How to Fix the “There Has Been a Critical Error on Your Website” Error in WordPress

The message “There has been a critical error on your website” is a common problem faced by people who use WordPress. This message can block other users from visiting your site, and in some cases, you can’t even get access to the admin panel. 

If you ever encounter this message, you must fix the error immediately, or else other users will get bored of your site and exit the tab. Luckily, there are ways to fix it, and we are giving them to you. But first, let us know what can be the cause of this message.

What Causes the Critical Error in WordPress?

If you have been using WordPress for quite some time now, then you are familiar with the White Screen of Death Error which causes the screen to glitch and turn white. However, it is now replaced with the message of a critical error on your website for the new version. But what causes this kind of error?

Just like the cause of the error on the white screen of death, the critical error on your website has the same cause: your memory has surpassed its limits already, or there is an error on your code, plugins, or theme. But the cause of this error can also be database corruption.

The message is not helpful since it causes panic in the user, and they might not know what to do, but it is also a blessing in disguise since it will be easier for the user to troubleshoot the site and see the real cause of the problem. You can also check other WordPress errors since you might encounter one that causes the error message.

5 Ways to Fix a Critical Error in WordPress

In this article, we will give you five ways to fix WordPress errors that can make your life easier. Keep reading until the end so the next time you encounter the message again, you won’t panic anymore and already know what to do to troubleshoot and fix the problem.

Without further ado, let’s look at how to easily fix the critical error in WordPress and retrieve your website.

• Check log errors

Checking the Log Erro file, which is where they save information about PHP errors, is the first thing you can do to attempt to rectify the error. Four different categories of PHP errors are listed in the file: warning, notice, parse, and fatal. You can see what kind of problem was discovered at the start of each log. It would help if you corrected any parsing or fatal errors that you noticed.

Contact your hosting company if you still have trouble finding the error log file. Remember that if you enable PHP error logging, the error log file will only be accessible. Configure your hPanel’s PHP settings to do this.

If you’re still unable to check the error log file, try the next approach using the second choice.

• Debug WordPress

Did you know that WordPress has a built-in debugging system that identifies code errors in the core software, themes, and plugins? Well, if you didn’t, now you know.

One of the first steps you should take if WordPress is giving you difficulties is to activate debugging. You may utilize the numerous PHP problems appearing on your site while debug mode is enabled to identify their causes.

Refresh your site once the debug mode has been enabled. The details ought to be shown above the error notice.

Your site should resume normal operation once you’ve fixed the problem by the instructions. Once you’ve found a solution, turn off the debug mode by setting the values to “false.”

• Solve any theme or plugin conflicts

The next technique will assist in identifying conflicts between your theme and plugins.

Verify your theme first. Change the active theme to a default one, such as Twenty Twenty, if you have access to the WordPress admin area.

Reload the website once you’ve completed that. If it loads as it should, then there is a conflicting theme present, and you might need to go back to an earlier version of the theme or acquire a new theme altogether.

However, if the error still occurs, you should see if your plugins have a problem.

It’s a similar method to testing your theme. Disable all plugins if you have access to the WordPress admin panel. It would be best if you determined which plugin was at fault to restart them one at a time, refreshing the website each time.

• Restore the site from a backup

Restoring a backup might be a quick and simple solution when WordPress issues appear. Even though it might not always work, it’s worth a try. You might be able to go back and retrace your actions if the issue arises again.

How you back up your website will determine how you recover it. Observe the directions in the documentation if you use a plugin. If your site server offers backups, you can probably do them from your hosting control panel.

Ensure the site is functioning properly on a staging site before restoring it to your live site to ensure you aren’t wiping out all of your hard work.

• Upgrade PHP Version

What is PHP’s memory restriction? WordPress imposes a strict limit on the amount of RAM (also known as memory) that a single PHP script may occupy on your web server. When this limit is exceeded, you’ll encounter the white screen of death or the critical error.

The default setting may be too low, even though you don’t want to make the RAM limit too high and let poorly installed scripts slow your site to a crawl. Your faulty website could be instantaneously fixed by slightly increasing your PHP limit.

PHP 7.4 or later is required for WordPress. The “There has been a serious issue on your website” error can be resolved by updating PHP to version 7.4 or above if you discover that you are running an earlier version of the script.

Navigate to the Advanced -> PHP Configuration section in hPanel. The PHP Version tab should display the current version of PHP. Choose PHP 7.4 or PHP 8.0 and click Save if it supports PHP 7.3 or lower.

 Where to Get WordPress Support If All Else Fails?

You undoubtedly have a serious issue if you’ve tried every possible solution and nothing is working. However, you can always ask your web host for assistance in locating and resolving the problem. You may obtain the assistance you need to restart your website from a reliable web host.