How to Fix “There Has Been a Critical Error on This Website”

In shortCheck your admin email for the “recovery mode” link, find the plugin or theme named in it, and deactivate it. No email? Rename the plugins folder via FTP to switch everything off, then reactivate one by one.

What the error means

WordPress hit a PHP fatal error and stopped loading. Your content is safe — it’s in the database. Something in the code (usually a plugin, theme or PHP version mismatch) broke.

Step 1: Recovery mode email

WordPress emails the site admin a special link that logs you in with the faulty plugin paused. The email usually names the culprit. Check spam too.

Step 2: Turn on debugging

In wp-config.php, set:

define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );
define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true );
define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false );

Reload the site, then open /wp-content/debug.log. The last “PHP Fatal error” line tells you the file and plugin responsible.

Step 3: Disable plugins without the dashboard

Using FTP or your host’s file manager, rename /wp-content/plugins/ to plugins-off. If the site loads, rename it back and deactivate plugins one at a time to find the conflict.

Step 4: Check the theme

Rename the active theme folder. WordPress falls back to a default theme. If that fixes it, the theme (or a child theme edit) is the cause.

Step 5: PHP version and memory

Hosts upgrade PHP regularly. Old plugins may not support PHP 8.x. Check the PHP version in your hosting panel and the error log. For memory errors, raise WP_MEMORY_LIMIT to 256M.

Prevent it next time

• Update plugins one at a time, not all at once.
• Keep automatic backups.
• Use a staging site for big updates.

Related: white screen of death and WooCommerce checkout problems.

Don’t want to touch FTP? I’ll fix the WordPress error for $39, backup first.