A plugin update crashed my WP site

A crash after a plugin update means the new version runs code your site can't run, so WP stops building the page.

• The new version needs a newer PHP than your host runs. PHP is the language WP runs on. WP blocks such updates only if the plugin says what it needs.
• It clashes with another plugin or your theme, for example when 2 of them use the same function name.
• An add-on needs the main plugin's old version, or the main plugin now needs a newer add-on.
• The update stopped halfway, often on a slow host, and left some of the plugin's files missing.
• The update stopped and left WP's .maintenance file behind. Every page says “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance.”
• The new version has a bug. Others who updated the same day often post the same error in its wordpress.org support forum.
• A cache still serves files made for the old version, so pages load but look broken.

Find the update that did it

Which plugin did you update last? Plugins › Installed Plugins shows each plugin's version. If you didn't update anything, WP may have done it for you. It emails your admin address after it updates plugins on its own.

Does every page say “There has been a critical error on this website.”? Then WP also emails your admin address a link. It names the plugin that crashed and lets you log in with it paused. Our page on the fatal error covers that email.

Your error log names the plugin too. Look for the last “PHP Fatal error” line. The folder after wp-content/plugins/ in its path is the plugin. Many hosts show this log in their control panel, often under Logs.

No log there? Add define( 'WP_DEBUG', true ); and define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true ); to wp-config.php, above “That's all, stop editing!”. Reload the page, then open wp-content/debug.log.

Updated several plugins at once? Rename their folders one at a time and reload your site after each. The one that brings your site back is the cause.

Put the old version back

The safest place to be is the version that worked. Most plugins in the WP plugin directory list older releases on their Advanced View page, under Previous Versions. Not every release is there.

Pick the version you had before and download the zip. Upload it in Plugins › Add Plugin, with the Upload Plugin button, then press Install Now. WP asks before it replaces the copy you have: press Replace current with uploaded.

Did you rename the folder to get your site back? Delete that renamed copy with your host's file manager. Don't delete it from Plugins: some plugins wipe their settings and content when you do.

Then keep WP from updating it again overnight. If its row in Plugins › Installed Plugins says Disable auto-updates, press it. Turn it back on once a fixed version is out.

Fix it by cause

It needs a newer PHP

Your host sets your PHP version. The plugin's wordpress.org page lists the PHP version it needs. Yours is in Tools › Site Health, on the Info tab under Server.

If yours is lower, ask your host to move you up. Check your other plugins first: see which plugins can run on a newer PHP.

A clash with another plugin or your theme

Test on a copy of your site if your host offers one, often called staging. Update there, then switch other plugins off one at a time until the error stops.

For your theme, switch to a default theme, such as Twenty Twenty-Five, in Appearance › Themes and try again. Then tell both authors in their support forums, with the error line from your log.

A half-finished update

Delete the plugin's folder with your file manager, then install it again from Plugins › Add Plugin. Its settings live in your database, so they stay.

If every page says “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute.”, delete the .maintenance file. It sits in your site's main folder, the one with wp-admin and wp-content in it.

A bug in the new version

Stay on the old version and watch the plugin's support forum on wordpress.org. Post your error line there if nobody has yet. Update again when the changelog mentions your error.

A cache

Clear your cache plugin's cache, then your host's, if they have one. Then reload the page with your browser's cache skipped: Ctrl+Shift+R, or Cmd+Shift+R on a Mac.

Stop it coming back

Update one plugin at a time, and open your site after each. If it breaks, you know which one did it.

Read the changelog, the list of what changed, before a big jump, such as 5.x to 6.x. It's on the plugin's wordpress.org page, on the Development tab.

Keep Administration Email Address in Settings › General on an inbox you read. That's where WP sends the link that lets you log in with a crashed plugin paused.

With CMSHands on your site, you can ask the chat to update a plugin. It checks your site after, and the old version goes back on its own if the site got worse.

It updates plugins from the WP plugin directory, one at a time. Each gets its own card: a box in the chat that shows exactly what would change. A plugin that is switched off isn't checked after its update.

We tried it on our test site, a WP site we run to try every task before we write about it. We set it to crash when Contact Form 7 went to 6.2.1; the real 6.2.1 is fine. The check after found the error, and 6.1.7 went back without another press. See that run.