A plugin update broke my WordPress site. What now?

First, your content is safe

Your posts, pages and comments live in the site's database, not in the plugin. A broken update changes the plugin's files, so putting the plugin back the way it was brings the site back with everything you wrote still there.

A blank page or “There has been a critical error”

When an update causes a fatal error, visitors see There has been a critical error on this website instead of the page. At the same time WordPress emails the site's admin address with details of the error and a special link to sign in.

1. 1

   Find the email

   Look in the inbox of the admin email address, and in its spam folder: the message can come straight from the web server and get filtered.

2. 2

   Sign in through its link

   The link signs you in to recovery mode. The plugin or theme that failed is paused for you alone, and the admin shows which one it was.

3. 3

   Switch the culprit off

   Deactivate it under Plugins (or switch theme under Appearance → Themes), then click Exit Recovery Mode in the admin bar and check the site.

No email? Skip to if you cannot reach wp-admin below.

If the site instead says Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance long after an update, the update was interrupted. Deleting the file called .maintenance in the site's main folder clears the message; then run the update again.

Find which update did it

If you only updated one thing, you already know. If several updated at once, or overnight on their own, these narrow it down:

• The update emails. After automatic updates WordPress emails the admin address listing what updated, and what failed.
• Dashboard → Updates lists what is still waiting to be updated. It keeps no history, but anything not on it any more has already been updated.
• Tools → Site Health → Info. The Active Plugins section lists every plugin with its version number.
• The plugin's WordPress.org page shows its version and when it was last updated. A release from the day things broke is your prime suspect.

Put the earlier version back

If you can reach wp-admin

• WP Rollback, a free plugin from WordPress.org, adds a Rollback link to each plugin on the Plugins screen and a Rollback button to themes, then lets you pick the version to go back to. The free version works for plugins and themes hosted on WordPress.org only.
• Or install the previous version yourself. On the plugin's WordPress.org page, open Advanced View and scroll to Previous Versions, choose the version you had, and download it. Then in your admin go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin and upload the zip; WordPress offers to replace the installed version with it.

WordPress.org warns that older versions may not be secure or stable. Going back is a stopgap until the author fixes the new release, not a place to stay.

If you cannot reach wp-admin

You can switch a plugin off without signing in, by renaming its folder.

1. 1

   Open your site’s files

   Use your hosting control panel's file manager, or an SFTP app if you have one, and go to wp-content/plugins.

2. 2

   Rename the plugin’s folder

   Each plugin has its own folder. Add something to the name of the one you suspect, for example hello-dolly to hello-dolly-off. WordPress can no longer find it, so it stops running.

3. 3

   Sign in and roll back

   Sign in to wp-admin, which should now load, and put the earlier version back as above. Not sure which plugin it is? Renaming the whole plugins folder switches every plugin off; rename it back afterwards and switch them on again one at a time.

WordPress may already have done it

Since WordPress 6.6, when a plugin's automatic update fails because it breaks the site with a fatal error, WordPress puts back the version you had and emails the admin address to say so. It covers automatic plugin updates only, not updates you click yourself, not themes, and not a site that still loads but behaves wrongly.

Clear the caches

Once the site is fixed, you may still see the broken version: copies of your pages are often kept to make the site faster. Clear each one you have:

• your caching plugin, from its settings or the admin bar;
• your host's cache, from the hosting control panel;
• a CDN such as Cloudflare, from its dashboard;
• and your own browser, or check in a private window.

Tell the plugin's author

On the plugin's WordPress.org page, click View support forum. Someone may already have posted the same problem, often with a fix. If not, post one: the plugin and WordPress versions from Site Health, what broke, and the error message if there was one. Authors fix what they hear about.

How to avoid it next time

• Update one plugin at a time. When something breaks, you know exactly which update did it.
• Check your key pages after each one. The home page, a contact form, and on a shop the cart and checkout. A checkout that quietly stops taking orders costs more than a blank page you notice straight away.
• Keep backups of both files and database. You need both to restore a site fully. Many hosts include them, and backup plugins can take them on a schedule.
• Use a staging site for big updates. Many hosts offer a copy of your site to try a major update on first.
• Choose auto-updates plugin by plugin. They are worth it for security, but switch them on deliberately under Plugins rather than for everything at once, and leave the plugins your shop or forms depend on to update by hand.

Where Sarcio fits

The Sarcio plugin's safe updates do this checking for you. After a plugin or theme update it checks your key pages, checkout included, and if something broke it puts the earlier version back on its own. Its Inbox tells you what happened, and you choose to keep the update, put it back, or ask for a fix.

Updates are only part of it: Sarcio is mostly for building your site. Ask for a change in plain words, preview it on your own site, apply it, and undo it if you change your mind. See Sarcio for WordPress.