WordPress has a few particularly frustrating issues that tin completely close downwards your site, but don't provide much guidance about what'due south causing the problem. The "The site is experiencing technical difficulties." fault is 1 such issue.

On its face, it doesn't tell yous much. Fortunately, in most cases, it is actually quite simple to resolve. A few troubleshooting steps should accept it taken care of in no fourth dimension.

In this article, we'll discuss where you lot might see this WordPress error, likewise as what causes it. And then we'll walk you through vi steps for fixing it if it shows up on your own site.

Let'due south jump right in!

An Introduction to the "The Site Is Experiencing Technical Difficulties." WordPress Fault

"The site is experiencing technical difficulties." is a fatal WordPress error. This means that your website will be down, and likely unavailable on both the frontend and backend. For your visitors, it may look like this:

The site is experiencing technical difficulties. error
"The site is experiencing technical difficulties." bulletin on the frontend

On the backend, the message appears like this:

The site is experiencing technical difficulties.
"The site is experiencing technical difficulties." bulletin on the backend

A variation of this mistake in newer WordPress versions reads: "At that place has been a critical error on your website". Hither's how it will appear on the frontend of your site:

critical error visitor
"There has been a disquisitional error on your site" message on the frontend

And hither's the backend view:

critical error admin
"In that location has been a critical mistake on your site" bulletin on the backend.

As y'all can come across, the newer variation is quite similar to the old ane, apart from a slight departure in wording.

Sometimes WordPress will transport an email to the site's administrator, with more than information virtually what may be causing the fault. Still, it's simply as probable that you'll see this message with no explanation regarding why it appeared.

Most of the fourth dimension, this error is the consequence of a plugin or theme conflict. Due to WordPress' open up-source nature, many unlike developers with various coding backgrounds and styles create extensions that users can add on to the platform.

Unfortunately, this means that sometimes plugins and themes from dissimilar developers don't play nicely with i another. When ii tools with conflicting code are both installed on a WordPress site, it tin can lead to a wide range of issues.

In some cases, one or both plugins volition only stop working. Other times, however, this kind of conflict tin issue in a fatal error such as the "The site is experiencing technical difficulties." message.

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How to Gear up the "The Site Is Experiencing Technical Difficulties." WordPress Error (In half dozen Steps)

If you're already familiar with troubleshooting plugin conflicts, resolving the "The site is experiencing technical difficulties." error should exist fairly easy. If not, don't worry. Below, we've included detailed steps for how to tackle this job, likewise as what to do if the problem persists.

Step ane: Check Your Email for a Fatal Error Notification

As we mentioned earlier, in some cases WordPress will send the site'south admin an email containing more information about what may be causing the mistake:

technical difficulties email
Admin email for the "The site is experiencing technical difficulties." error.

This e-mail will include the following fundamental pieces of information that can aid you lot troubleshoot the error faster:

  • The proper noun of the plugin or theme causing the conflict
  • A link to put your site into 'recovery way'

It is possible to troubleshoot the mistake without this information. However, it will require a lot of guesswork to determine which extension is causing the problem. If your site is using a large number of plugins, the procedure can become fourth dimension-consuming.

If you lot're the site'southward admin and the "The site is experiencing technical difficulties." fault message includes the addendum: "Please check your site admin email inbox for instructions", it's best to do and so before proceeding (call back to endeavor your spam folder too). Then follow the instructions for troubleshooting in recovery mode below.

Even so, if you lot're not the site's admin and they can't exist reached, or if your error message doesn't say anything nigh an e-mail, never fear. Yous can still follow the steps for troubleshooting using File Transfer Protocol (FTP) below.

Pace ii: Troubleshoot for a Plugin or Theme Conflict

Due to the nature of WordPress' fatal errors, you won't exist able to access the backend of your site to deactivate the extension that's causing the problem. Depending on whether or not you lot have access to a recovery style link, you'll have ii options for working around this limitation.

Resolving a Conflict in Recovery Manner

If you lot have access to a recovery mode link, click on it. This will accept you to your site's backend, where you lot will be prompted to log in using your WordPress credentials:

recovery mode login to fix "The site is experiencing technical difficulties." error
The Recovery way login folio

You do not accept to use an admin business relationship. If the site'due south administrator wants to ship the recovery mode link to another user and let them to troubleshoot the error, the latter party tin utilise their ain credentials.

It's important to annotation that, while you're working in recovery mode, the fatal error will persist for other users and your site'due south visitors. Only the user who logged in via the recovery mode link volition be able to admission the website usually.

In recovery fashion, the plugins and/or theme that WordPress has identified as causing the error will be paused. They will likewise be identified in a banner notification at the top of the screen.

Click on the link to the Plugins screen to come across the extensions involved in the conflict:

wordpress recovery mode
The WordPress recovery style

Under each plugin and/or theme'due south name, click on Deactivate:

recovery mode plugins
Deactivating a plugin in recovery mode

Then, select Go out Recovery Mode in the admin bar:

exit recovery mode
Exiting recovery style

The problematic extensions will now be deactivated for all users, and your site should be available to everyone again. Of form, you lot'll first want to cheque and make sure that'southward the example. Then you can:

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  • Delete the extension(due south) if they are not necessary for whatever fundamental functionality on your site.
  • Remove the alien plugin or delete the theme and replace it.
  • Contact the plugin or theme'south developer and ask if they can edit the extension'south code to resolve the conflict. And so update and reactivate the new version.
  • Edit the tool's code to resolve the disharmonize yourself, and and so reactivate it.

Particularly if the plugin is popular, you may take skilful luck working with the developer to make the necessary changes. It'southward worth noting, yet, that you'll want to test all potential changes and new extensions on a staging site before implementing them on your alive site.

Determining the Source of the Problem With FTP

If you tin can't access WordPress' recovery mode, y'all can all the same troubleshoot a plugin conflict without access to the backend. To practise so, you'll need an FTP client also as your FTP credentials. You should be able to discover the latter in your hosting account'southward contour:

kinsta ftp credentials
FTP credentials in the MyKinsta dashboard

Log into your site's server via your FTP client, using your FTP credentials. So navigate to wp-content > plugins:

filezilla plugins directory
The Plugins subdirectory in FileZilla

There yous'll observe subdirectories for each of your plugins. If you know which one is causing the problem, right-click on it and select Rename:

filezilla rename plugin
Renaming a plugin in FileZilla

Alter the name of the folder to something like "plugin-name-deactivated". This will prevent WordPress from finding the plugin's files:

filezilla deactivated plugin
A deactivated plugin in FileZilla

The plugin will now be deactivated, and you should exist able to return to your site and admission the backend commonly. You lot tin and then deal with the problematic plugin every bit you lot see fit, according to the options we outlined in the previous department.

If y'all don't know which plugin is responsible for the fatal error, only rename the first 1 in the list. Then render to your site and refresh your browser to see if the effect is resolved. Repeat this process, renaming your plugins 1 at a time, until the mistake goes away.

At that betoken, you'll know that the last plugin yous deactivated is the ane causing the conflict. Y'all can so remove it or contact the programmer accordingly. This same procedure will work for themes, and you'll find the relevant subdirectories in wp-content > themes.

Step iii: Ensure That You're Running a Supported Version of PHP

If your site is back to normal after completing Step two, you can stop here. However, there's a chance that troubleshooting for a plugin or theme conflict will not resolve the "This site is experiencing technical difficulties" error.

If that's the case for you, your next move should be to determine whether your site is using a supported version of PHP. Since WordPress 5.0, the platform no longer supports versions older than 5.half dozen.twenty.

Additionally, the PHP developers themselves no longer provide support for versions older than 7.4.

Y'all should be able to determine which version of PHP your site is using by logging into your hosting account. Kinsta customers will find this information in their MyKinsta dashboards, by clicking on Sites in the sidebar:

mykinsta dashboard sites
Accessing your sites in the MyKinsta dashboard

The PHP version for each of your websites will be listed to the correct:

current php version
Viewing your current PHP version in the MyKinsta dashboard

If you're running an outdated version of PHP, you'll demand to update information technology. The steps for this process may vary based on your hosting provider.

Kinsta customers can simply use our PHP Engine tool. To access information technology, click on the proper noun of the site y'all want to update. And so select the Tools tab:

Modifying your PHP version in the MyKinsta dashboard
Modifying your PHP version in the MyKinsta dashboard

Scroll down until you lot notice the PHP Engine tool. Click on the drop-downwards card labeled Modify, and select the version you wish to upgrade to.

It's recommended that you lot run the latest PHP version available, for both security and performance reasons. Once the update is complete, render to your site to see if the fatal error is resolved.

Stride four: Enable WordPress' Debug Mode

If yous're still seeing the "This site is experiencing technical difficulties" message, you can attempt to diagnose the underlying event by using WordPress debug mode. This is another built-in troubleshooting feature that will reveal any underlying PHP errors.

To enable this feature, you'll need to access your wp-config.php file via FTP, and add the post-obit line of code right before "That's all, stop editing! Happy publishing.":

          define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );        

Salvage and re-upload the file, then return to your site and refresh the page. Peruse the error letters displayed in debug manner, and determine whether whatever of them might exist causing the fatal error. You'll then need to follow troubleshooting steps relevant to that issue.

Information technology's important to note that WordPress isn't meant to be left in debug style permanently. This mode should be used for troubleshooting purposes simply since it makes sensitive information potentially available to anyone.

To plough it off once again, change the status in the wp-config.php code snippet from "true" to false", so save and upload the file again.

Step 5: View Your Server's Error Log

If you don't come across whatever suspicious messages in debug way, y'all tin can also cheque your server's fault log. You should exist able to admission this via your hosting account. Kinsta customers can practise so by selecting the Logs tab in the relevant site's profile:

kinsta error log
Accessing Error Logs in MyKinsta

From the drib-down menu, select error.log. So await for any bug that may be causing the "This site is experiencing technical difficulties" message, and troubleshoot them equally necessary.

Step 6: Contact Your Hosting Provider

If you've exhausted all of the higher up steps, and y'all still haven't been able to eliminate the "This site is experiencing technical difficulties" error in WordPress, then it'due south time to bring in some help. The outcome may lie with your server and be unreachable without assistance from your host.

Therefore, you'll want to contact your hosting provider by whatever means they offer. Kinsta customers can reach our support team 24/7 via conversation, email, or our Contact page.

Summary

"The site is experiencing technical difficulties." error in WordPress can be a frustrating upshot. Vague alerts that give you little indication equally to what's causing the trouble can exist especially hard to ready.

Fortunately, y'all can resolve this particular result in 6 steps or less:

  1. Check your email for a fatal error notification.
  2. Troubleshoot for a plugin or theme conflict.
  3. Ensure that y'all're running a supported version of PHP.
  4. Enable WordPress' debug mode.
  5. View your server's fault log.
  6. Contact your hosting provider.

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