How to Fix File and Folder Permissions Error in WordPress

File and Folder Permissions Error in WordPress.

Are you worried about how to fix file and folder permissions errors in your WordPress website or blog? Getting errors while uploading images, videos or any other file is a common problem in WordPress.

If you have incorrect file and folder permissions on your WordPress site, it can cause errors as soon as you upload files. 

There are many reasons behind it and sometimes it’s hard to find out the exact reason. 

But don’t worry, you have come to the exact place to get an answer to this question.

Today, you’ll know some common reasons that cause this error and also learn how to easily fix file and folder permissions errors in WordPress. 

The common cause of file and folder permissions error

There are several reasons why your website may be experiencing problems with its file and folder permissions. The most common reasons include:

1. Improperly set up FTP access

2. Inconsistent use of capital letters in filenames

3. Uploading files using FTP instead of the web interface

4. Using a different FTP client than what your hosting company is using for their control panel (for example, FileZilla instead of Cpanel).

5. You may have missed one or more dots while writing your FTP credentials or you have forgotten to write them altogether.

How do File and Folder Permissions work?

 The file and folder permissions in WordPress are a lot like the permission settings on your own computer. When you install WordPress, it creates a folder for all of your files. 

Each piece of content is stored in its own file, and each file has its own permissions, which determine who can access that particular file and what they can do with it.

As a WordPress user, you might have come across the file and folder permissions error at least once. 

This error occurs due to incorrect file permissions and it’s important to understand how this error occurs, what causes it, and how to fix it.

Your WordPress site lives on your device (P.C., Laptop, mobiles, etc.) run by your Web hosting service. Your device acts as a server and uses special software like Apache to manage your files and serve them to browsers.

What you have to remember here is that the file and folder permissions will tell the server who can run, read, or modify files hosted on your account. 

Likewise, WordPress requires permissions to manage files and also create folders on the server.

If you change your WordPress site’s file permissions incorrectly, it could result in some major problems—like blocking WordPress from uploading images or creating folders. 

It might even compromise the security of your site. The problem is that sometimes, you may not even see any proper error messages. 

But, in most cases, you’ll get a warning message from WordPress that it can’t create a folder or edit a file.

Correct File and Folder Permissions in WordPress

You can create files and folders in WordPress as long as there’s a correct set of file and folder permissions. 

For most users, the following settings are recommended:

• 644 for all files;
• 755 for all folders and sub-folders.

Now, let’s see how you can easily fix file and folder permissions in your WordPress.

How to Fix File and Folder Permissions Error in WordPress Using FTP?

Using an FTP client, you need to connect to your WordPress site. Once it is connected, you need to go to the root folder of your WordPress site.

There, you’ll find lots of folders such as wp-admin, wp-content, etc. in the root directory.

If you select all the folders and do the right-click, you’ll find “File Permission” at the bottom as shown in the screenshot below.

Simply select and click the file permission, and a new dialogue box will appear.

The dialogue box wills show some attributes or checkboxes and a field to enter a numeric value as shown in the image below.

Now, 

• enter 755 in the numeric value field; 
• Click on the ‘Recurse into subdirectories’ checkbox; and 
• select the ‘Apply to directories only’ option.

To continue, click on the “OK” button which is at the bottom.

Now, your FTP client will set the file permissions to folders and sub-folders (i.e. all the files).

Wait for it until it is completed. You are done!

This is how you fix file and folder permissions in WordPress. Hope you find it easy and clear enough to understand this simple process.

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