WPBeginner

Beginner's Guide for WordPress

  • Blog
    • Beginners Guide
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Showcase
    • Themes
    • Tutorials
    • WordPress Plugins
  • Start Here
    • How to Start a Blog
    • Create a Website
    • Start an Online Store
    • Best Website Builder
    • Email Marketing
    • WordPress Hosting
    • Business Name Ideas
  • Deals
    • Bluehost Coupon
    • SiteGround Coupon
    • WP Engine Coupon
    • HostGator Coupon
    • Domain.com Coupon
    • Constant Contact
    • View All Deals »
  • Glossary
  • Videos
  • Products
X
☰
Beginner's Guide for WordPress / Start your WordPress Blog in minutes
Choosing the Best
WordPress Hosting
How to Easily
Install WordPress
Recommended
WordPress Plugins
View all Guides

WPBeginner» Blog» Plugins» How to Fix the Mixed Content Error in WordPress (Step by Step)

How to Fix the Mixed Content Error in WordPress (Step by Step)

Last updated on February 27th, 2018 by Editorial Staff
123 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Pin
Free WordPress Video Tutorials on YouTube by WPBeginner
How to Fix the Mixed Content Error in WordPress (Step by Step)

Are you seeing the mixed content error in WordPress? Mixed content error in WordPress is caused by incorrect HTTPs/SSL settings. Often times it doesn’t affect your website’s functionality, but it can have adverse affects on your website’s SEO and user experience. In this article, we will show you how to fix the mixed content error in WordPress.

How to fix the mixed content error in WordPress

What is Mixed Content Error in WordPress?

It is highly recommended to add HTTPS / SSL in WordPress because after July 2018 Google Chrome will mark all http versions of website as insecure.

SSL adds an additional security layer around data transferred from your website to users’ browsers. Search engines like Google recommend using SSL on your website as well.

All best WordPress hosting companies are now offering free SSL as part of their packages. If your hosting company doesn’t offer that, then you can get free SSL through Let’s Encrypt for your WordPress site.

If you have correctly implemented SSL on your website, then you will see a green padlock icon next to your website’s URL in the browser address bar.

Secure content sign

On the other hand if your HTTPs/SSL settings are not properly setup, then you will see an info sign or a broken padlock icon in the address bar.

Not fully secure due to mixed content

This indicates that while your website is using a SSL certificate, some content on your website is still served from non HTTPS urls.

You can find out which content is served through insecure protocol by using the Inspect tool. The mixed content error will be displayed as a warning in the console with details for each mixed content item.

Mixed content displayed in developer tools

If it is just a single item that you can manually fix, then you can go ahead and fix it by editing the post, page, or theme file where it appears.

However, in most cases these items are added dynamically by WordPress or stored in your database. In that case, it will be hard to detect all of them and fix them manually.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to easily fix the mixed content error in WordPress.

Fixing Mixed Content Error in WordPress

First thing you need to do is install and activate the SSL Insecure Content Fixer plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit Settings » SSL Insecure Content page to configure the plugin settings.

SSL secure content plugin settings

This plugin provides different levels of fixes to the mixed content error. We will explain each one of them, what they do, and which one is best for you.

1. Simple

This is the fastest and recommended method for all beginner users. It automatically fixes the mixed content error in WordPress for scripts, stylesheets, and WordPress media library images.

2. Content

If the simple method doesn’t fix the mixed content error on your website, then you should try this method. It will use all the features of simple, in addition to checks for fixes inside WordPress content and text widgets.

3. Widgets

This includes all fixes applied in content level plus an additional fix to resources loaded in all WordPress widgets on your website.

4. Capture

This method captures everything on every page of your website from header to footer and replaces all URLs with HTTPs. It is slower and would affect performance of your website.

5. Capture all

When all above levels fail, then you can try this method. It attempts to fix everything which may result in some unexpected behavior on your website. It will also have the most negative impact on performance.

After selecting a content fix level, you need to scroll down to the HTTPS detection section. This is where you can choose how to detect the HTTPs content on your website.

HTTPS detect

The default option is to use a WordPress function, which would work for most website.

Below that you will find other options which are particularly useful if you’re using Cloudflare CDN, nginx web server, and more. Go ahead and select the method that you think applies to your website depending on your particular setup.

Don’t forget to click on the save changes button to store your settings.

You can now visit your website to see if this resolved the insecure content issues on your website. Make sure to clear your WordPress cache before checking your website.

If the mixed content error in WordPress is not fixed, then revisit the plugin’s settings page and readjust the fix levels.

We hope this article helped you learn how to fix the mixed content error in WordPress. You may also want to see our list of the most common WordPress errors and how to fix them.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

123 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Pin
Popular on WPBeginner Right Now!
  • How to Start Your Own Podcast (Step by Step)

    How to Start Your Own Podcast (Step by Step)

  • Revealed: Why Building an Email List is so Important Today (6 Reasons)

    Revealed: Why Building an Email List is so Important Today (6 Reasons)

  • How to Properly Move Your Blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org

  • Google Analytics in WordPress

    How to Install Google Analytics in WordPress for Beginners

About the Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff at WPBeginner is a team of WordPress experts led by Syed Balkhi. Trusted by over 1.3 million readers worldwide.

The Ultimate WordPress Toolkit

43 Comments

Leave a Reply
  1. Tiya says:
    Feb 1, 2021 at 11:05 am

    My site is AdSense approved. If I use it to fix my mixed content issue. Will it affect my ads?
    Please solve my query.

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Feb 2, 2021 at 9:49 am

      Fixing the mixed content shouldn’t cause an issue.

      Reply
  2. Nilla says:
    Jan 3, 2021 at 8:15 pm

    Installed the SSL Insecure Content Fixer and ran Simple option, which cleared everything in Chrome for my test site. Installed the plugin on the live (identical) site but only cleared certain pages.

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Jan 4, 2021 at 11:32 am

      You would want to clear any caching and resave your permalinks for the most common solutions but you would want to reach out to the plugin’s support for assistance

      Reply
  3. Pelumi says:
    Nov 8, 2020 at 5:00 pm

    Thanks!
    Solved my site problem!

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Nov 9, 2020 at 1:27 pm

      Glad our guide was helpful :)

      Reply
  4. Pawan Jaju says:
    Jul 25, 2020 at 6:27 am

    Really Helpfull, Thank you soo much

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Jul 27, 2020 at 11:47 am

      You’re welcome :)

      Reply
  5. Pardeep Kumar says:
    Jul 24, 2020 at 4:05 am

    Yes, This really worked for me. Opetion No. 4. Capture saved my time and efforts.

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Jul 24, 2020 at 12:52 pm

      Glad our guide was helpful :)

      Reply
  6. theinformativo says:
    Jul 4, 2020 at 5:37 am

    Thanks a lot, for the help, I was stuck with the mixed content issue but after this method, everything got fixed thanks a lot.

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Jul 7, 2020 at 11:51 am

      You’re welcome, glad our guide was helpful :)

      Reply
  7. Alex says:
    May 26, 2020 at 2:44 am

    Thank you Capture Helped me solve the issue. But i am wondering if there is any way to make the site’s Performance improved. Thanks

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      May 27, 2020 at 9:15 am

      For speeding up your site you would want to take a look at our guide below.
      https://www.wpbeginner.com/wordpress-performance-speed/

      Reply
  8. Gaiman says:
    May 8, 2020 at 10:25 pm

    There is no “SSL Insecure Content” on the settings.

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      May 11, 2020 at 3:42 pm

      You may want to ensure the plugin is installed and activated and you are an admin user of your site for the most common reasons

      Reply
  9. John says:
    Apr 28, 2020 at 12:03 pm

    Very helpful thanks!

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Apr 29, 2020 at 10:04 am

      You’re welcome, glad you found our guide helpful :)

      Reply
  10. Francisca says:
    Apr 18, 2019 at 6:47 pm

    None of the options worked for me

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Apr 19, 2019 at 10:54 am

      It would depend on what file is causing the error, if it is a theme file you would likely need to reach out to your theme’s support for fixing the file.

      Reply
  11. Leonel says:
    Mar 21, 2019 at 4:16 am

    Hi, Great article. It works for me but only Capture all option.

    Thanks

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Mar 21, 2019 at 11:42 am

      Thanks for sharing the option that worked for you :)

      Reply
  12. James Haselhofer says:
    Feb 28, 2019 at 11:57 am

    What happens when you want to display insecure links on your secure site but the SSL certificate is preventing them from showing?

    I want to include links to California’s Caltrans traffic cams on my site but since they’re insecure, they show up on the backend. No mixed content warnings, it just won’t show them on the front end.

    I can’t just call the state of California and tell them to add security to their traffic cam links, so is there any fix for this?

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Mar 1, 2019 at 9:56 am

      You could use a URL shortener such as Bitly to link to the HTTP link through an HTTPS shortened link

      Reply
  13. Herman says:
    Feb 27, 2019 at 12:39 pm

    The plugin didn’t work with simple option but did with content option. How do I identify and fix the files or should I just leave as is? If so, does the plugin cause slower loading times?

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Feb 28, 2019 at 10:19 am

      You could leave the plugin active or you could use the tool in our article here:https://www.wpbeginner.com/plugins/search-and-replace-plugin-for-wordpress-database/

      to go through your content to manually edit the files for forcing them to be https. If you disable the plugin, your site will revert to the mixed content.

      Reply
      • Deepak says:
        Mar 13, 2019 at 2:13 pm

        I used search and replace plugin. It fixed my problem temporarily but i see the issue again after a few minutes. I dont understand why. can you suggest?

        Reply
        • WPBeginner Support says:
          Mar 14, 2019 at 10:23 am

          You may want to check the caching on your site from plugins and your host to ensure it didn’t cache the mixed version.

  14. Harmeet Singh says:
    Jan 27, 2019 at 6:49 am

    Thanks,
    It solved my mixed content problem when I have selected the
    setting “Capture” in the SSL Insecure Content plugin. So do
    I leave it as it is or do I change it back to simple.

    Regards

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Jan 28, 2019 at 2:44 pm

      You would go back to the default once you fixed the files that were causing the issue.

      Reply
  15. Real Name says:
    Jan 24, 2019 at 6:35 am

    thank you very very much the plugin method worked for me thanks once again.

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Jan 24, 2019 at 11:18 am

      Glad our guide could help :)

      Reply
  16. Riyaz says:
    Jan 5, 2019 at 6:37 pm

    Make sure that you replace your URL from http://www.example.com to https://www.example.com in wordpress general settings.
    If you are using elementor, go to elementor-tools-replace URL and replace with HTTPS.

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Jan 8, 2019 at 10:33 am

      This article is for sites already set to HTTPS but to clarify before someone changes those settings they would want to have an active SSL certificate as we explain in: https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-add-ssl-and-https-in-wordpress/ :)

      Reply
    • Abhishek says:
      Jun 14, 2020 at 2:33 am

      Thanx bro elementer tool replace url worked for me :)

      Reply
    • Veronika says:
      Jul 27, 2020 at 2:08 pm

      Thank you so much. I couldn’t figure out why my site is showing as not secure after I tried so many things and your suggestion finally wroked.

      Reply
  17. anis sk says:
    Nov 29, 2018 at 8:21 am

    thank you very very much the plugin method worked for me thanks once again.

    Reply
  18. Ana says:
    Sep 8, 2018 at 10:09 pm

    Hey, I switched to https with the plug in downloaded the plug Really Simple SSL and have issues with Mixed content. I’ve downloaded the plug in as indicated and have ended trying all the available options up until capture all, but I’m afraid that it is not working. Any ideas why, or any possible solutions? Thank you.

    Reply
  19. Des says:
    Aug 8, 2018 at 2:45 am

    Good article and thanks for the plugin recommendation.

    Reply
  20. Advait says:
    May 16, 2018 at 2:54 am

    Great article, it helped me fix our mixed content issue. Recently we switched our WordPress site to https. I had to use the plugin on “Capture” level before our mixed content errors got fixed. Is that the end of the issue? Or do I need to research and fix the underlying issues that created the mixed content problem in the first place?

    Thanks again for a very useful article.

    Reply
  21. Colin says:
    Mar 2, 2018 at 9:27 pm

    Why have you deleted my comment?

    Reply
  22. alex says:
    Feb 28, 2018 at 9:05 am

    hi
    thank you for this useful post. why wpbeiginner doesn’t use https/ssl ???

    Reply
    • Colin says:
      Mar 2, 2018 at 9:29 pm

      I pointed that out after yours and they deleted it as they can’t answer that question.

      They also have mix content issues and won’t fix them…..why?

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Thanks for choosing to leave a comment. Please keep in mind that all comments are moderated according to our comment policy, and your email address will NOT be published. Please Do NOT use keywords in the name field. Let's have a personal and meaningful conversation.

Over 1,320,000+ Readers

Get fresh content from WPBeginner

Featured WordPress Plugin
All in One SEO
Improve website SEO rankings with AIOSEO plugin. Learn More »
How to Start a Blog How to Start a Blog
I need help with ...
Starting a
Blog
WordPress
Performance
WordPress
Security
WordPress
SEO
WordPress
Errors
Building an
Online Store
Useful WordPress Guides
    • 7 Best WordPress Backup Plugins Compared (Pros and Cons)
    • How to Fix the Error Establishing a Database Connection in WordPress
    • Why You Need a CDN for your WordPress Blog? [Infographic]
    • 30 Legit Ways to Make Money Online Blogging with WordPress
    • Self Hosted WordPress.org vs. Free WordPress.com [Infograph]
    • Free Recording: WordPress Workshop for Beginners
    • 24 Must Have WordPress Plugins for Business Websites
    • How to Properly Move Your Blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org
    • 5 Best Contact Form Plugins for WordPress Compared
    • Which is the Best WordPress Popup Plugin? (Comparison)
    • Best WooCommerce Hosting in 2021 (Comparison)
    • How to Fix the Internal Server Error in WordPress
    • How to Install WordPress - Complete WordPress Installation Tutorial
    • Why You Should Start Building an Email List Right Away
    • How to Properly Move WordPress to a New Domain Without Losing SEO
    • How to Choose the Best WordPress Hosting for Your Website
    • How to Choose the Best Blogging Platform (Comparison)
    • WordPress Tutorials - 200+ Step by Step WordPress Tutorials
    • 5 Best WordPress Ecommerce Plugins Compared
    • 5 Best WordPress Membership Plugins (Compared)
    • 7 Best Email Marketing Services for Small Business (2021)
    • How to Choose the Best Domain Registrar (Compared)
    • The Truth About Shared WordPress Web Hosting
    • When Do You Really Need Managed WordPress Hosting?
    • 5 Best Drag and Drop WordPress Page Builders Compared
    • How to Switch from Blogger to WordPress without Losing Google Rankings
    • How to Properly Switch From Wix to WordPress (Step by Step)
    • How to Properly Move from Weebly to WordPress (Step by Step)
    • Do You Really Need a VPS? Best WordPress VPS Hosting Compared
    • How to Properly Move from Squarespace to WordPress
    • How to Register a Domain Name (+ tip to get it for FREE)
    • HostGator Review - An Honest Look at Speed & Uptime (2021)
    • SiteGround Reviews from 4464 Users & Our Experts (2021)
    • Bluehost Review from Real Users + Performance Stats (2021)
    • How Much Does It Really Cost to Build a WordPress Website?
    • How to Create an Email Newsletter the RIGHT WAY (Step by Step)
    • Free Business Name Generator (A.I Powered)
    • How to Create a Free Business Email Address in 5 Minutes (Step by Step)
    • How to Install Google Analytics in WordPress for Beginners
    • How to Move WordPress to a New Host or Server With No Downtime
    • Why is WordPress Free? What are the Costs? What is the Catch?
    • How to Make a Website in 2021 – Step by Step Guide
Deals & Coupons (view all)
CometChat
CometChat Coupon
Get 30% OFF on CometChat WordPress user chat and conference call plugin.
EWWW Image Optimizer
EWWW Image Optimizer Coupon
Get 15% OFF on EWWW Image Optimizer WordPress plugin for image resizing.
Featured In
About WPBeginner®

WPBeginner is a free WordPress resource site for Beginners. WPBeginner was founded in July 2009 by Syed Balkhi. The main goal of this site is to provide quality tips, tricks, hacks, and other WordPress resources that allows WordPress beginners to improve their site(s).

Join our team: We are Hiring!

Site Links
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • FTC Disclosure
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Free Blog Setup
  • Free Business Tools
  • Growth Fund
Our Sites
  • OptinMonster
  • MonsterInsights
  • WPForms
  • SeedProd
  • Nameboy
  • RafflePress
  • Smash Balloon
  • AIOSEO

Copyright © 2009 - 2021 WPBeginner LLC. All Rights Reserved. WPBeginner® is a registered trademark.

Managed by Awesome Motive | WordPress hosting by SiteGround | WordPress Security by Sucuri.