This critical ‘Missing a temporary folder’ error in WordPress is a serious one.
We’ve found that it can prevent you from uploading images, updating themes and plugins, and even updating the WordPress core, severely hindering the functionality of your website.
In this article, we will walk you through the steps to easily fix the ‘Missing a temporary folder’ error in WordPress so that your website operates smoothly and efficiently.
What Causes ‘Missing a Temporary Folder’ Error in WordPress?
Is your WordPress website displaying the ‘Missing a temporary folder’ error? This common WordPress error is caused by incorrect PHP settings in your WordPress hosting environment.
There is a specific PHP setting that defines a temporary folder that apps like WordPress can use to temporarily store data. WordPress needs access to this temporary folder when you upload an image, install or update a plugin or theme, or update WordPress core.
If the location of this folder is not defined in your server’s PHP configuration, then WordPress will be unable to do any of these things and will show you the ‘Missing a temporary folder’ error.
You might want to reach out to your hosting provider and ask them to fix this for you. If you are not happy with the technical support you receive, then consider switching to a better WordPress hosting company.
Having said that, it’s also possible to fix the error yourself using a workaround. Let’s take a look at how to easily fix the ‘Missing a temporary folder’ error in WordPress.
How to Fix ‘Missing a Temporary Folder’ Error in WordPress
For this tutorial, you will need to edit the wp-config.php WordPress configuration file. If you haven’t done this before, then see our guide on how to edit the wp-config.php file in WordPress.
First, you will need to connect to your website using an FTP client or the file manager found in the cPanel dashboard of your web hosting account.
Next, you will need to locate the wp-config.php file and edit it.
You need to paste the following code snippet to the file just before the line that says, ‘That’s all, stop editing! Happy publishing.’
define('WP_TEMP_DIR', dirname(__FILE__) . '/wp-content/temp/');
Save your changes and upload the wp-config.php file back to your website.
Next, you need to go to the /wp-content/folder and create a new folder inside it. You should name this new folder temp.
That’s all. You can now visit your WordPress admin area and try uploading an image.
If you still see the ‘Missing temporary folder’ error message, then you will need to check the folder permissions for your wp-content folder.
Using your FTP client, go to the root folder of your WordPress site. After that, you should right-click on the wp-content folder and select ‘File permissions…’
This will bring up the file permissions dialog box. Now you need to enter 755 in the numeric value field.
Then you can click on the ‘OK’ button to continue.
You should now be able to upload images and perform updates on your WordPress site.
We hope this tutorial helped you learn how to fix the ‘Missing a temporary folder’ error in WordPress. You may also want to see our guide on how to set up WordPress error logs or our expert pick of the most common WordPress errors and how to fix them.
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Jacob Mathew
If the above details is not working, Please check and verify whether upload_tmp_dir is enabled or disabled in your hosting provider’s configuration.
If you need to verify this setting, you can check the php.ini file or use phpinfo() to see the current configuration
In the php.ini file, you specify the temporary upload directory using the upload_tmp_dir directive. Here’s how to do it:
Locate the php.ini File:
Use the phpinfo() method to find the exact path if you haven’t already.
Edit the php.ini File:
Open the php.ini file in your preferred text editor. For example:bashCopy codesudo nano /etc/php/{version}/fpm/php.ini
Find the upload_tmp_dir setting. (Search for upload_tmp_dir. If it’s not present, add it)
Specify the Temporary Folder:
Add or update the line to specify the path to your temporary directory:iniCopy codeupload_tmp_dir = /path/to/your/temp/folder
Replace /path/to/your/temp/folder with the actual path where you want PHP to store temporary files. For example, it might be /var/lib/php/sessions.
Save and Exit:
Save the changes and exit the text editor (e.g., Ctrl + X, then Y to confirm in nano).
Restart PHP-FPM version and Nginx or Apache
WPBeginner Support
While that is possible to do, for most users we would recommend reaching out to their hosting provider and the host can normally check the status of upload_tmp_dir if that is the root of the issue should the other methods in our guide not solve the problem
Admin
Rojin
I had the “Missing temporary folder” error today, with only one site, and the problem was an old theme. I temporarily switched theme to one of the default WordPress themes.
define(‘WP_TEMP_DIR’, dirname(__FILE__) . ‘/wp-content/temp/’);
This code and even the steps did not worked for me. Do you have any other methods to solve the issue.
WPBeginner Support
If none of these methods worked for you, we would recommend reaching out to your hosting provider and see if they possibly have a setting that is overriding what you’re trying to do.
Admin
RT Helan
I tried as you mention but still not working
WPBeginner Support
If the methods from this guide do not solve the issue, we would recommend reaching out to your hosting provider for them to take a look at your folder permissions for you.
Admin
Luan Roloff
I had the same problem when uploading new media files, updating my theme solved this problem for me.
WPBeginner Support
Glad that solved the issue for you and thanks for sharing what worked for you
Admin
Brian Coogan
I had the “Missing temporary folder” error today, with only one site, and the problem was an old theme. I temporarily switched theme to one of the default WordPress themes (‘twentytwentyone’) and the error disappeared, at least in my case. I could see a whole bunch of JS errors in the browser console log (F12 in Chrome).
I did check out the temporary folder stuff above, but it didn’t seem to be key for me. Worth noting that my theme was VERY old and VERY broken (ie: PHP 5.6 days!), but just mentioning this in case someone else like me has tried everything else!
I didn’t have time to check out what was happening in the code to produce this message, but just wanting to confirm that there’s at least one cause. In my case I’m the host and I’m sure the other sites on the server had no problem.
WPBeginner Support
Thanks for sharing what caused this issue for you should someone else be looking for a reason
Admin
Shahzad Ghafoor
I have edit wp-config.php and created a temp folder but also there is error and not going to upload any file except after doing this I can just find and install themes and plugins but can’t upload from pc.
WPBeginner Support
If the first method in this guide did not work for you, we would recommend following the steps in our troubleshooting section.
Admin
Mel
Thanks for this info. I had a site that had no issues previously with upgrading and then all of a sudden nothing would work – upgrades, uploads, etc. This fixed it. Thanks so much!
WPBeginner Support
Glad our guide was helpful
Admin
Paula Stewart
Thank you so much for this, it really was easy to follow.
WPBeginner Support
You’re welcome
Admin
Jigisha
Thank you. It worked perfectly.
WPBeginner Support
You’re welcome
Admin
Rabswudil
Thank you so Much, God Bless you
WPBeginner Support
Glad our guide was helpful
Admin
Thami
Hi all. Unfortunately I have tried to find the wp-config.php file in my cpanel, without any luck. It is just not there.
WPBeginner Support
You may want to check with your hosting provider to ensure you are connected to the correct folder for your site
Admin
Siloru
Thank you!! You saved my nerves…
Mohsin
Thanks’ it worked for me.
Rowan
Also this error shows up when you have reached your disk quota. I get many clients emailing me about this, but they’ve just been uploading huge files and their web hosting is full. Clear some space and it’ll work again.
AR Badhon
Thanks for Suggest..
but i’m tried , before i’ll can’t upload . finish set to set guide line.
pls Anyothers way
evans kyei
Add From Server plugin saved my time. it’s easy to use, just upload your image through ftp and use Add from sever plugin to import to your Media Library.