How to Fix “There Has Been a Critical Error on This Website”
Seeing “There has been a critical error on this website” on your WordPress site? It’s alarming, but it’s almost always fixable in a few minutes. The message is WordPress’s way of hiding a fatal PHP error from visitors – usually caused by a plugin, theme, or memory limit. This guide walks through the fixes in order, from easiest to most thorough.
What the error means
WordPress shows this generic message instead of the raw error to avoid exposing technical details to visitors. The real cause is written to your error log – most often a plugin or theme conflict after an update, a PHP memory limit that’s too low, or broken custom code. WordPress usually also emails the site admin a message titled “Your Site is Experiencing a Technical Issue” with a recovery mode link.
Step 1: Check the recovery email
Look in the inbox of your WordPress admin email. The message names the exact plugin or theme that triggered the error and includes a link to recovery mode, where you can log in and deactivate the culprit safely. If you have it, this is the fastest fix.
Step 2: Read the error log
No email? Find the cause in your logs. Our guide on finding and fixing PHP errors shows where the log lives in cPanel and how to read the line that names the file – it usually points straight at the plugin or theme at fault.
Step 3: Deactivate plugins and switch theme
If you can’t log in to wp-admin, use FTP or File Manager: rename the wp-content/plugins folder to plugins-off to disable all plugins at once. If the site returns, rename it back and re-enable plugins one by one to find the bad one. If a theme is the cause, switch to a default theme (like Twenty Twenty-Four) the same way.
Step 4: Raise the PHP memory limit
If the log mentions “allowed memory size exhausted”, increase the limit – see how to change PHP settings and limits in cPanel, or raise it from your WordPress hosting tools. 256M is plenty for most sites.
JetHost Experts Tip
Take a backup before you start poking around – then you can experiment freely. If the error appeared right after an update, the fix is almost always to roll back or replace the plugin that updated last.
Need more help?
Still stuck on a white screen? Open a ticket through Client Area → Support with the error-log line and our team will get your site back up.
