Fix “This Site Is Experiencing Technical Difficulties” Error in WordPress (Complete Guide 2025)

If you are staring at the message:

“There has been a critical error on this website. This site is experiencing technical difficulties.”

…you’re not alone. This is one of the most common WordPress errors and usually appears when something breaks unexpectedly.

The good news?
This error looks scary, but it is almost always fixable in a few minutes once you identify what caused it.

In this complete guide, you will learn:

• What triggers the “technical difficulties” error

• How to activate WordPress recovery mode

• What to do if recovery mode does not work

• How to fix plugin conflicts

• How to fix theme conflicts

• How to repair corrupted WordPress core files

• How to fix PHP errors

• How to troubleshoot using logs

• How to contact your hosting provider with the right request

• Advanced fixes for developers

• Preventing this error from happening again

This is a practical, step-by-step tutorial designed for beginners and professionals.

What Causes the Technical Difficulties Error in WordPress?

WordPress shows this error when the PHP engine encounters a fatal error and cannot continue executing the page. Instead of showing a white screen, it displays a friendly error message to avoid confusing visitors.

The most common reasons include:

• A plugin update caused a fatal conflict

• Your active theme contains a bad function

• PHP version mismatch

• Memory limit issues

• Corrupted WordPress core files

• Faulty custom code in functions.php

• Database issues

• Incorrect file permissions

• Malware or injected malicious code

Understanding the cause is the first step toward fixing it.

1. Try WordPress Recovery Mode (If Available)

Starting from WordPress 5.2, the CMS sends an email to the admin address when a fatal error happens. The email includes a link to enter Recovery Mode, which allows you to log in and disable faulty plugins or themes.

Check your email inbox for something like:

“Your Site is Experiencing a Technical Issue”

Click the link → WordPress loads the dashboard and highlights the problematic plugin or theme.

From there, you can deactivate or fix the component causing trouble.

If you didn’t receive the email, move to the next steps.

2. Enable Debug Mode to Reveal the Real Error

Debug mode tells WordPress to display the underlying PHP error instead of only showing the technical difficulties message.

To enable it:

1. Open wp-config.php. To learn more about using WordPress debug mode to identify and fix errors, check out our complete guide on How to Enable WordPress Debug Mode to Find Errors for safe and effective troubleshooting.

2. Add or edit the following lines:

Now refresh your site.

The error will be logged at:
wp-content/debug.log

Open that file and look for entries like:

This log tells you exactly what to fix next.

3. Fix Plugin Conflicts

Most of the time, a plugin update or misconfiguration causes the critical error. For a detailed guide on safely disabling WordPress plugins without accessing the admin area, check out How to Disable WordPress Plugins Without Admin to troubleshoot errors effectively.

If your dashboard is inaccessible:

1. Open your site via FTP or File Manager

2. Navigate to:
   /wp-content/plugins/

3. Rename the entire folder to:
   plugins_old

Now check your site.

If the site loads fine → a plugin is definitely the cause.

To locate the exact plugin:

1. Rename the folder back to plugins

2. Now rename each plugin folder one by one:
   Example:
   woocommerce → woocommerce_off
seo → seo_off

Reload the site after each rename until the error disappears.
Once identified, delete or replace that plugin.

4. Fix Theme Issues

If plugins are not the issue, your theme might be the culprit.

To test this:

1. Go to /wp-content/themes/

2. Rename your active theme folder:
   Example: astra → astra_disabled

3. WordPress will automatically fall back to a default theme like Twenty Twenty-Five. If you need to change your WordPress theme without logging into the dashboard, follow our step-by-step guide on How to Safely Change WordPress Theme via Database for a safe and error-free switch.

If the site now loads → your theme was causing the error.

Next steps:

• Update the theme

• Replace corrupted theme files

• Remove faulty code in functions.php

If you manually added code before the error happened, revert it.

5. Increase PHP Memory Limit

If your error log shows:

Increase the PHP memory limit: For a complete walkthrough on fixing memory issues in WordPress, check out our guide on How to Fix Allowed Memory Size Exhausted Error in WordPress and safely increase your site’s PHP memory limit.

Add this to wp-config.php:

Or add this to .htaccess:

Higher limits like 512M are also fine depending on hosting.

6. Update or Switch PHP Version

Some plugins or themes require newer PHP versions.
Common supported versions in 2025:
PHP 8.1 / PHP 8.2

If your server is still running PHP 7.x or older, update it.

You can change PHP version via:

• cPanel

• Plesk

• CyberPanel

• DirectAdmin

• Hosting provider dashboard

If your site breaks after upgrading, try lowering to PHP 8.0 temporarily.

7. Replace Corrupted WordPress Core Files

Sometimes a WordPress update fails and corrupts core files.

To fix:

1. Download the latest WordPress from wordpress.org

2. Extract it

3. Upload all files via FTP except wp-content

4. Overwrite existing files

This replaces broken files without affecting your content or plugins.

8. Repair the WordPress Database

Corrupted database tables can also trigger the error.

Add this to wp-config.php:

Then open:

Click Repair Database. To learn more about preventing and fixing database issues in WordPress, read our detailed guide on WordPress Database Corruption: Causes, Prevention & Fixes for long-term stability.

After repair, remove the line from wp-config to prevent security risks.

9. Fix Incorrect File Permissions

Incorrect file permissions prevent WordPress from executing code.

Recommended values:

• Files: 644

• Folders: 755

• wp-config.php: 600

You can update these permissions using your hosting File Manager or FTP client.

10. Check for Malware or Hacked Files

If you notice suspicious file names, unknown PHP scripts, or injected code such as:

…your site might be infected. For a step-by-step approach to cleaning your website safely, check out our guide on How to Remove Malware from WordPress Manually and secure your site from future infections.

Steps:

• Scan with your hosting malware scanner

• Delete unknown files inside /wp-content/uploads/ or /wp-includes/

• Reinstall fresh WordPress core

• Change all passwords

If you need professional cleanup, use a malware removal service.

11. Manually Fix Syntax Errors

If you recently edited functions.php or added custom code, look for mistakes such as:

• Missing semicolon

• Extra closing brackets

• Invalid function names

Example of a bad PHP snippet:

Correct version:

Small errors break the entire site.

12. Check Error Logs from Hosting Provider

Your server usually keeps more detailed logs:

• error_log

• php_errors.log

• apache_error.log

• nginx_error.log

You can access these through your hosting control panel.

Look for lines marked as Fatal Error, Parse Error, or Warning.

13. Enable Safe Mode (Advanced)

Some hosting providers offer a Safe Mode feature that temporarily disables PHP extensions, plugins, or themes.

This allows debugging without breaking the site further.

If available, enable it, then troubleshoot normally.

14. Reinstall or Restore Backup

If you don’t want to risk manually troubleshooting or breaking your site, you can get it fixed quickly by using our Emergency WordPress Support Service, where our experts resolve critical errors within hours.

If nothing works, restore a backup created by:

• Your hosting

• UpdraftPlus

• Jetpack Backup

• BlogVault

Always take a new backup before restoring old ones. If you need detailed steps on manually restoring your WordPress site from a backup, follow our guide on How to Restore WordPress Site from Backup Manually to recover your website safely and quickly.

15. When to Contact Hosting Support

Contact your host if:

• WordPress debug logs show server-level issues

• PHP-FPM keeps crashing

• You see “server 500 internal error”

• File permissions keep resetting

• You cannot access the hosting panel at all

Your message should include:

• URL

• Screenshot of error

• Last plugin/theme updated

• PHP version

• Error from debug.log

Hosting support can quickly tell whether the issue is server-side.

How to Prevent the Technical Difficulties Error in the Future

Prevention is better than repair. To ensure you always have a secure backup ready, learn how to automatically back up WordPress to Google Drive by following our guide on How to Backup WordPress to Google Drive Automatically and protect your site from future technical errors.

Follow these practices:

• Use staging sites before updates

• Keep themes and plugins updated

• Avoid nulled plugins or themes

• Use reliable hosting

• Take automatic backups

• Limit unnecessary plugins

• Enable auto-healing and monitoring tools

• Use PHP 8+

• Scan for security threats regularly

These steps significantly reduce the chance of future crashes.

FAQs

1. What does “This Site Is Experiencing Technical Difficulties” mean?

It means WordPress encountered a fatal PHP error and cannot execute the page normally.

2. Why did this error suddenly appear?

Most of the time, a plugin or theme update introduced a conflict or your hosting changed PHP settings.

3. How do I fix the error if I cannot log into WordPress?

Disable plugins via FTP by renaming the plugins folder, then reload your site.

4. Can the technical difficulties error be caused by PHP version issues?

Yes. Outdated or incompatible PHP versions often trigger fatal errors.

5. Will disabling a theme break my site?

WordPress automatically switches to a default theme. Your content remains safe.