An error occurred in the upload. Please try again later – How To Solve This WordPress Problem?

When you encounter a message like “An error occurred in the upload, Please try again later” while trying to upload images to the editor, there could be various underlying reasons for this.

Some of the possible causes are:

  1. Insufficient storage on your hosting server.
  2. Wrong file permissions on your WordPress installation.
  3. Exceeding file size or image dimensions defined in your settings.
  4. PHP memory limit is set too low.
  5. The image file format is not supported.

Let’s break down some troubleshooting steps for each issue:

  1. Check storage space: Contact your hosting provider or check your hosting control panel to make sure you have enough storage space. If you’re out of storage, consider deleting unnecessary files or upgrading your hosting plan.
  2. File permissions: Wrong file permissions can prevent WordPress from creating files or folders. To check this, you may need FTP access.
    • Use an FTP client like FileZilla to connect to your server.
    • Navigate to the “wp-content” directory.
    • Right-click on the “uploads” folder and select ‘File permissions’.
    • In the File permissions dialog box, set Numeric value to 755. Make sure the ‘Recurse into subdirectories’ option is selected and ‘Apply to directories only’ is checked.
    • Click OK.
    • Again, right-click on the “uploads” folder and go to ‘File permissions’. Now, set Numeric value to 644, select ‘Recurse into subdirectories’ and check ‘Apply to files only’.
    • Click OK.
  3. Check file size limit: In your WordPress dashboard, go to Media > Add New. You’ll see the maximum file size for uploads listed. If your image file is larger than this, consider resizing it or increasing the upload limit.
  4. Increase PHP memory limit: This may also be causing the upload problem. To increase your PHP memory limit:
    • Connect to your server via FTP.
    • Locate the “wp-config.php” file in your WordPress root directory.
    • Download and open the file with a text editor.
    • Add the following line of code at the bottom: define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M');
    • Save and upload this file back to your server.
    • Refresh your website to see if this resolves the problem.
  5. File format: WordPress supports jpg, jpeg, png, gif, pdf, doc, ppt, odt, pptx, docx, pps, ppsx, xls, xlsx, key. Make sure your image is in one of these formats.

If none of these steps work, the issue might be with a plugin conflict or your WordPress theme.

To check for plugin conflicts:

  • Go to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to ‘Plugins > Installed Plugins’.
  • Deactivate all your plugins.
  • Try to upload an image.
  • If it works, then one of the plugins is causing the issue. To find out which one, reactivate them one at a time, uploading an image each time, until you find the problematic plugin.

To check for a theme issue:

  • Go to ‘Appearance > Themes’ in your WordPress dashboard.
  • Switch to a default WordPress theme like Twenty Twenty-One.
  • Try to upload an image. If it works, then the issue is with your theme.

If you have tried all these steps and still can’t upload an image, your final option might be to contact your hosting provider’s support or a WordPress specialist.

Leave a Comment