{"id":31717,"date":"2021-06-01T06:02:08","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T06:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"\/tutorials\/?p=31717"},"modified":"2026-03-09T19:19:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T19:19:16","slug":"how-to-fix-wordpress-critical-error","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/ng\/tutorials\/how-to-fix-wordpress-critical-error","title":{"rendered":"There has been a critical Error on this website: 7 quick fixes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Encountering the “There has been a critical error on your website<\/strong>” message can be concerning for WordPress site owners. It may restrict access for users and even prevent entry into the admin panel.<\/p>

Fortunately, resolving this problem can be relatively quick. This article explains what the error message indicates and presents five methods to fix it.<\/p>

Download all-in-one WordPress cheat sheet<\/a><\/p>

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What Does “There Has Been a Critical Error on Your Website” Mean?<\/h2>

Some WordPress errors may block you from accessing the dashboard, displaying the message, “There has been a critical error on this website. Please check your site admin email inbox for instructions.”<\/strong><\/p>

\"There has been a critical error on this website\" message.<\/a><\/figure>

This message means that there’s a fatal PHP error on the site. It occurs when a PHP script stops running and is unable to complete its process.<\/p>

To help its users, WordPress has a feature that detects when a plugin or a theme causes a fatal error and sends a notification to the admin email address. In the email, users receive more details about what is causing the issue.<\/p>

\"Error<\/a><\/figure>

The email also contains a URL to access the site in recovery mode<\/a>. Click the link to safely log in to the WordPress dashboard and fix the issue.<\/p>

If you encounter this WordPress error and don’t see any email notification in your inbox, check your spam folder. However, there may be cases when site owners don’t receive the email and have to locate the issue by themselves.<\/p>

7 Ways to Fix a Critical Error in WordPress<\/h2>

To fix a critical WordPress error, you have first to locate the cause of the problem. The notification email from WordPress provides more details about which file and line of code caused the issue, but don’t worry if you didn’t receive it.<\/p>

There are seven methods to locate and resolve the critical error in your WordPress site.<\/p>

1. Check Error Logs<\/h3>

The first method is by checking the error_log<\/a> file, which stores PHP error information. Use the File<\/strong> Manager<\/strong> of a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) client on your hosting account and go to home<\/strong>\/[username]\/.logs\/error_log_[domain]<\/strong>.<\/p>

The file records four types of PHP errors – warning, notice, parse, and fatal. At the beginning of each log, you’ll see the type of error that was found. If you find a parse or fatal error, you’ll have to fix it.<\/p>

\"Content<\/a><\/figure>

If you can’t locate the error_log<\/strong> file, ask your hosting provider for help. Keep in mind that the error_log<\/strong> file will only be available if you enable PHP error logging. To do so, configure the PHP settings from your hPanel.<\/p>

\"The<\/figure><\/div>

If you still can’t check the error log file, try the following method using the debug mode.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>

2. Debug WordPress<\/h3>

WordPress comes with a built-in debugging system that identifies code errors in the core software, themes, and plugins.<\/p>

To activate the WordPress debug mode<\/a>, open the wp-config.php<\/a> file in your public_html<\/strong> directory. Then, find the following lines:<\/p>

define( 'WP_DEBUG', false );\ndefine( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false );\ndefine( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', false );\ndefine( 'SCRIPT_DEBUG', false );<\/pre>
The “false”<\/strong> values mean that WordPress debug mode is deactivated. Replace “false”<\/strong> with “true”<\/strong> on all lines to activate it.<\/p>
These four lines contain PHP constants. When they’re activated, they perform the following tasks:<\/p>