Fix WordPress “There Has Been a Critical Error” After Plugin Update

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Encountering the dreaded “There has been a critical error on this website” message after a WordPress plugin update can be highly concerning, especially if your website is a significant asset for your business or online operations. This error typically indicates that something in the WordPress ecosystem—commonly a faulty or incompatible plugin update—has caused your website to stop functioning correctly. Fortunately, you can take several steps to diagnose and fix the issue without losing your website’s content or functionality.

Understanding the “Critical Error” Notification

WordPress introduced the “critical error” message in version 5.2 to help isolate fatal problems preventing your site from functioning. Rather than showing a white screen, WordPress now displays a message and often sends an email with more technical information.

Common causes of this error include:

  • Incompatible or poorly coded plugin updates
  • Theme conflicts or deprecated code
  • PHP version incompatibility
  • Server configuration issues

One of the most common reasons users encounter this error is immediately after updating a plugin that isn’t fully compatible with your WordPress version or with other installed plugins.

Step-by-Step Guide to Fix the Problem

Let’s walk through the steps to diagnose and fix your WordPress site after a plugin update causes a critical error.

1. Check Your Email for Recovery Mode Link

When WordPress detects a critical error, it often sends an email to the admin email address associated with your site. This email typically contains a link that allows you to enter Recovery Mode.

Here’s what to do:

  • Login to the email inbox associated with your WordPress site admin.
  • Find the message from WordPress with the subject: “Your Site is Experiencing a Technical Issue”.
  • Click the recovery link provided in the email.

Once you’re in Recovery Mode, WordPress will temporarily disable the problematic plugin. You’ll then be able to log in to your Admin Dashboard and deactivate or remove the faulty plugin.

2. Manually Deactivate Plugins via File Manager or FTP

If you did not receive an email with a recovery link—or if the link doesn’t work—you will need to manually deactivate your plugins using a file manager or FTP client like FileZilla.

Follow these steps:

  1. Login to your hosting control panel (such as cPanel) or open your FTP client.
  2. Navigate to the wp-content folder inside your WordPress directory.
  3. Locate the folder named plugins.
  4. Rename the plugins folder to something like plugins-deactivated.

This action disables all plugins at once. Visit your website again. If it loads properly, then one of your plugins was causing the issue.

To identify which plugin was the culprit:

  1. Rename the folder back to plugins.
  2. Open the folder and begin renaming each plugin folder one by one (e.g., add -temp at the end).
  3. After renaming each plugin, check your site to see if it comes back online.

The plugin that, once renamed, resolves your critical error is the problematic one.

3. Review the Error Logs

Server logs provide valuable insight into what caused the error.

To locate error logs:

  • Your host may have a section in cPanel called Error Log.
  • You can also find errors recorded in wp-content/debug.log if WP_DEBUG is enabled in wp-config.php.

To enable debugging, add the following lines to your wp-config.php file:

define('WP_DEBUG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false);

This tells WordPress to log errors into a debug file you can review. The log often points to the exact plugin and line of code that caused the issue.

4. Restore from Backup

If the faulty plugin update has caused substantial problems that can’t be resolved through deactivation or removal, a recent backup can be a lifesaver.

Many hosts offer automatic daily backups. You could restore your site to an earlier version that worked correctly. Alternatively, if you use backup plugins like UpdraftPlus, BackupBuddy, or BlogVault, you can restore from those easily through their interfaces once your site is operational again.

Preventing Future Errors From Plugin Updates

While hiccups can occur in any system, there are several sensible precautions you can take to prevent this type of disruption from happening in the future.

1. Use a Staging Site

Before updating any plugins or themes on your live site, test them on a staging site. This gives you the opportunity to catch problems without affecting your visitors or workflows.

Most quality hosting providers (such as SiteGround, WP Engine, and Kinsta) offer one-click staging environments that mirror your live site.

2. Update Plugins One at a Time

It can be tempting to update multiple plugins simultaneously, but doing so makes it difficult to track which update caused the issue if something goes wrong. Update one plugin at a time and test your site immediately afterward.

3. Choose Reliable and Maintained Plugins

When installing plugins, only rely on those that are:

  • Regularly updated by the developer
  • Compatible with your current WordPress and PHP version
  • Highly rated with positive reviews on the WordPress plugin repository

4. Conduct Regular Backups

Implement a robust backup strategy that includes both full-site backups and database-only backups. Schedule backups before making significant changes to your site such as plugin updates, WordPress core updates, or theme modifications.

Conclusion

The “There has been a critical error on this website” message doesn’t need to be a disaster. Most often, it is caused by a single plugin update and can be resolved fairly easily by following the steps we’ve outlined. Whether it’s using Recovery Mode, disabling plugins via FTP, or restoring from a backup, you have multiple tools at your disposal to bring your site back online safely.

To protect yourself from future issues, practice caution and foresight: regularly back up your site, use a staging environment, and take care to update responsibly. With experience and the right strategy, these incidents will become manageable setbacks rather than costly downtime.

Stay informed, stay updated, and most importantly—stay protected.