The PHP logs can be the quickest method for locating and resolving a critical error on your website. This guide will show you how to access your site’s PHP logs, locate and identify fatal errors, and how to deactivate the plugin associated with the error.
This feature is available on sites with the WordPress.com Business and Commerce plans. If you have a Business plan, make sure to activate it. For sites on the Free, legacy Pro, Personal, and Premium plans, upgrade your plan to access this feature.
In this guide
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Ask our AI assistantPHP Logs capture errors, warnings, notices about your WordPress.com hosted site. The PHP Logs are turned on as soon as you activate the hosting features of your WordPress.com plan.
If you get an error “There has been a critical error on this website. Please check your site admin email inbox for instructions.” and you did not receive the email, you can also review the PHP Logs to locate any fatal errors connected to the critical error on your website.
To review your PHP logs to identify which plugin or theme caused the critical error on your site, follow these steps:
- Log into your WordPress.com account and visit https://wordpress.com/sites
- Click on the site title of a site to open the hosting overview.
- Click the Logs tab.
- Click the Filter icon on the left (the icon looks like three horizontal lines, each one shorter than the one before):
- Select “Severity” and choose “Fatal error” to show only logs containing fatal errors (warnings do not affect your site’s functionality).
- Click on the timestamp of the most recent fatal error to show more details about the error. Make a note of the plugin or theme name listed as the source:
- Now that you have identified the plugin or theme with the issue, deactivate the plugin or switch to a working theme. If you cannot access your dashboard yourself, contact support and we can deactivate the plugin or theme for you.
- If the critical error on your site goes away, leave the plugin/theme deactivated and contact the plugin’s developer to fix the issue. You can share the full error message shown in the site logs to assist with the fix.
Learn more about PHP Logs and Webserver Logs.
