{"id":30501,"date":"2021-04-21T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dhblog.dream.press\/blog\/?p=30501"},"modified":"2025-05-22T00:00:37","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T07:00:37","slug":"how-to-fix-wordpress-memory-limit-error","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www-dev.dreamhost.com\/blog\/how-to-fix-wordpress-memory-limit-error\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Fix the WordPress Memory Exhausted Error by Increasing Your Site\u2019s PHP Memory Limit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As you may know, WordPress is built using PHP<\/a><\/span>. This programming language is incredibly flexible, but it also has a few drawbacks. For example, if you don\u2019t allocate enough memory for your WordPress installation, you might start running into the occasional \u201cPHP Memory Exhausted\u201d error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a nutshell, this error means your server isn\u2019t allocating enough resources for WordPress to execute the PHP scripts<\/a> it needs to function properly. This issue can negatively affect your site\u2019s functionality, but there are several ways you can fix and even prevent it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we\u2019ll show you how to fix the memory exhausted problem by increasing your PHP memory limit. However, first, let\u2019s talk about how to recognize this error and what it means!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why You\u2019re Seeing a WordPress Memory Limit Error on Your Site<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As we mentioned earlier, the PHP memory limit error means you\u2019re not allocating enough resources for your WordPress installation to function correctly. The problem usually presents itself with a message such as:<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Don\u2019t be scared by the word \u201cfatal,\u201d though. Your website isn\u2019t broken, but you will need to make some changes to your WordPress installation if you want it to work properly. Specifically, you\u2019ll want to increase your PHP memory limit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By \u201cPHP memory limit,\u201d we mean the amount of server memory that\u2019s allocated to run PHP scripts. By default, that number should be around 64 MB or higher. In most cases, 64 MB is more than enough, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most hosting servers provide you with far more memory than that, so increasing the PHP allowed memory size shouldn\u2019t negatively impact your website\u2019s performance whatsoever. In fact, unless you\u2019re using a cheap web host or you set up WordPress manually, your PHP memory limit shouldn\u2019t be an issue at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can easily check to see what your PHP memory limit is by accessing your WordPress dashboard<\/a> and navigating to Tools > Site Health > Info<\/span>. Next, you can click on the Server <\/span>tab and look for the PHP memory limit <\/span>entry.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"A<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Within the Server <\/span>tab, you can also check other information such as your PHP version<\/a><\/span> and the PHP time limit<\/span>. The latter variable, which is in seconds, defines how long PHP scripts have to execute before they time out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now, let\u2019s focus on the PHP memory limit. As you can see, the above example has quite a high limit, which means that the website is unlikely to run into a WordPress Memory Exhausted error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your site has a low memory limit (<64 MB), it\u2019s in your best interests to increase it. There are a couple of ways you can do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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