WordPress has a few particularly frustrating bug that can completely shut down your site, only don't provide much guidance about what's causing the trouble. The "The site is experiencing technical difficulties." error is one such upshot.

On its face, it doesn't tell you lot much. Fortunately, in most cases, it is actually quite simple to resolve. A few troubleshooting steps should have it taken care of in no time.

In this article, we'll discuss where yous might see this WordPress mistake, as well as what causes information technology. So we'll walk you through six steps for fixing it if it shows up on your own site.

Let'southward 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, information technology may await like this:

The site is experiencing technical difficulties. error
"The site is experiencing technical difficulties." message 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 fault in newer WordPress versions reads: "There has been a disquisitional error on your website". Hither's how it volition appear on the frontend of your site:

critical error visitor
"There has been a critical fault on your site" bulletin on the frontend

And hither's the backend view:

critical error admin
"There has been a critical error on your site" message on the backend.

As you can see, the newer variation is quite similar to the old one, apart from a slight difference in diction.

Sometimes WordPress will send an email to the site's ambassador, with more data near what may exist causing the error. However, it's simply every bit probable that you'll see this message with no explanation regarding why it appeared.

Almost of the time, this error is the issue of a plugin or theme conflict. Due to WordPress' open-source nature, many different 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 different developers don't play nicely with one another. When two tools with alien code are both installed on a WordPress site, it tin can atomic number 82 to a wide range of issues.

In some cases, ane or both plugins volition simply stop working. Other times, nonetheless, this kind of conflict can result in a fatal fault such as the "The site is experiencing technical difficulties." message.

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

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

Footstep ane: Check Your E-mail for a Fatal Error Notification

As we mentioned earlier, in some cases WordPress volition transport the site'due south admin an email containing more information about what may be causing the error:

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

This email will include the post-obit key pieces of information that tin can assistance you troubleshoot the error faster:

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

It is possible to troubleshoot the fault without this information. However, it volition require a lot of guesswork to make up one's mind which extension is causing the problem. If your site is using a large number of plugins, the procedure can become time-consuming.

If yous're the site'due south admin and the "The site is experiencing technical difficulties." fault bulletin includes the addendum: "Delight bank check your site admin e-mail inbox for instructions", it's best to practice so earlier proceeding (remember to try your spam folder likewise). And then follow the instructions for troubleshooting in recovery way beneath.

Yet, if you're not the site's admin and they can't be reached, or if your error message doesn't say anything about an email, never fright. You lot can still follow the steps for troubleshooting using File Transfer Protocol (FTP) below.

Step 2: Troubleshoot for a Plugin or Theme Disharmonize

Due to the nature of WordPress' fatal errors, yous won't be able to access the backend of your site to deactivate the extension that'southward causing the trouble. Depending on whether or not you have access to a recovery mode link, you'll have two options for working around this limitation.

Resolving a Conflict in Recovery Mode

If you accept access to a recovery mode link, click on it. This volition have you lot 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 mode login page

You lot do non accept to use an admin account. If the site's administrator wants to send the recovery way link to another user and let them to troubleshoot the error, the latter party can use their own credentials.

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

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

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

wordpress recovery mode
The WordPress recovery mode

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

recovery mode plugins
Deactivating a plugin in recovery way

Then, select Exit Recovery Mode in the admin bar:

exit recovery mode
Exiting recovery mode

The problematic extensions volition at present exist deactivated for all users, and your site should be bachelor to everyone once again. Of course, you'll first desire to cheque and make sure that'southward the case. So you can:

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  • Delete the extension(s) if they are not necessary for any key functionality on your site.
  • Remove the conflicting 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. Then update and reactivate the new version.
  • Edit the tool's code to resolve the conflict yourself, and then reactivate it.

Specially if the plugin is popular, you lot may accept adept luck working with the developer to make the necessary changes. It's worth noting, still, that you'll desire to examination all potential changes and new extensions on a staging site earlier implementing them on your live site.

Determining the Source of the Problem With FTP

If yous can't admission WordPress' recovery way, you can even so troubleshoot a plugin conflict without access to the backend. To do and then, you lot'll need an FTP client too equally your FTP credentials. You lot should be able to find the latter in your hosting business relationship's profile:

kinsta ftp credentials
FTP credentials in the MyKinsta dashboard

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

filezilla plugins directory
The Plugins subdirectory in FileZilla

There you'll find subdirectories for each of your plugins. If you know which i is causing the trouble, correct-click on it and select Rename:

filezilla rename plugin
Renaming a plugin in FileZilla

Change the name of the folder to something like "plugin-name-deactivated". This will forbid WordPress from finding the plugin'due south 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 access the backend usually. You can then deal with the problematic plugin as you see fit, according to the options nosotros outlined in the previous section.

If you don't know which plugin is responsible for the fatal error, simply rename the first one in the list. And so render to your site and refresh your browser to run into if the issue is resolved. Echo this process, renaming your plugins ane at a time, until the mistake goes away.

At that signal, you'll know that the terminal plugin you deactivated is the one causing the conflict. You tin can then remove it or contact the programmer appropriately. This same process will work for themes, and yous'll notice the relevant subdirectories in wp-content > themes.

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

If your site is back to normal later completing Step 2, you can stop hither. However, there's a chance that troubleshooting for a plugin or theme conflict volition not resolve the "This site is experiencing technical difficulties" error.

If that'south the case for you, your next move should be to determine whether your site is using a supported version of PHP. Since WordPress v.0, the platform no longer supports versions older than 5.6.20.

Additionally, the PHP developers themselves no longer provide support for versions older than vii.4.

You 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 right:

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

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

Kinsta customers tin only use our PHP Engine tool. To admission it, click on the name of the site you 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

Roll down until you find the PHP Engine tool. Click on the drop-down card labeled Alter, and select the version you wish to upgrade to.

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

Step 4: Enable WordPress' Debug Manner

If you're nonetheless seeing the "This site is experiencing technical difficulties" message, you lot tin attempt to diagnose the underlying issue past using WordPress debug mode. This is another built-in troubleshooting characteristic that volition reveal whatever underlying PHP errors.

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

          define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );        

Save and re-upload the file, and so return to your site and refresh the page. Peruse the error messages displayed in debug mode, and determine whether any of them might be causing the fatal error. You'll then demand to follow troubleshooting steps relevant to that issue.

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

To turn it off again, modify the status in the wp-config.php code snippet from "true" to fake", then save and upload the file again.

Step 5: View Your Server'southward Mistake Log

If y'all don't see any suspicious messages in debug manner, you tin can also check your server's error log. You should exist able to admission this via your hosting account. Kinsta customers can practice and then by selecting the Logs tab in the relevant site's profile:

kinsta error log
Accessing Error Logs in MyKinsta

From the drop-down menu, select error.log. Then wait for any bug that may be causing the "This site is experiencing technical difficulties" message, and troubleshoot them as necessary.

Step 6: Contact Your Hosting Provider

If yous've exhausted all of the to a higher place steps, and y'all still haven't been able to eliminate the "This site is experiencing technical difficulties" fault in WordPress, then it'southward time to bring in some help. The issue may lie with your server and be unreachable without assist from your host.

Therefore, you'll want to contact your hosting provider past whatsoever 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 exist a frustrating issue. Vague alerts that give you fiddling indication as to what'southward causing the problem tin can be especially difficult to fix.

Fortunately, yous tin can resolve this particular issue in six steps or less:

  1. Check your electronic mail for a fatal error notification.
  2. Troubleshoot for a plugin or theme conflict.
  3. Ensure that you lot're running a supported version of PHP.
  4. Enable WordPress' debug manner.
  5. View your server'due south error log.
  6. Contact your hosting provider.

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