Being faced with the annoying “Temporary folder missing” error in WordPress can make anyone want to tear their hair out. Suddenly, you find yourself blocked, unable to upgrade your themes and plugins or upload new files and images. A real headache, isn’t it?
But take a deep breath, there is a solution. In this WordPress guide, we’ll dive into the possible reasons behind this problem and, best of all, how to solve it quickly. Let’s go!
Why does this damn error appear in WordPress?
This annoying message appears when a folder’s permissions are out of place in your hosting environment. WordPress uses a temporary folder to store temporary files before moving them to their proper positions. If the permissions on this folder aren’t set correctly, WordPress simply can’t handle these temporary files, and that’s the reason for the error. This is why you may be struggling to upload images and files, or even to update themes and the WordPress core itself.
What’s more, you may have accidentally deleted this temporary folder. A total disaster!
Now, let’s get down to business: how to fix this problem quickly.
How to solve the missing temporary folder error in WordPress
Calm down, the solution is easier than it looks. All you have to do is tinker with the wp-config.php file. Follow these steps to resolve the error:
- Log in to your account using an FTP client or the File Manager in the hosting control panel.
Find the wp-config.php file and open it for editing. It is usually hidden in the WordPress installation root folder (the famous public_html). - After opening the file, paste the code below before the line that says ‘That’s all, stop editing! Happy blogging’ or the English version ‘That’s all, stop editing! Happy publishing’.
define('WP_TEMP_DIR', dirname(FILE) . '/wp-content/temp/');Your code will look like this:
In our example, we add the code snippet on line 86
- Save the file and upload the updated wp-config.php to your site again.
- Here comes the easy part. Go to the /wp-content folder and create a new folder inside it called “temp”. (without quotes)
Now, log into the WordPress control panel and try uploading the files again. Voilà, problem solved!
Conclusion
We hope this guide has been useful in getting you out of this error. It’s simple, to the point and will save you a lot of headaches.
See you next time!
