How to Fix Image Upload Issue in WordPress

Tried to upload an image to your WordPress website, but ran into trouble? Whether you’re a beginner or a longtime administrator, the problem can happen out of the blue. Although it’s quite common, it can be especially confusing if you uploaded a bunch of pictures recently, and nothing was out of the ordinary. The answer to, “how to fix image upload issue in WordPress?” isn’t always clear. However, doing the troubleshooting using the steps below will most likely lead you to a solution. When you are ready, let’s go through the list of usual culprits for the WordPress picture upload problem.

1. Alter file permissions

This is typically the resolution to your problems, which is why we put it in the first place. Not only that, but we even wrote an entire guide on steps required to fix file and folder permissions error in WordPress. If that wasn’t clear enough, we also demonstrated the process in FileZilla, an FTP client, in our guide on fixing the “Upload: Failed to write file to disk” WordPress error. The problem obviously occurs with images as well.

2. Solve the blank thumbnails problem in WordPress

Once again, a very common issue. Even though it technically uploads the file, it leaves all thumbnails blank and often prevents you from editing the picture in any way. Because it happened to us too, we wrote an in-depth explanation on how to fix blank thumbnails in WordPress Media Library.

3. Rename the image

Does the picture you’re trying to upload have special characters? We’re talking ñ, á, é, ỉ, ȋ, ĩ, or even more common characters such as #, &, *, $, or %? If so, you might try replacing them with a common character, a word, or deleting them altogether.

4. Optimize/compress the image

Uploading an image that’s too large can be very detrimental to your website. Simply put, there’s no need for a picture with a massive resolution. Although sharp, it will most likely be multiple times wider than your website’s content, hog your storage, slow down your website, and your visitors might never look at it more than once. Do this to check.

1. Access your WordPress Admin Section.
2. Click on the Settings option in the menu on the left, then select Media.
3. In the Media Settings page, check the maximum allowed dimensions.

You can also try to find comparable images and check their size. This is useful if you’re editing a theme template and just want switch the default image. If that doesn’t work, feel free to experiment. You can do it in draft mode, and publish the changes later. When you get the right size, edit the image in Photoshop, GIMP, or via an online image resize website. Afterward, utilize the free image compression websites such as TinyJPG or CompressJPEG. Alternatively, you can download third-party software such as Caesium Image Compressor.

If you are still struggling to upload, you might have to increase the maximum file upload size limit. Unfortunately, you might still get a 413 Request Entity Too Large error. Luckily, as you can see, that issue can be solved too.

5. Fix non-functioning Add Media button

Some people struggle with this issue due to a malfunctioning function, theme, or plugin. And although it still allows you to upload an image after you access your WordPress website via FTP, it’s not always convenient. For that reason, it’s best if you learn how to fix Add Media button not working in WordPress.

6. Clear the WordPress cache

Follow these steps to clear the cache on WordPress manually. It’s possible that the issue of uploading images to WordPress will be gone afterward.

7. Increase the WordPress memory limit

We’ve already demonstrated how the WordPress memory exhausted error fix works. If that doesn’t do the trick, you might want to try to disable multi-threading on your image processor. This isn’t always advised but might help with your particular hosting.

1. In the same root WordPress directory, find the file named .htaccess.
2. Right-click on it, and select View/Edit.
3. Add this line:
   SetEnv MAGICK_THREAD_LIMIT 1
4. Save the file and try to upload again.
5. If it makes no difference, feel free to remove the line and save changes.

8. Increase your website storage capability

If you tried all of the solutions above and didn’t get rid of the problem, it’s time to face the truth. Your image upload problem most likely stems from the lack of storage space. This is common, especially if you bought a cheap hosting plan, not expecting your website to flourish. Luckily, it can be solved easily. Upgrade to a more expensive payment plan, and your hosting will help you transition.

9. Temporarily disable plugins or themes

Before you go ahead and delete a WordPress theme, it’s best you temporarily deactivate it to test things out. The same applies to the latest WordPress plugin you installed. Ultimately, you can disable all plugins, and test whether the upload error persists. If that was the problem, you can slowly disable plugins one by one until you find the one responsible. We made a step-by-step guide on this in our guides on how to fix the WordPress white screen of death.

10. Upgrade your PHP version

This is a desperate attempt to solve the image upload issue in WordPress. However, it has a decent chance to work if your PHP version is vastly outdated. Check the last paragraph (Contact your hosting) in the “This site is Experiencing Technical Difficulties” error fix article to find out how.