WordPress site broken after update? What to do in the first hour

A WordPress site broken after an update looks scary, but your ads, users and settings are almost always still there. The cause is the thing that just changed. So stop, find that one plugin or theme, and undo only that change.

This plan covers the first hour, while users are still trying to search and post. To keep the next update from breaking anything, follow our WordPress maintenance checklist afterwards.

What a WordPress site broken after an update looks like

A critical error after an update

The page shows the words "There has been a critical error on this website." WordPress also sends an email to the site's admin address. It names the plugin or theme that failed and gives you a special login link.

1. Open the email titled "Your Site is Experiencing a Technical Issue"
2. Note the plugin or theme it names
3. Click the recovery mode link and log in
4. Deactivate the named plugin on the Plugins screen, then exit recovery mode

A white screen after an update

A blank white page with no words is often the same kind of error, with the message hidden. It can hit the whole site, only wp-admin or just one page. The real message is in the server's error log, and your server company can find it for you.

A broken layout after an update

The site opens, but menus, buttons or spacing look wrong. Most often a cache still serves old files next to the new ones. Clear your cache plugin, then open the page in a private window, before you change anything else.

1. Stop, and write down what changed

Before you change anything more, write down these four things.

• What you updated, such as a plugin, the theme or WordPress
• The time of each update, and their order
• What you see, and on which page
• Whether you can still log in to wp-admin

WordPress also emails you after it updates something on its own, so check your inbox too. You will need these notes in step 4.

What not to do in the first hour

These moves feel helpful in a hurry, and each one makes the fix harder or riskier.

• Do not run more updates, hoping the next one fixes it
• Do not delete the plugin or the theme, because deleting can remove its settings
• Do not restore a full backup before you know what broke
• Do not edit the theme's files to patch the error
• Do not paste your admin password into a forum or a chat

2. Find the plugin that causes the conflict

Start with the last thing you updated. Turning a plugin off does not delete it or its settings. Without your page builder, such as Elementor, or your theme's own plugin, pages look empty, but nothing is lost.

1. Deactivate the plugin you updated last, and reload the broken page
2. Still broken? Deactivate the other plugins one at a time, and reload after each
3. Leave your page builder and your theme's own plugin for last
4. When the page works again, the plugin you turned off last caused the conflict
5. Turn the others back on, and leave that one off for now

No way into wp-admin and no recovery email? Open your server's file manager or an FTP app, and go to the wp-content/plugins folder. Rename the folder of the suspect plugin, for example by adding -off to its name, and WordPress turns it off.

Was the theme the last update? It replaced the theme's files, along with any edits made inside them. Our guide on how to update a WordPress theme without losing your changes shows where changes are safe.

3. Undo the WordPress update without losing new ads

Undo only what broke, and leave everything else as it is.

• If a plugin broke the site, put back its older version
• If the theme broke it, ask its authors for the older version, or use its rollback if it has one
• If it broke after a WordPress update, keep the new WordPress, and fix or replace the conflicting plugin

WordPress.org keeps older versions of most free plugins, under Advanced View on each plugin's page. Upload the older file under Plugins, then Add New, and WordPress offers to replace the current version. On Vehica, the Vehica Updater also has a rollback option for the theme.

Restore a backup only as the last step

So restore only the part that broke. A backup made with UpdraftPlus keeps the database, plugins, themes and uploads as separate parts. Bring back only the plugins or the theme, and the database with the new ads stays as it is.

The Listivo guide How to create Backup? shows these parts in the plugin's list of backups.

4. Write to support, with the details they need

Still broken after an hour, or users cannot post or pay? Hand it over now. A complete first message saves a round of questions back and forth.

Running MyHome, Listivo or Vehica? Email it to support@tangiblewp.com, or send it through the contact form, as How to get help with your theme explains. You can write without active support, and we tell you if the fix needs Premium Support.

If we need to look at your site, we ask for access in the reply. Everything happens in writing, so you keep a record of what was done.

Bought your theme on ThemeForest, and its support has ended? See what to do when your ThemeForest support has expired.

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