you functions.phpcan simply delete the code you added to the file. Simply functions.phpopen the file as described above, and then delete the code.
10. Check reading settings
If you follow WordPress SEO best practices , then search engines like Google should automatically find your website.
However, sometimes newly created WordPress sites don’t show up in search engine results. This could be because your site is hidden from search engines.
To check your site's settings, go to Settings » Reading .
From here, you’ll need to scroll down to the bottom of the page and make sure the box next to “Search Engine Visibility” is unchecked.
This option prevents search engines from indexing your site.
This setting is often used by website owners who run their own website and do not want their content to appear in search results.
However, you might accidentally check this setting and forget about it.
If you want your site to appear in search results, make sure this option is unchecked and click “Save Changes.”
If you’re still developing your website, consider creating a “coming soon” page. A well-designed “coming soon” page can generate buzz for your website and even serve as a lead generation tool.
11. Troubleshooting Email Issues
Some WordPress hosting providers do not configure their mail settings correctly. This may result in you and your visitors not being able to receive emails from WordPress.
If you use a contact form plugin, then you will not receive emails when visitors fill out the form.
You also won’t receive any WordPress notifications, including messages about serious security threats or suspicious activity.
The best way to solve this problem is to use an SMTP service provider.
12. Scan for malware and backdoors
Many new WordPress site owners don’t install a security scanner right away, which can cause malware to go unnoticed. This delay can be risky because malicious code can hide on your site and cause damage over time without your knowledge.
If you suspect your WordPress site is infected with malware, you should scan it using security plugins like Sucuri and MalCare. Even if your site hasn’t been hacked yet, learning to scan for threats can help protect your site from future attacks.
💡Expert Tip: Has your WordPress site been hacked? Our WordPress security experts can clean up malicious code, files, and malware to ensure your sensitive data is safe.
Bonus Tip: Get Better Support
By following these troubleshooting steps, you can fix most common WordPress errors. However, if you’re still experiencing issues with your site, you can get support in other ways.
WordPress has a large and helpful community. You can always post in the WordPress support forum to get help from other WordPress users and experts.
When reaching out to the community, it's important to remember that you're asking people to spend their valuable time answering your questions for free. So please:
- Be polite and friendly. No matter how upset or frustrated you are, don't use rude or offensive language.
- Briefly describe your problem. This will help people more easily understand the problem and decide if they need help.
- Describe the troubleshooting steps you've taken so far. This shows that you don't want people to do it for you for free. It also means that people won't waste their time recommending things you've already tried.
- Provide context. You can upload screenshots to a cloud image sharing service and then include a link in your support post. This can help provide more insight into your issue.
You can also hire a WordPress support agency to troubleshoot and fix WordPress errors for you.
Hopefully, this article helped you learn how to troubleshoot WordPress errors. Next, you can check out our ultimate WordPress security guide
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