Trusted WordPress tutorials, when you need them most.
Beginner’s Guide to WordPress
WPB Cup
25 Million+
Websites using our plugins
16+
Years of WordPress experience
3000+
WordPress tutorials
by experts

Fix: WordPress Memory Exhausted Error – Increase PHP Memory

Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on WPBeginner. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations. Learn more about Editorial Process.

Are you seeing an allowed memory size exhausted error message in WordPress?

This is one of the most common WordPress errors, and you can easily fix it by increasing the PHP memory limit in WordPress.

In this article, we will show you how to fix the WordPress memory exhausted error by increasing the PHP memory limit.

Fix: WordPress Memory Exhausted Error – Increase PHP Memory

What Is the WordPress Memory Exhausted Error?

WordPress is written in PHP, which is a server-side programming language. Additionally, every website needs a WordPress hosting server for it to function properly.

Web servers are just like any other computer. They need a certain amount of memory to efficiently run multiple applications at the same time. Server administrators allocate specific memory sizes to different applications, including PHP.

When your WordPress code requires more memory than the default allocated memory, you will see this error message:

Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 33554432 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 2348617 bytes) in /home4/xxx/public_html/wp-includes/plugin.php on line xxx

Memory exhausted error displayed on a WordPress site

Your WordPress site may be exhausting its server memory if it has:

  • A lot of images, videos, and other types of media
  • Plenty of unused WordPress plugins
  • Outgrown its hosting plan resources

By default, WordPress automatically tries to increase the PHP memory limit if it is less than 64MB. However, 64MB is often not high enough.

Having said that, let’s see how to easily increase the PHP memory limit in WordPress to avoid the memory exhausted error.

How to Increase the PHP Memory Limit in WordPress

There are several ways to increase the PHP memory limit. One is to edit the wp-config.php file, another is to tweak the .htaccess file, and the last method is to check the php.ini file.

Let’s go through each one:

Editing the wp-config.php File

First, you need to edit the wp-config.php file on your WordPress site. It is one of the core WordPress files located in your WordPress site’s root directory, usually named public_html.

You will need to use an FTP client like FileZilla or file manager in your web hosting control panel.

Next, you need to paste the following line in the wp-config.php file just before the one that says, That's all, stop editing! Happy blogging.

define( 'WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M' );

This code tells WordPress to increase the PHP memory limit to 256MB.

For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to find and edit the wp-config.php file.

Once you are done, you need to save your changes and upload your wp-config.php file back to your server.

You can now visit your WordPress site, and the memory exhausted error should have disappeared.

Editing the .htaccess File

The next method is to edit the .htaccess file. This file is also located in the WordPress website’s root folder.

Here, you need to paste the following code before the line that says #END WORDPRESS.

php_value memory_limit 256M

Similar to the previous code, it will tell WordPress to increase the PHP memory limit to 256MB.p

After that, simply save your changes and upload the file back to your web server. You can now open your WordPress website again to see if the memory limit error has gone.

If you can’t find the .htaccess file, check out our guide on why the .htaccess file may be missing and how to find it.

Checking Your php.ini File

If the above methods don’t work, you may want to look at your php.ini file.

php.ini is a file that controls your PHP settings, including the PHP version and PHP scripts. It’s not a WordPress core file, as your hosting provider usually manages it.

You can check its code to see your PHP memory usage limit. For more details, you can see our guide on how to find and edit the php.ini file.

However, because this is an advanced method, we recommend contacting your web hosting provider’s support team instead to see if they can increase the WordPress memory limit manually. Otherwise, this can result in further errors.

We hope this article helped you solve the WordPress memory exhausted error by increasing the PHP memory limit. You may also want to see our step-by-step beginner’s guide to troubleshooting WordPress errors, along with our expert picks for the best WordPress plugins to grow your site.

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.

Disclosure: Our content is reader-supported. This means if you click on some of our links, then we may earn a commission. See how WPBeginner is funded, why it matters, and how you can support us. Here's our editorial process.

Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff at WPBeginner is a team of WordPress experts led by Syed Balkhi with over 16 years of experience in WordPress, Web Hosting, eCommerce, SEO, and Marketing. Started in 2009, WPBeginner is now the largest free WordPress resource site in the industry and is often referred to as the Wikipedia for WordPress.

The Ultimate WordPress Toolkit

Get FREE access to our toolkit - a collection of WordPress related products and resources that every professional should have!

Reader Interactions

464 CommentsLeave a Reply

  1. Syed Balkhi says

    Hey WPBeginner readers,
    Did you know you can win exciting prizes by commenting on WPBeginner?
    Every month, our top blog commenters will win HUGE rewards, including premium WordPress plugin licenses and cash prizes.
    You can get more details about the contest from here.
    Start sharing your thoughts below to stand a chance to win!

  2. rahul says

    Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 67108864 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 262198 bytes) in /home/content/p3pnexwpnas04_data01/91/3161991/html/wp-content/object-cache.php on line 574

  3. Bijay Budhathoki says

    It Worked for me when i changed the following

    define(‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘264M’);

  4. Gus says

    Thanks! Worked like a charm! I tried 64M and did not worked, then I tried 512M and worked. Note: I always makes notes on my files for future reference, so I noticed that for some weird reason, when I wrote a note it did not worked, I removed the note and worked … I know! it is weird, but I am just sharing my weird experience in case this happens to someone else.

  5. Brian says

    It really worked like a charm on my site One thing i am beginning to learning about wordpress. Have you FTP app open and ready when handling any upgrades or plugins installs

  6. Muhammad Farooq says

    Sometimes 64M also doesn’t work try to change it to 128M, then it will work fine.
    Thanks for sharing this awesome info :)

  7. Troy Vayanos says

    I’ve been getting this error for a couple of weeks now and my host continually increases the memory but it still occurs when I’m doing updates and going in and out of my WP dashboard.

    Error below:

    Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 805306368 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 96 bytes) in /home/vwa9843/public_html/example.com/wp-includes/wp-db.php on line 1833

    I’ve checked the plugins and they are all low of memory they take up.

    Is there any other solution I could try?

    Thanks

  8. Pascal mutulu says

    Thanks,
    define(‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ’64M’);
    It worked for me in a second after 1week hustle.

  9. RetroMike says

    Nice one! Instafix :)

    (well… after opening loads of other tabs and not doing it for 10 minutes…)

  10. Shubham Singh says

    I’m getting this problem..please help me wp beginner..

    Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 67108864 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 786432 bytes) in /home/mom14isgod/public_html/wp-includes/SimplePie/Item.php on line 2736

  11. JK says

    Howdy,

    Where exactly should I place this in the wp-config.php file? Under what? Before what?

    Please help – I think this issue has made me a bit more insane!

    Ta
    JK

  12. sajid says

    sir i am trying to upload images in wordpress directory but after add images in wordpress page its not showing and also showing 404 error can you tell me the reason ?

  13. Sarah says

    Problem: Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 134217728 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 72 bytes) ..

    Solve: I sovle It

    step 1. Login Cpanel

    step 2. Go to Web root (public_html/www) click GO

    step 3 find php.ini OR .htaccess file

    edit php.ini OR .htaccess file

    max_execution_time = 30
    max_input_time = 60
    memory_limit = 128M

    TO

    max_execution_time = 30
    max_input_time = 60

    memory_limit = 512M

    Then solve my error.

    If any body face problem please contact me at

    • Shah Nasir says

      Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 67108864 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 18 bytes) in /home/unlockingportal/public_html/wp-content/plugins/Ultimate_VC_Addons/modules/Ultimate_List_Icon.php on line 147
      plz fix this i tried so many times with ur instructions but still i face same problem

    • Smith says

      I solve my problem flow your note but one more problem if you provided your contact i will helpfulness

    • faisal says

      hi. i have facing some issue with word press online. i worked locally on my machine then upload online, everything working fine, but my theme not editable online.

      HTTP ERROR 500

    • john says

      hello mate im having this problem with my wordpress can you help i already tried that what you post. best regards

    • Alpesh Desai says

      Bro I searched this but not found
      php.in

      and Found
      .htaccess

      but not showing memory limit please email me

    • saad says

      i had put up in the wpconfig.php
      define(‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘512M’); still i am facing the problem
      please help me out

  14. aqib says

    i am getting this eror when i publishig new post
    ”Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 33554432 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 77 bytes) in /home/veri85fa/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-23-related-posts-plugin/recommendations.php on line 57
    plz give sloution to fix this

  15. Ahmed says

    i don’t know how to thank you, i spent the whole day tryig to figure out what’s the problem with my site until i found this simple “memory increase” solution.

    THANK YOU

  16. Erick Ferrari says

    Thanks WP Beginner!

    It worked great with my website.

    As a suggestion: This happens due to the over usage of memory.

    In my case I had too many Plugins installed in my website.

    I deleted the unused plugins as well and the memory problem was solved easily.

    If you are planing for a robust website it is better to extend the memory on the config.php as you start to build the website.

    Thanks

    Erick

  17. gopi says

    front-end is working fine but when open the back-end i tried to access the menu section under appearance but when i clicked on it, it shows the Fatal Error of Memory exhausted.
    The error is

    Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 33554432 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 72 bytes) in /home/yyyyyy/public_html/yyyyyy.com/wp-includes/meta.php on line 838

    Please help me in this regard.

  18. sandy says

    I got this error when trying to install wordpress does anybody got in solution.

    Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 30 seconds exceeded in F:\xampp\htdocs\site1\wordpress\wp-admin\includes\misc.php on line 105

    thank you
    sandy

  19. Aldaz says

    New to word press how can I fix the following, any help is much appreciated.

    Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 134217728 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 6785803 bytes) in /home/content/p3pnexwpnas10_data01/69/2702869/html/wp-content/object-cache.php on line 574

  20. Gerhard says

    Also had the memory limit problem on edit.php for a custom post type. Found out that if the CPT is hierarchical wp loads all posts so if you dont need it to be hierarchical set it to false in the declaration.

    greets gerhard

  21. Dani says

    Thanks Sabi Hussain, it just fixed my problem. I saw every forum all adressing the same problem, I have 512M allowed with my server, and define in config.php for 128M but it wasn’t working till I saw your comment, best tip ever. It was overwriting what I define in config.php. Thanks a lot!

  22. David says

    Please how do I locate my Root WordPress Directory. Please explain with images to help me understand better. Thanks

  23. Ashlee says

    Hi;
    Supposed to be updating today and got the white screen of death. Went into wp-config.php and changed debug status to true which then popped up with this message. I’ve added the suggested code of both 64 and then 128. This is not working and my host says there is nothing they can do? They keep saying that i’m well below my capacity on my hosting account. I’m not sure they completely understand the issue? Is it something in regards to WordPress that they have to change or does it have to do with my memory space on their server.
    I hope this article isn’t too old and you can response quickly.
    – Ashlee

    • Doug says

      Hi Ashlee,

      If you have already changed your wp-includes/default-constants.php file, it could be the server. If you have access to WHM or a developer does who can change settings like max file size for upload.
      For example, if you are having issues with uploading files to WordPress because of their size this can be changed in WHM under Service Configuration > PHP Configuration Editor. You would want to change the upload_max_filesize field from 2M (default) to whatever file size you need.

  24. lootoffers says

    Fatal error: Cannot redeclare win_is_writable() (previously declared in /home/u805727311/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php:1684) in /home/u805727311/public_html/wp-admin/includes/misc.php on line 557

    Please solutions

  25. Dong says

    sorry but the suggested solution is not a fix for me.

    I am using a w3 cache plugin but it was not the culprit.
    I’ve increased memory in php.ini and wp-config.php to 512MB and I still get the Fatal error.

    the workaround was to stop non-important plugin and so far the site is OK (temporarily)

  26. Victoria Miller says

    Thanks SO much!

    I had created a child theme (my first) and couldn’t understand why just trying to Customize the Appearance in dashboard would cause a Server error. This fix define(‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘128M’); did the trick!!!!

  27. mrunmay phanse says

    Hey it worked awesome for me…… and thanks to that person who added 128m in comment… i used that tag and it worked =D thanks

  28. Kim says

    Hi Everyone – Is there a fix for this exact same problem, except instead of “/wp-includes/plugin.php” at the end of the error it’s ” /file.php” ?
    I’m still getting the error and I”m unable to update anything on my site. Thanks so much!

  29. Saskia says

    I have a white screen and cannot open the items in the wordpress directory (only SEO and guestbook). How to increase the memory?

  30. Pete Trenery says

    Thanks for the great tip – worked a treat.
    Unfortunately all we got after an initial upgrade to WordPress was the WSOD when attempting to login and edit our website.
    Your steps were clear and solved our issue – now able to access via admin login again.

  31. Henry says

    its great thanks , it worked after increase the memory limit up to 128mb

    define(‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘128M’);

  32. Abdul Qayoum says

    I installed a wordpress template and then demo content. After that i tried to access the menu section under appearance but when i clicked on it, it shows the Fatal Error of Memory exhausted.
    The error is

    Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 67108864 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 28593220 bytes) in /home/xxxx/public_html/xxxxxx.com/wp-admin/includes/nav-menu.php on line 1198

    Please help me in this regard.

  33. Phil says

    Perfect

    added
    128mb to remove error as short term solution
    contacted hosting to see if there needs to be a longer term answer also getting php versions updated as well

    added on top line after php tag
    /** Memory Limit */
    define(‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘128M’);

  34. Kasra Khosravi says

    Thanks for the great article. I encountered this problem and I used a setting in “All in One SEO Pack” to increase the memory limit.

Leave a Reply to aisha 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.