How to Increase WordPress Memory Limit

Are you getting a WordPress error that says “Allowed Memory Size Exhausted”?

This is one of the most popular WordPress errors. Though it is simple to increase the WordPress memory limit in just a few steps. 

It’s a WordPress rite of passage to deal with fatal errors. It happens to everybody at some point. 

If you have a hypermedia-heavy website, the regular WP setup will not be sufficient for you, and you will need to upgrade at some stage.

In this article, we’ll guide you on how to increase the WordPress PHP memory limit to correct the WP memory limit or WP memory exhausted error.

What is WordPress Memory Limit Exhausted Error?

PHP is a server-side programming language, and WordPress is written in it. For PHP to work properly, every website needs a WordPress hosting provider.

Web servers operate in the same way as any other device. They need memory to run several applications effectively at the same time. Different programs in WP are allotted different amounts of memory limit by server administrators.

Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 67108864 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 2348617 bytes) in /home4/xxx/public_html/wp-includes/plugin.php on line xxx Or Fatal error: allowed memory size of 41943040 bytes exhausted

This error message appears when your WordPress code needs more memory limit than the default allocated memory limitation.

What is the WordPress PHP memory limit?

PHP is the server-side programming language that creates the website’s HTML pages. 

PHP is a versatile, dynamic programming language that can process WordPress interrogations, perform calculations, and more, but it requires memory to do so.

WordPress’s default memory limit is 32MB, but it’s normal if you’re in need to raise it. For example, WooCommerce recommends a WordPress memory limit of 64MB.

As WordPress hits the default memory limit, it will try to raise it to 40MB for single-site installations and 64MB for multisite installations. If that isn’t enough, a fatal error message line will appear.

Unless you installed a plugin that requires more memory, a memory limit of 128MB should suffice for most pages. Install the Server IP & Memory Use Display plugin to see how much memory each plugin consumes.

You can deactivate plugins to see how they affect memory use after you activate the Server IP and Memory Usage Display plugin. To avoid overloading your server, high-quality, all-in-one plugins can make efficient use of memory.

Why does WordPress demand more memory limit, to start with?

To increase the memory limit one needs to increase the maximum upload size in the WordPress wp-config.php memory limit file. 

However, there’s an issue you should be cautious about. Increasing the memory limit will make WordPress inefficiencies harder to identify.

Before you increase the WordPress Memory Limit, I recommend that you first try to figure out what is consuming more memory. More resources thrown at a problem can sometimes end up costing much more in the long term, particularly if you have plans to upgrade the host.

Inefficiencies in WordPress can lead to a sluggish site and a bad user experience. But to get the solution you need to identify the root of the problem, which can help you solve a variety of problems down the road.

Just 4.4% of WordPress websites use the most recent version of PHP, and 64% uses the older version that no longer receives active updates.

Upgrading your hosting server’s PHP to the most recent version would make WordPress more effective and eliminate the need to raise the memory capacity in WordPress.

What is the Maximum Upload Limit in WordPress? 

The maximum upload limit in WordPress refers to the largest file size that WordPress can accept for uploads. The maximum upload capacity in WordPress can be found on the media library upload screen. 

Although this is beneficial to your host, it also improves the efficiency of your site. Large image file uploads, for example, perform poorly on your web because they take a long time to download and present.

If your images are a little too big for their container or you haven’t compressed them, you can fix those issues first because they address the root of the problem, which is not properly enhancing your assets. For more details, see our guide on how you can speed up your website.

How to Increase PHP Memory Limit and Maximum Upload Limit in WordPress:

There are three options you can use if you do need to raise the memory capacity and uploading limit in WordPress.

Now let’s get started! 😃

Edit your wp-config.php file

Since it contains your basic configuration information, wp-config.php memory is one of the most popular WordPress files. It’s in the root directory of your wp file system.

Look for this line to edit the memory and upload limits on the wp-config.php memory file:

WordPress Minimum Memory:

define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '40M');

Increase the value of the second parameter. As previously stated, a PHP memory limit of ‘wp_memory_limit, 128M’ should be sufficient.

define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '128M');

You’re good to go with this wp config.php method. However, If you’re still having a fatal error, you might need to increase it again. But don’t go too far or your server will crash. Or you can seek assistance from your host.

Edit your PHP.ini file

If changing the wp-config.php file doesn’t solve the problem, you’ll have to deal with the problem in your server settings.

You won’t be able to access your PHP.ini file if you’re using shared hosting. If you do have access to PHP.ini. It’s most likely in the root folder, but the file’s location varies by the host. 

Here’s what you need to do:

• Locate or find your php.ini file. If you can’t find it, simply build your php.ini file and save it in the WordPress installation’s root directory.
• Use your favorite editor to open and edit your php.ini file.
• Look for the line that says ‘memory limit = 32M’.
• Change the 32M or some other number to the desired limit (e.g. 256M or 512M).
• Restart your localhost or server after saving your changes.

Note: If you’ve made your own php.ini file, you’ll need to add the following line to it:

memory_limit = 256M (or 512M)

In certain instances, as you progress down the list from line one to line three, the values you add can grow larger. The ‘memory limit’ should be the biggest, while the ‘upload max filesize’ should be the lowest. And the ‘post max size’ should be the median.

Clear your browser’s cookies before checking if the error has disappeared.

Edit your .htaccess file

If you don’t have access to PHP.ini, you’ll have to edit your .htaccess file as a last resort. Since it is a secret file, the .htaccess file begins with a mark. Check to see if your SFTP file manager is keeping some files hidden from view if you don’t see them in your root folder.

Here are the details you need to add to your .htaccess file to increase the WordPress memory limit:

php_value memory_limit 256M


php_value upload_max_filesize 12M


php_value post_max_size 13M

Increase the PHP memory caption if it hasn’t already been set. And more detailed information please check out our latest blog Fatal Error Solution below:

Wrapping Up

It can be nerve-wracking to configure the server and deal with fatal errors of increasing the memory limit in the WordPress website. The procedure you must follow is highly dependent on the hosting company you choose, which is why getting a reliable host is so critical. They will assist you in locating and modifying the settings that need to be changed.

However, increasing the wp memory limit for your website through the wp-config file is the easiest method you can count on, the other two can be a little down the line. 

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