WordPress Emailed Me: 'Your Site Is Experiencing a Technical Issue'

What's happening

This automatic email from WordPress means a plugin or theme hit a serious error and crashed part of your site. The first safe thing to do is read the email to see which plugin or theme it names, then visit your site and the page linked in the email to see what's actually broken.

Visitors to the affected pages usually see "There has been a critical error on this website." Sometimes the whole site is down. Other times only one page, a form, the checkout, or the dashboard is affected, and the site looks fine at first glance.

Your content is almost always still safe. WordPress caught the crash and told you about it, which is the feature doing its job.

The email also includes a "recovery mode" link. It lets you log in to your dashboard with the broken plugin or theme paused, but only for you. Visitors keep seeing the error until the real fix is in. The link only works for a limited time, and WordPress sends a new one if the error happens again.

Why it happens

The usual trigger is an update. A plugin, theme, or WordPress itself updated, sometimes automatically, and something no longer fits together. An old version of PHP (the language WordPress runs on), a hosting change, or two plugins that don't get along can do the same. If you see a blank white page with no message instead, that's a close cousin: the white screen of death.

What you can safely try

• Read the whole email and keep it. It names the plugin or theme WordPress blamed and the page where the error happened. The technical details at the bottom help whoever fixes it.
• Think back to what changed. A recent update or a new plugin usually lines up with the first email.
• If you use the recovery link, look but don't delete. Deactivating a plugin can be undone. Deleting one can wipe its settings. If the plugin runs your store, forms, or bookings, leave it to us.
• Hold off on more updates or installs until it's fixed. Stacking changes makes the cause harder to find.

When to call us

We work on business websites, and this is a standard repair for us. We find the exact error behind the email, fix it or swap out the plugin that caused it, and check your key pages, forms, and checkout afterward. We fix it at a flat rate you approve before any work starts. Start with our Site Down or Critical Error Fix.