{"id":4788,"date":"2019-12-02T10:14:05","date_gmt":"2019-12-02T10:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/?p=4788"},"modified":"2024-11-21T10:06:05","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T10:06:05","slug":"fix-the-is-its-parent-directory-writable-by-the-server-wordpress-error","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/tutorials\/fix-the-is-its-parent-directory-writable-by-the-server-wordpress-error","title":{"rendered":"How to fix the &#8220;is its parent directory writable by the server?&#8221; Error in WordPress"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This article will teach you how to resolve the &ldquo;Is its parent directory writable by the server?&rdquo; error. It&rsquo;s a common WordPress problem that prevents you from uploading files to your website.<\/p><p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/assets.hostinger.com\/content\/tutorials\/pdf\/Mega-WordPress-Cheat-EN.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Download all-in-one WordPress cheat sheet<\/a><\/p><p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-to-fix-is-its-parent-directory-writable-by-the-server-error-on-web-hosting\">How to Fix &ldquo;Is its parent directory writable by the server?&rdquo; Error on Web Hosting<\/h2><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1082\" height=\"144\" src=\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/06\/is-its-parent-directory-writable-by-the-server-error-example.png\/public\" alt='The example of \"Is its parent directory writable by the server?\" issue.' class=\"wp-image-4812\" srcset=\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/06\/is-its-parent-directory-writable-by-the-server-error-example.png\/w=1082,fit=scale-down 1082w, https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/06\/is-its-parent-directory-writable-by-the-server-error-example.png\/w=150,fit=scale-down 150w, https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/06\/is-its-parent-directory-writable-by-the-server-error-example.png\/w=300,fit=scale-down 300w, https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/06\/is-its-parent-directory-writable-by-the-server-error-example.png\/w=768,fit=scale-down 768w, https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/06\/is-its-parent-directory-writable-by-the-server-error-example.png\/w=1024,fit=scale-down 1024w, https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/06\/is-its-parent-directory-writable-by-the-server-error-example.png\/w=990,fit=scale-down 990w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1082px) 100vw, 1082px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><p>The error can happen due to incorrect permissions, ownerships, or the location of the <strong>uploads<\/strong> folder. Regardless of the cause, we&rsquo;re here to show you how to fix this error quickly.<\/p><p>There are two methods of resolving the issue on web hosting &mdash; by changing the directory path and permissions of the <strong>uploads<\/strong> folder.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-1-changing-the-uploads-folder-directory\">1. Changing the Uploads Folder Directory<\/h3><p>Sometimes, the &ldquo;<strong>Is its parent directory writable by the server?<\/strong>&rdquo; issue occurs because WordPress can&rsquo;t recognize the location of the <strong>uploads<\/strong> folder.<\/p><p>You might face the problem after you have just moved your site to another hosting provider. To fix it, you need to modify your WordPress config file:<\/p><ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Access your hosting file manager or FTP, and search for the<strong> wp-config.php<\/strong> file. It is commonly located in the root folder of your website (<strong>\/public_html<\/strong>).<\/li>\n<\/ol><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/Screenshot-2022-11-14-at-18.20.47.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/Screenshot-2022-11-14-at-18.20.47.png\/public\" alt=\"Hosting file manager or FTP, search for the wp-config.php file\" class=\"wp-image-68706\" srcset=\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/Screenshot-2022-11-14-at-18.20.47.png\/w=1024,fit=scale-down 1024w, https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/Screenshot-2022-11-14-at-18.20.47.png\/w=300,fit=scale-down 300w, https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/Screenshot-2022-11-14-at-18.20.47.png\/w=150,fit=scale-down 150w, https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/Screenshot-2022-11-14-at-18.20.47.png\/w=768,fit=scale-down 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div><ol start=\"2\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Open the file and add the following code:<\/li>\n<\/ol><pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">&nbsp;define( 'UPLOADS', 'wp-content\/uploads' );<\/pre><p>before this line:<\/p><pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">require_once(ABSPATH . 'wp-settings.php');<\/pre><ol start=\"3\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Save the file. Now, try to upload your media files again.<\/li>\n<\/ol><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-2-changing-folder-permissions\">2. Changing Folder Permissions<\/h3><p>If you still get the &ldquo;<strong>Is its parent directory writable by the server?<\/strong>&rdquo; error after following<strong> Method 1<\/strong>, you might want to try resetting the permissions of your<strong> uploads<\/strong> folder.<\/p><p>Simply follow the instructions below:<\/p><ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Connect to your account via an <a href=\"\/tutorials\/what-is-ftp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">FTP client<\/a> or file manager. Go to the WordPress installation directory &mdash; commonly in<strong> \/public_html<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Open the <strong>wp-content folder<\/strong> and right-click on the <strong>uploads<\/strong> folder.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Click on <strong>File Permissions<\/strong>. A new dialogue box will pop up. Look for the<strong> Numeric Value<\/strong> field and enter <strong>755<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Scroll down and make sure the <strong>Recurse into subdirectories<\/strong> box is checked.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Select <strong>Apply to directories only<\/strong> and click <strong>OK<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol><p>By performing this method, you will reset the permissions of the<strong> uploads<\/strong> folder and its subfolders to <strong>755<\/strong>.<\/p><p>The number means the owner of the file can read, write, and execute the file. This is important to allow the directory to be writable. Hence, fixing the &ldquo;<strong>Is its parent directory writable by the server?<\/strong>&rdquo; error.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a class=\"hgr-tutorials-cta hgr-tutorials-cta-wordpress-hosting\" href=\"\/wordpress-hosting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/New-WP_in-text-banner.png\/public\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-111781\" srcset=\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/New-WP_in-text-banner.png\/w=2048,fit=scale-down 2048w, https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/New-WP_in-text-banner.png\/w=300,fit=scale-down 300w, https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/New-WP_in-text-banner.png\/w=1024,fit=scale-down 1024w, https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/New-WP_in-text-banner.png\/w=150,fit=scale-down 150w, https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/New-WP_in-text-banner.png\/w=768,fit=scale-down 768w, https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/New-WP_in-text-banner.png\/w=1536,fit=scale-down 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-to-fix-is-its-parent-directory-writable-by-the-server-error-on-vps\">How to Fix &ldquo;Is its parent directory writable by the server?&rdquo; Error on VPS<\/h2><p>If your WordPress site is <a href=\"\/vps-hosting\">hosted on VPS<\/a>, you can try the following solution to fix &ldquo;<strong>Is its parent directory writable by the server?<\/strong>&rdquo; error. However, note that this method only works for <strong>Linux<\/strong> running on <strong>Apache<\/strong> webserver.<\/p><p>Before we begin, let&rsquo;s understand some basics.&nbsp; By default, your Apache <a href=\"\/tutorials\/what-is-a-web-server\">web server<\/a> uses the <strong>www-data user<\/strong> and <strong>www-data group<\/strong> to access files and folders.<\/p><p>However, there is a possibility that the uploads folder is not owned by<strong> www-data<\/strong>. This situation leads to the &ldquo;<strong>Is its parent directory writable by the server?<\/strong>&rdquo; issue.<\/p><p>What you need to do is change the owner of the uploads directory to <strong>www-data<\/strong>:<\/p><ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Connect to your VPS via SSH. You can learn how to do so in our <a href=\"\/tutorials\/how-to-use-putty-ssh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SSH tutorial<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Navigate to the <strong>wp-content<\/strong> folder inside your WordPress installation directory. <pre>cd public_html\/wp-content<\/pre> <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Change the owner and group of the uploads folder to <strong>www-data<\/strong> by <a href=\"\/tutorials\/linux-chown-command\/\">running the chown command<\/a>: <pre>chown -R www-data:www-data uploads<\/pre><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Just like on web hosting, the default permissions for the uploads folder might be incorrect. Therefore, while you are inside the <strong>wp-content <\/strong>folder, you may run the following command: <pre>chmod 755 -R uploads<\/pre> <p>It will set permissions for plugins and all subdirectories inside it to <strong>755<\/strong>.<\/p><\/li>\n<\/ol><p>Note that you can <a href=\"\/tutorials\/vps\/change-linux-permissions-and-owners\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">change Linux folder ownerships and permissions<\/a> via the command line even further.<\/p><p>The solution above might not work if you switched over to a new hosting provider, as configurations between hosting services may vary.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-conclusion\">Conclusion<\/h2><p>The &ldquo;<strong>Is its parent directory writable by the server?<\/strong>&rdquo; issue can be frustrating because it won&rsquo;t allow you to upload files to your WordPress site. Thankfully, in this article, you have learned the various solutions to this error on web hosting and VPS.<\/p><p>The most common method is to change the owners and permissions of the uploads folder. If this option doesn&rsquo;t work, you may want to modify the uploads directory or the <strong>wp-config.php<\/strong>&nbsp;file.<\/p><p>Hopefully, by following this guide, you can quickly fix the issue. Good luck!<\/p><p>\n\n\n<div class=\"protip\">\n                    <h4 class=\"title\">Suggested Reading<\/h4>\n                    <p>Check out the following tutorials to learn how to solve more WordPress errors.<br>\n<a href=\"\/tutorials\/debug-wordpress\" target=\"&rdquo;_blank&rdquo;\" rel=\"noopener\">How to Debug WordPress<\/a><br>\n<a href=\"\/tutorials\/how-to-fix-500-internal-server-error-in-wordpress\" target=\"&rdquo;_blank&rdquo;\" rel=\"noopener\">How to Fix 500 Internal Server Error<\/a><br>\n<a href=\"\/tutorials\/http-error-when-uploading-images-to-wordpress\" target=\"&rdquo;_blank&rdquo;\" rel=\"noopener\">How to Fix HTTP Error When Uploading Images to WordPress<\/a><br>\n<a href=\"\/tutorials\/wordpress-not-sending-email\" target=\"&rdquo;_blank&rdquo;\" rel=\"noopener\">How to Fix WordPress Not Sending Emails<\/a><br>\n<a href=\"\/tutorials\/how-to-fix-there-has-been-a-critical-error-on-your-website\" target=\"&rdquo;_blank&rdquo;\" rel=\"noopener\">How to Fix a Critical Error<\/a><br>\n<a href=\"\/tutorials\/wordpress-broken-permalinks\" target=\"&rdquo;_blank&rdquo;\" rel=\"noopener\">How to Fix Broken Permalinks in WordPress<\/a><br>\n<\/p>\n                <\/div>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article will teach you how to resolve the &ldquo;Is its parent directory writable by the server?&rdquo; error. It&rsquo;s a [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"\/tutorials\/fix-the-is-its-parent-directory-writable-by-the-server-wordpress-error\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4934,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_title":"How to Fix \"Is its parent directory writable by the server?\"","rank_math_description":"Read this article to learn how to fix the \"Is its parent directory writable by the server?\" issue in WordPress using three simple methods.","rank_math_focus_keyword":"is its parent directory writable by the server","footnotes":""},"categories":[22640,22637],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-security-and-maintenance","category-wordpress"],"hreflangs":[{"locale":"en-US","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/fix-the-is-its-parent-directory-writable-by-the-server-wordpress-error","default":0},{"locale":"pt-BR","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/br\/tutoriais\/erro-de-permissoes-wordpress","default":0},{"locale":"en-UK","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/uk\/tutorials\/fix-the-is-its-parent-directory-writable-by-the-server-wordpress-error","default":0},{"locale":"en-MY","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/my\/tutorials\/fix-the-is-its-parent-directory-writable-by-the-server-wordpress-error","default":0},{"locale":"en-PH","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/fix-the-is-its-parent-directory-writable-by-the-server-wordpress-error","default":0},{"locale":"pt-PT","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/pt\/tutoriais\/erro-de-permissoes-wordpress","default":0},{"locale":"en-IN","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/in\/tutorials\/fix-the-is-its-parent-directory-writable-by-the-server-wordpress-error","default":0},{"locale":"en-CA","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ca\/tutorials\/fix-the-is-its-parent-directory-writable-by-the-server-wordpress-error","default":0},{"locale":"en-AU","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/au\/tutorials\/fix-the-is-its-parent-directory-writable-by-the-server-wordpress-error","default":0},{"locale":"en-NG","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ng\/tutorials\/fix-the-is-its-parent-directory-writable-by-the-server-wordpress-error","default":0}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4788"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119037,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4788\/revisions\/119037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}