Category: WordPress Troubleshooting

WordPress Troubleshooting tutorials for non-techies …

How To Fix Problems Accessing Your WordPress Admin Area

Are you locked out of your WordPress admin area? Learn how to troubleshoot, identify & fix problems or errors preventing access to your WordPress admin area …

How To Fix Problems Accessing Your WordPress Admin AreaThis tutorial is part of our FREE WordPress Management training and WordPress Troubleshooting tutorial series.

In this series of step-by-step tutorials, we show you how to troubleshoot and fix common WordPress errors.

Useful Information

Important: Always do a backup of your WordPress site (files and database) before modifying any files or performing any upgrades or installations! 

If you don’t want to back up your files manually, then get professional WordPress support, or use backup plugins.

How To Fix Problems Accessing Your WordPress Admin Area

Can't access your WordPress admin area?

(Are you locked out of your WordPress admin area?)

If you use WordPress often, you may find yourself at times locked out of your administration panel.

Some of the possible causes of finding yourself locked out of your WordPress admin area include experiencing issues or errors with:

  • WordPress password
  • WordPress themes or plugins
  • WordPress installation files
  • WordPress database
  • WordPress security
  • Your server or web host

In this tutorial, we’ll use a systematic approach to troubleshoot, identify, and hopefully fix the issue or error preventing you from accessing your WordPress admin area.

Important

Normally, most people experiencing issues with WordPress would just contact their website developer or hosting company for help.

Use the tutorials below if you manage your own WordPress site or if you want to learn how to troubleshoot and fix problems yourself (remember to always backup your site and data).

WordPress Password & Login Issues

Can you access your WordPress admin login page? If you can, then the first step to troubleshooting problems preventing you from accessing your WordPress admin area is to see if there are any issues with your password or login details.

You will be locked out of your WordPress admin area if you have forgotten your password and you cannot access the email for recovering your password, or if a user with administrative privileges has revoked your user access privileges or changed your login details.

If you think the issue may be related to your password or login details, then see these tutorials:

Useful Information

Most of the errors or issues described in the sections below may prevent you from accessing your WordPress admin login page. If, after going through the sections below you still cannot log into your admin area, then go here:

WordPress Theme Or Plugin Issues

Conflicts with WordPress plugins or themes can cause a number of issues that will prevent you from being able to access your WordPress admin area. Additionally, a plugin or plugin code can change settings that will lock you out of your WordPress admin pages.

To troubleshoot issues related to WordPress themes and plugins, go here:

If the problem preventing you from being able to access your WordPress admin area is not being caused by WordPress themes or plugins, then the next step is to see if there are any issues with your WordPress installation files.

WordPress Installation File Issues

Were you trying to upload or install something before experiencing the problem? Corrupted files and installation errors can cause issues and prevent you from logging into your WordPress admin area.

To troubleshoot issues related to WordPress installation files, see the tutorials below:

If the problem preventing you from being able to access your WordPress admin area is not being caused by WordPress installation files, the next step is to see if there are any issues with your WordPress database.

WordPress Database Issues

Over time, tables in your WordPress database can become corrupted and  lead to issues preventing you from accessing your WordPress admin area.

Some common problems involving WordPress database errors include the following:

The WordPress White Screen Of Death

WordPress White Screen Of Death

(WordPress White Screen Of Death)

If your screen is completely blank, you may be experiencing the dreaded WordPress “White Screen Of Death.”

To learn how to troubleshoot and fix this problem, see the tutorial below:

Error Establishing A Database Connection

Error establishing a database connection

(Error establishing a database connection)

There are many reasons why WordPress can display an “Error establishing a database connection” message on your screen.

To learn how to troubleshoot and fix this error, go here:

WordPress Fatal Errors

WordPress Fatal error message

(WordPress Fatal error message)

If your WordPress site is displaying a ‘Fatal error’ message, the issue may be caused by conflicting plugins or memory issues.

To learn how to troubleshoot and fix this problem, go here:

Memory Size Exhausted Errors

Fatal error: Allowed memory size exhausted

(Fatal error: Allowed memory size exhausted)

When the amount of memory allocated to your WordPress site isn’t enough to perform tasks required by a feature or plugin that you have installed, errors occur that can prevent you from being able to access your admin area.

To learn how to troubleshoot and fix errors related to memory size, refer to the relevant section in the tutorial below:

If the problem preventing you from being able to access your WordPress admin area is not being caused by issues with your WordPress database, the next step is to see if there are any security issues with your WordPress site.

WordPress Security Issues

The worst case scenario for not being able to log into your WordPress admin area is that your site has been hacked or attacked by a malicious user.

If a hacker gains control of your administration area, they can lock you out and wreak havoc on your site

To troubleshoot problems related to WordPress security, see these tutorials:

Also, see these resources for performing preventative security scans and protecting your WordPress site:

If there are no security issues preventing you from being able to access your WordPress admin area, the next step is to see if an issue with your server or web host is causing you login problems.

Server Or Web Host Issues

Is an issue with your server or web host causing you login problems?

(Is an issue with your server or web host causing you login problems?)

Sometimes, WordPress problems have nothing to do with WordPress or your site, but with your hosting environment.

If you have gone through all of the above sections and still cannot log into your admin area or you suspect an issue with your server is causing you login or access problems, then either contact your hosting company or go through the tutorials below:

Tip

If you continue to experience problems with your site, you may need to look at upgrading your hosting package or even switching web hosting providers.

Hopefully, one of the above tutorials has helped you resolve the problem. In addition to the information above, check out this video on what to do if get locked out of your WordPress admin area from the team at MyThemeShop:

(What to do if you get locked out of your WordPress admin area. Video: MyThemeShop)

More WordPress Troubleshooting Tutorials

See the tutorials in the section below if you experience other issues with WordPress:

How To Fix Problems Accessing Your WordPress Admin Area

(Source: Pixabay)

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