Fix the ‘There has been a critical error on this website’ error
Definitions
The ‘There has been a critical error on this website’ message indicates an error with a plugin, theme, or WordPress version update. Here is a visual example of the ‘There has been a critical error’ message:
Before you start
✅ The ‘critical error’ message is nearly always due to a bad plugin, theme, or WordPress version update.
ℹ️ Check your email for details about the WordPress component that triggered the error.
🚨 The quickest fix for the critical error is to perform a data restore of your website.
Step by step
In nearly all cases, the ‘There has been a critical error on this website’ is caused by a plugin or theme.
Check for a plugin error
1. Open this guide: Check your website error log and apply common fixes
2. In that guide, follow all the steps under ‘Check your website error log‘
3. Once in your error log, use that same guide to ‘Identify a plugin error‘
4. If you find a plugin error, complete the ‘Fix a plugin error‘ steps
Check for a theme error
1. Open this guide: Check your website error log and apply common fixes
2. In that guide, follow all the steps under ‘Check your website error log‘
3. Once in your error log, use that same guide to ‘Identify a theme error‘
4. If you find a theme error, complete the ‘Fix a theme error‘ steps
Restore your website from backups
Restoring from backups is the quickest way to get your website operational again.
- Go to this guide: Restore your data from backups
Always start by restoring your website files, and if the issue persists, proceed to restore your database.