What does “There has been a critical error on this website” mean?

It is WordPress’s friendly message for a PHP fatal error. Since WordPress 5.2 it replaces the white screen of death and tries to email the site admin with details and a recovery mode link.

Is the white screen of death the same problem?

Usually yes. A blank white page is most often a PHP fatal error with error display switched off. Less often it is a memory limit or a caching layer serving an empty page. The error log tells which one it is.

I did not get the recovery mode email. Why?

The email goes to the admin address set in WordPress, and many servers do not send mail reliably. Check spam, and check which address is set. Without the email, the debug log or server error log shows the same information.

Will I lose content when this is fixed?

Normally not. Posts, pages and orders are in the database, which a critical error does not touch. We still back up files and database before we change anything.

Can I just restore yesterday’s backup?

You can, but you may lose orders, form entries or posts made since then, and the faulty update may run again. Finding the actual error is often faster and keeps your data.

Should I increase the memory limit?

Only if the log says “Allowed memory size exhausted”. Raising it can help, but if a plugin keeps eating memory, the real fix is in that plugin or its settings.

How do I fix the critical error if I cannot log in to wp-admin?

Use the recovery mode link in the email WordPress sent to the admin address. Without that email, rename the wp-content/plugins folder through SFTP or your host’s file manager. That deactivates every plugin at once. Log in, rename it back and re-enable the plugins one by one.

Does a critical error mean my site was hacked?

Usually not. In most cases it is a plugin, theme or PHP problem. If the error log points to files you do not recognise, or you see admin users you did not create, treat it as a security problem and let someone look at it before you restore anything.

WordPress critical error

“There has been a critical error on this website”: how to fix it

The short answer

Your site is not gone. One piece of code, usually a plugin or theme, crashed and WordPress stopped the page. Your content is normally untouched, and the error log names the culprit.

Get it fixed

Backup before every change
Fixed price before we start
Remote, anywhere in the world
Free first diagnosis

The usual order of suspects: a plugin or theme update that went wrong, then a PHP version the code no longer supports, then a memory limit that is too low. A half-finished core update or a typo in functions.php come next. WordPress often emails the exact file and line to the admin address, with a recovery mode link. With that line in hand the fix is usually quick and rarely needs a full restore.

Sound familiar?

How the WordPress critical error appears

The site shows “There has been a critical error on this website. Please check your site admin email inbox for instructions.”
You see a completely blank white page, with no error text at all
wp-admin shows the same error, or only the front end is broken
The problem started right after a plugin, theme, WordPress or PHP update, or after editing code
You received an email titled “Your Site is Experiencing a Technical Issue”

Causes

What causes the WordPress critical error?

A plugin or theme throws a fatal error

One function call that fails, such as a missing class or a function declared twice, stops the whole request. This is by far the most common cause.

PHP version mismatch

Your host upgraded PHP, for example to 8.x, and older plugin or theme code uses functions that no longer exist. Or a new plugin needs a newer PHP than your server runs.

PHP memory limit reached

A heavy page builder, import or plugin needs more memory than allowed, and PHP stops with “Allowed memory size exhausted”.

Core files damaged by a failed update

An update that timed out or ran out of disk space leaves WordPress core half replaced, with missing or mixed-version files.

A broken edit to functions.php

A missing semicolon or bracket in the theme editor or a code snippet is enough to make every page fail.

An incompatible plugin update

Two plugins, or a plugin and your theme, no longer work together after one of them is updated, often around WooCommerce or page builders.

Try it yourself

Fixing a WordPress critical error yourself

If you own the site, these steps are safe to try. Make a backup first if your host offers one.

1 Check the admin email inbox, including spam, for “Your Site is Experiencing a Technical Issue”. It names the plugin or theme and contains a recovery mode link that lets you log in and deactivate it.
2 Think about what changed just before: an update, a new plugin, a PHP version switch at your host or a code edit. Undoing that change is often the fix.
3 Enable debugging: in wp-config.php set WP_DEBUG and WP_DEBUG_LOG to true and WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY to false. Reload the page and read wp-content/debug.log for the “PHP Fatal error” line with file name and line number.
4 Via SFTP or the file manager, rename the folder of the plugin named in the error, or the whole wp-content/plugins folder, to disable plugins. If the site returns, re-enable them one by one.
5 If the error points to your theme, rename the theme folder so WordPress falls back to a default theme such as Twenty Twenty-Four, if one is installed.
6 In your hosting panel, check the PHP version. If it changed recently, switching back temporarily can bring the site up while the code is updated.
7 Turn WP_DEBUG off again when you are done, so error details are not shown to visitors.

Our approach

How we fix a WordPress critical error

1

You describe the error

Send the form or start a chat with what you see and when it began. We tell you which access we need.
2

A backup comes first

We copy all files and the database before changing anything, so nothing is lost and every step can be reversed.
3

We trace the fatal error and quote

We read the PHP error log to find the exact file and line, identify the plugin, theme or setting behind it, and send you a fixed price.
4

We fix, test and report

Once you agree, we fix it, check the front end, wp-admin and key forms or checkout, and send a short report of the cause and the changes.

What we need

What we need from you

Login for your hosting control panel, or SFTP/SSH access
A WordPress administrator login, if wp-admin still loads
The recovery mode email or error text, if you have it
What changed just before the error: updates, new plugins, code edits or a PHP switch

We ask only for the access we need, preferably a separate account or key for us, which you can remove as soon as we are finished.

What we cannot fix

We cannot fix bugs inside a commercial plugin or theme that only its developer can change, problems caused by an outage at your host, or sites we cannot get file access to. If a plugin is the cause, we can usually work around it by rolling back, replacing or isolating it, and we tell you plainly if that is not possible.

Price

Price and what happens next

1

Free diagnosis

We find the cause and tell you what is wrong.
2

Fixed price

You get a price and a time estimate. Nothing starts without your yes.
3

Fixed and reported

We repair it, test it and send a short report.

From €295 excl. VAT

Fixed price, agreed before we start

Is it urgent? Say so in the form or in the chat. We start as soon as we can and give you a realistic time estimate with the quote. If priority work costs extra, you see that in the quote before you agree.

Get it fixed

Questions?

WordPress critical error: frequently asked questions

Also see

Tell us what is wrong

Answer a few short questions. You get a fixed price before we do anything.

On which platform are you experiencing the problem?

Website App Software

“There has been a critical error on this website”: how to fix it

How the WordPress critical error appears

What causes the WordPress critical error?

A plugin or theme throws a fatal error

PHP version mismatch

PHP memory limit reached

Core files damaged by a failed update

A broken edit to functions.php

An incompatible plugin update

Fixing a WordPress critical error yourself

How we fix a WordPress critical error

You describe the error

A backup comes first

We trace the fatal error and quote

We fix, test and report

What we need from you

What we cannot fix

Price and what happens next

Free diagnosis

Fixed price

Fixed and reported

WordPress critical error: frequently asked questions

Related problems

HTTP error 500

Broken after an update

Website down

Tell us what is wrong