Are you seeing the HTTP error while uploading media in WordPress? This error usually occurs when you are uploading an image or other files to WordPress using the built-in media uploader. In this article, we will show you how to easily fix the HTTP image upload error in WordPress.
What Causes HTTP Error During Media Upload in WordPress?
There are a number of things that could lead to a HTTP error when you are trying to upload files using the WordPress media uploader. Basically, WordPress is unable to figure out the cause and that’s why it displays the generic ‘HTTP error’ message.
The frustrating part is that this error message doesn’t give you any clue as to what may have caused it. This means that you will have to try different solutions to find the cause and fix the error.
That being said, let’s take a look at how to troubleshoot and fix the HTTP error during media upload in WordPress.
1. Make Sure The HTTP Error is Not Temporary
First, you should wait a few minutes and then try uploading your image file again. This error is sometimes caused by unusual traffic and low server resources, which are automatically fixed on most WordPress hosting servers.
If that doesn’t work, then you may want to try uploading a different image file. If the other file uploads successfully, then try saving your original image file to a smaller size and retry uploading.
Lastly, you may want to try saving the file to a different format. For example, change jpeg to png using an image editing software. After that, retry uploading the file.
If all these steps result in the HTTP error, then this means that the error is not caused by a temporary glitch and definitely needs your immediate attention.
2. Increase WordPress Memory Limit
The most common cause of this error is lack of memory available for WordPress to use. To fix this, you need to increase the amount of memory PHP can use on your server.
You can do this by adding the following code to your wp-config.php file.
define( 'WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M' );
This code increases the WordPress memory limit to 256MB, which would be enough to fix any memory limit issues.
3. Change Image Editor Library Used by WordPress
WordPress runs on PHP which uses two modules to handle images. These modules are called GD Library and Imagick. WordPress may use either one of them depending on which one is available.
However, Imagick is known to often run into memory issues causing the http error during image uploads. To fix this, you can make the GD Library your default image editor.
You can do this by simply adding this code to your theme’s functions.php file or a site-specific plugin.
function wpb_image_editor_default_to_gd( $editors ) {
$gd_editor = 'WP_Image_Editor_GD';
$editors = array_diff( $editors, array( $gd_editor ) );
array_unshift( $editors, $gd_editor );
return $editors;
}
add_filter( 'wp_image_editors', 'wpb_image_editor_default_to_gd' );
After adding this code, you can retry uploading files using the media uploader. If this doesn’t solve the issue, then you can remove this code and try other methods described in this article.
4. Using The .htaccess Method
This method allows you to control how Imagick uses server resources. Many shared hosting providers limit Imagick’s ability to use multiple threads for faster image processing. However, this would result in you seeing the http error when uploading images.
An easy fix is be to add the following code in your .htaccess file:
SetEnv MAGICK_THREAD_LIMIT 1
This code simply limits Imagick to use a single thread to process images.
We hope this article helped you fix the HTTP error during media upload in WordPress. You may also want to see our WordPress troubleshooting guide as well as the ultimate list of most common WordPress errors and how to fix them.
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Setting GD as my preferred upload method worked for me.
Thanks for sharing which solution Worked for you
Method #4 worked for me. It seems my host was limiting the plugins processing power. Thanks for sharing these solutions.
Glad our guide could help
Another common problem for this is that you used an apostrophe in the file name. I just encountered this problem
Thanks for sharing what solved the problem for you
Thanks a lot, it worked!
Glad our tutorial worked for you
Hi,
Thanks a million for this. Method 3 worked for me.
Glad our article could help
#3 is super
Thank you
I have tried all the methods as mentioned above but none of these worked for me. So I contacted the service provider. They resolve the issue.
They have refreshed and whitelist another IP for me and it works.
Hope this may help for you too.
Thanks for sharing what worked for you
Go into Jetpack and disable the CDN option was how I fixed mine.
Thanks for sharing your solution to this problem
i have try all the methods above but still not working with me
Have you reached out to your hosting provider to ensure they don’t see any errors on their end?
Thanks guys, it worked. Fantastic solution.
You’re welcome, glad our guide could help
don’t need to follow all step you just need to re-login your website and clear your temp files, that ok
For some people maybe, for others, they do require all of the steps in the article.
#3 works perfectly. Thank you wpbeginner team.
Glad our article could help
OMG, I can’t believe! #3 works perfectly. Thank you for this tutorial!
Glad our article could help
not worked with any method
If none of the methods in this article worked, you may want to reach out to your hosting provider to try the general troubleshooting steps in our article: https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/beginners-guide-to-troubleshooting-wordpress-errors-step-by-step/
I tried Option 3. Now my entire home page is blank. Individual pages are still there. The Sidebar is still visible, but the rest of the home page is blank.
Please help if possible.
Thank you,
Sandy
You may want to ensure you didn’t change your homepage settings while troubleshooting and have you removed the code to see if that solved the missing content?
Worked like charm Option 3.
While My wordpress admin panel is slow.. Working on it. Any guide?
You may want to try disabling your plugins to see if one of your plugins could be slowing the admin area.
Method #3 worked like a charm
Glad our guide could help
Thank a lot ! 3rd option worked for me.
Glad our article could help
Thank you sir, its working (3rd one worked for me)
Glad our article could help
Hello,
I have tried all of them steps, and none has worked, I am not sure what else to do at this point , as i’m on limited time and would need this fixed , if any other ideas please do help. Thank you so much
You may want to reach out to your hosting provider to see if they see any errors on their end that could be causing the issue.
Thanks. It works by changing the default image file library.
Glad our article could help solve the issue
thank you so much, 3rd solution did the trick.
Glad our article could help
Number 3! Pow! Now lets hope in shows up in other browsers!
Glad our article could help
Hello brother… Thanks for your article ..
#3 Solved the issue ..
Thanks again ..
Glad our tutorial could help
Hi,
thanks for this guide. Unfortunately, all these ideas did not work for me. Today, in an attempt to remove the “website is on partially safe” SSL certificate message, I used “Search and Replace” plugin to search my databases for “http” and changed those to “https”. That’s the only thing I could relate to this error, but since I am no expert on this, I don’t know how and if I can fix this or how I can undo these changes. Any help?
For your site having mixed content you would want to take a look at our SSL issues article rather than this one: https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-fix-common-ssl-issues-in-wordpress-beginners-guide/
Hi i get the http error everytime i upload an image over 4mbs. I have contacted my web designer and host and they have both tried to load images over 15mbs and it is working for them. However, i have tried mulitple computers on different internet connections and i still get the http error. Can u please help?
If none of the methods in this article resolve the issue you may want to try creating a new user to see if it is due to an issue with your user or the general troubleshooting steps in: https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/beginners-guide-to-troubleshooting-wordpress-errors-step-by-step/
I just wanted to comment, #3 definitely helped with 503 error/http error when uploading pictures sometime. Other time, upload pictures fine.
Thanks for sharing and glad our article could help resolve the issue
Sir in the function.php where should i put the code??? {in the end or In the middle}
You would normally want to put added code at the end in case you need to edit or remove the code later
Thank you so much! The third option worked for me!
Glad our guide could help
In my case, I simply logged out of the dashboard and right back in and the problem was cleared.
Thanks for sharing that, it sounds like either your caching had a hiccup or you ran into one of the server issues
You can’t imagine the level stress of this HTTP thing has created on me. Number 3 is my lifesaver. Thank you for posting this.
Glad our article could help
Thanks! Option 3 work for me.
Glad our recommendation worked
Thanks…Method 3 did it well
Glad our article could help
I had about 10 pictures to upload and repeatedly got the HTTP error for 3 of them. I finally sussed that those three had an apostrophe in the file name!!! Doh! Removing the apostrophe was the solution.
Thanks for sharing your solution, glad you were able to get the files uploaded
Thanks, Number 3 did the trick. Awesome tutorial.
No. 3 worked for me too. Thank you for this!
Glad our article could help
Thanks for this! Number 3 fixed my problem
#2 worked for me. Easy peasy. Thanks for helping me fix it.
Hey William,
Glad you found it helpful. Don’t forget to join us on Twitter for more WordPress tips and tutorials.
This issue really stressed me up. No 3 solved my problem.
Thanks
3 worked for me too. I copied right at the end of function.php in Appearance > editor of WordPress
Hi there,
Option 3 is working for me! Thank you so much this was driving me insane!!!
Before I tried any of these solutions. I tried logging out of WordPress and logging back in, and suddenly I stopped getting the error message. So, you might want to try that first.
I’ve noticed that this keeps happening to me with files that contain apostrophes in the filename. When I remove it, they upload fine
Perhaps try to remove the ‘ ?
THANK YOU! Removing the ‘ worked for me
Thank you! This was driving me crazy, had been trying to solve this for a friend for days
No. 3 works, thanks.
None of these worked for me. After some more researching, I found that putting this bit of code at the bottom of the .htaccess worked for me:
# Exclude the file upload and WP CRON scripts from authentication
Satisfy Any
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
Deny from none
Don’t forget to back up your .htaccess file first just in case!
None worked. Pls help!
Number 4 worked for me!!! Thanks so much!
No. 3 worked a charm.
Thank you so much!
Please can will this solutions work on a localhost installation of wordpress?
These methods should work with localhost, the memory limit may need to be modified using the program for your server such as MAMP or WAMP