Encountered the “Failed to load resource” WordPress error we all dread? It’s not only annoying, but there is no universal cause for it. Such a vague message can be caused by a variety of things – a missing image, video, document, script, JavaScript, or even a jQuery element. It could pop up when you make a change to the SSL certificate, e.g. transition from HTTP to HTTPS. Additionally, some see the error when accessing the WordPress Admin Section while others see it on the frontend. It’s obvious this will require a bit of troubleshooting. Here are potential solutions on how to fix “Failed to load resource” error in WordPress.
1. Locate the missing resource (if it exists)
Does the error specify which resource isn’t loading? Check by doing this in Google Chrome.
- Right-click on your website frontend and select Inspect.
You can also press Control + Shift + I on your keyboard. - Switch over to the Console tab.
- On the right side, you will see which resources are blocked.
If they’re caused by multimedia, simply delete the old one and reupload. You can also choose a different name and then change the necessary links accordingly. If you’re having trouble, here’s how to fix the image upload issue and blank thumbnails in WordPress. For scripts, PHP, CSS, and other types of files, it’s most likely blocked by a plugin or the plugin/theme that uses them is malfunctioning. Keep reading.
2. Deactivate your security or antivirus plugins
As the name suggests, the “Failed to load resource” error happens when WordPress is unable to load and display a file, script, CSS style, or something that should be present. In our experience, security plugins for WordPress, including antivirus ones, often block access to such resources. This results in an additional message such as ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED or the server responded with a status of 404 (Not Found). Check the list of installed WordPress plugins of this type. Follow the same steps in the guide, only this time a Deactivate option will be available instead of Activate.
3. Check your file and folder permissions
Here’s a quick guide to configuring the file and folder permissions in WordPress. If you need any additional explanation, check the 1st method of our guide to solving the “Upload: Failed to write file to disk” error in WordPress.
4. Update or verify your WordPress URL
We’ve discussed this as a source of the WordPress keeps logging out and WordPress login page refreshing/redirecting issues. It could be tied to your upgrade to the SSL certificate but it doesn’t have to be. Follow Method 4 in the first guide we linked. Double-check the information is correct and identical in both rows.
5. Update themes and plugins
If deactivating didn’t help, it’s possible that updating will. WordPress developers are working on fixing bugs all the time. Who knows, maybe the problematic plugin or theme was fixed in the latest one. Once again, go to the Plugins or Themes section of WordPress Dashboard, and you’ll see a message such as an Update Available (2) or an Update option near the plugin/theme description.
6. Deactivate all plugins and your active theme temporarily
This is a useful solution if the “Failed to load resource” error in WordPress locked you out of the WordPress Admin Section. Simply access your WordPress website via FTP and start by disabling all of the plugins. If this fixed the issue, you know one of the plugins is the culprit. Enable plugins one at a time until you narrow down the suspect.
In the case of themes, there is not a lot of guesswork involved. Disable your active theme temporarily. Unless you disabled default WordPress themes, the website will revert to one of them.
7. What to do if you found a faulty plugin or theme
In our opinion, you have 4 options.
- Find an alternative theme or plugin that doesn’t produce this error.
- Contact the developers and provide the information they ask of you. They can release an update.
These two options also apply if you weren’t able to diagnose the problem.
- Reach out to your hosting customer support. They might look into it. At the very least, they can clean your WordPress cache or transfer your files to another server.
- Hire a knowledgeable web designer. That person should be able to troubleshoot the issue and find a solution.