How to Fix “There Has Been a Critical Error on This Website” in WordPress
You update a plugin, hit refresh, and instead of your homepage, you’re staring at a single, unhelpful line: “There has been a critical error on this website.” No details. No dashboard. Just a wall of white and one cryptic sentence.
Take a breath; this is one of the most common WordPress errors, and it’s almost always fixable without touching a line of code. Since WordPress 5.2, this message has replaced the old “White Screen of Death,” and its job is simple: it appears whenever PHP encounters a fatal error it can’t recover from, usually due to a plugin conflict, a broken theme, or an update that didn’t go as planned.
Below is the troubleshooting order that resolves it fastest, starting with the easiest fix.
WP_ALLOW_MULTISITE Configuration Code to the wp-config.php FileWhat Causes This Error?
Before diving into fixes, it helps to know what’s actually happening behind the scenes. WordPress runs on PHP, and when a piece of code, a plugin function, a theme file, or a core file throws an error the software can’t handle mid-execution, PHP stops the entire process. Rather than showing a blank page (the old behavior), modern WordPress catches that crash and displays this message instead.
The most common triggers are:
· A plugin update that’s incompatible with your PHP version or another plugin
· A theme conflict, often after a theme or WordPress core update
· A manual code edit with a typo (missing semicolon, unclosed bracket)
· The server is running out of allocated memory
· Corrupted core files from an interrupted update
· Before You Start: Back Up Your Site
If you have any way to access your site's FTP, hosting File Manager, or a backup plugin, take a backup now, before making any changes. Most of the fixes below are safe and reversible, but it costs nothing to have a fallback, and it means you can experiment freely without risking your content.
Also, change one thing at a time and reload the site after each step. It’s tempting to disable everything at once, but then you won’t know which fix actually worked.
1. Check Your Email First
This step is the one most people skip, and it’s often the fastest resolution. When the critical error happens, WordPress usually sends the site administrator an email (check spam if it’s not in the inbox) containing a recovery mode link.
Clicking that link logs you into wp-admin with the problematic plugin or theme automatically paused, so you can see and fix the issue from inside the dashboard, no FTP or file editing needed.
2. Turn on Debug Mode to See the Real Error
No email, or do you want to know exactly what broke? WordPress has a built-in debug logger that names the exact file and line number causing the crash.
Add these three lines to your wp-config.php file, just above the line that says /* That’s all, stop editing! */:
define( ‘WP_DEBUG’, true );
define( ‘WP_DEBUG_LOG’, true );
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define( ‘WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY’, false );
Reload the site, then open wp-content/debug.log. It will point directly to the plugin or theme file responsible, so instead of guessing, you’ll know exactly what to disable.
3. Deactivate All Plugins
If the error started after a plugin update, this is usually the fix. Connect via FTP or your host’s File Manager, navigate to wp-content, and rename the plugins folder to something like plugins-disabled.
If the site loads again, you’ve confirmed a plugin caused it. Rename the folder back to plugins, then rename each plugin’s individual subfolder one at a time, reloading the site after each until you find the one that breaks it.
No FTP access? You can do the same thing through phpMyAdmin: open the wp_options table, find the row where option_name is active_plugins, and change its value to a:0{}. This deactivates every plugin without touching any files.
4. Try a Default Theme
If your plugins check out fine, the theme is the next suspect. Via FTP, rename your active theme’s folder. WordPress will automatically fall back to a default theme, such as Twenty Twenty-Four, if one is installed. If the site comes back online, your theme was the cause; check for an update or contact its developer.
5. Increase the PHP Memory Limit
Sometimes the site runs out of memory allocated to PHP. Add this line to wp-config.php:
define( ‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘256M’ );
This raises the ceiling and can resolve crashes caused by memory-intensive plugins, large imports, or media-heavy pages.
6. Regenerate Your .htaccess File
A corrupted .htaccess file can also trigger this error. Rename the existing file (don’t delete it yet), then log into wp-admin, go to Settings → Permalinks, and click Save. WordPress will automatically generate a fresh. htaccess file
7. Re-upload WordPress Core Files
If nothing above has worked, the core files themselves may be corrupted, often from an interrupted update. Download a fresh copy of WordPress from wordpress.org, then replace the wp-admin and wp-includes folders on your server.
Important: never touch the wp-content folder or your wp-config.php file during this process. That’s where your themes, plugins, uploads, and site configuration actually live.
8. Restore a Backup or Contact Your Host
If you’ve worked through every step above and the site still won’t load, restoring your most recent backup is the fastest way to get back online. If a backup isn’t available or isn’t recent enough, reach out to your hosting provider; most hosts, especially managed WordPress hosts, can pull server error logs and identify the exact cause within minutes.
9. Frequently Asked Questions
Does this error delete my website’s content? No. The critical error is a display-layer crash, not data loss. Your database, media, and files are still there; the site can’t render because PHP hit a fatal error. Fixing the underlying cause brings everything back exactly as it was.
Can I still log into wp-admin when this happens? Often, yes. If the error is caused by something on the front end, the dashboard may still be accessible, which is why checking your email for the recovery mode link is worth trying first.
How do I stop this from happening again? Update plugins and themes one at a time instead of all at once, test major updates on a staging site first if your host offers one, and keep a recent backup on hand. Most critical errors trace back to an update that didn’t get tested against the rest of the site’s setup.
10. Final Thoughts
This error looks alarming, but it’s rarely as serious as it sounds. In most cases, it comes down to one plugin, one theme, or one memory setting, and working through the list above in order will isolate it quickly. The key is patience: change one variable at a time, reload after each step, and keep that backup close until you’ve confirmed the site is stable again.
