How to fix “an error that occurred in the upload. please try again later.” Error? (7 solutions)

Seems you have come across the error message “An error occurred in the upload. Please try again later.” while trying to upload an image or any media on your WordPress site. And searching for a solution to fix this issue. If so, you’re in the right place.

One thing you should keep in mind is that: this particular error is not as severe as it might look. While it can happen due to various reasons, you do not need to worry about it. The best part is that anyone can easily fix this issue by following the simple troubleshooting methods, that you get to know in this blog.

So keep reading the entire post til the end and learn the simple steps to fix the ‘AN ERROR OCCURRED IN THE UPLOAD. PLEASE TRY AGAIN LATER.’ error without any issue.

Without further ado, let’s dive in!”

1. Switch to a Different browser

It’s also possible that the HTTP error “An error occurred in the upload. Please try again later.” could be caused by an unexpected factor, such as your web browser. The cause doesn’t always have to be the website; your browser might unexpectedly be the reason.

It has been found that Google Chrome, undoubtedly the most popular web browser with a significant market share, has exhibited this error the most number of times. Therefore, switching to an alternate browser will allow you to confirm whether the error is triggered due to browser-related issues or originates from the website itself.

2. Clear your browser Cache

Occasionally, this HTTP error can occur due to a corrupted local cache in your browser. The most effective way to address this is by simply clearing your browser’s cache and cookies.

If you are using Chrome browser, Go to Settings > Privacy and Security > Clear browsing data > You can uncheck the Browsing History and let cookies and other site data, as well as cache images, be checked > Clear data.

Alternatively, you can directly enter this address into your Chrome browser: chrome://settings/privacy. It will take you to the privacy settings where you can click on “Clear browsing data“.

In the pop-up window, you will see plenty of other options, but you have to choose as follows:

• Select the time range as “All time”.
• Select cookies and other site data as well as Cache images (you can also select browsing history)
• Click on the Clear Data button.

3. Check Folder Permissions

Make sure that the upload folder has the correct permissions set. It is because, sometimes your WordPress can get infected with malware or hacked and various permissions revoked. Therefore, it becomes essential for you to verify the permissions of the upload folder before proceeding further.

The main folder to be concerned about is /wp-content/uploads. This is the folder where all files are stored which are uploaded via the media library.

You can use the FTP client to see the permission of your uploads folder.

According to the WordPress Codex, all directories should be 755 (drwxr-xr-x) or 750.

4. Faulty WordPress Plugins

If you have recently installed a new plugin, especially an image optimization plugin, and you started experiencing the ‘An error occurred in the upload. Please try again later.’ error, there’s a higher chance that the plugin might be faulty and causing the issue. Image optimization plugins, in particular, are often known for causing such problems.

If this is the case, you should first temporarily deactivate or disable your image optimization plugin and try to upload the files again. If the error disappears, it means there is something wrong with your current image optimization plugin. You should switch to a different and better image optimization plugin.

However, if you haven’t installed any image optimization plugins, temporarily disable all the plugins. After that try to upload files again. If this doesn’t resolve the issue, you can move to below more troubleshooting steps.

5. Increase WordPress Memory Limit

Another factor that can cause this upload error is the inadequate memory allocation for WordPress to use when uploading files. This type of issue is commonly encountered in shared WordPress hosting.

This not only triggers the ‘An error occurred in the upload. Please try again later.’ The message can also lead to problems like the ‘503 Service Unavailable‘ error.

To resolve this, you need to increase the memory limit of WordPress, enabling PHP to utilize more server resources.

To increase the memory limit within WordPress, insert the provided code into your wp-config.php file. This file can be located in the main directory of your website.

define( 'WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M' );

The above code will increase the memory limit of WordPress to 256MB, which will be sufficient to upload any file that WordPress supports.

Note: Before adding the above code, you need to ascertain the maximum allowable memory on your server.

6. Edit your .htaccess file

The .htaccess file is present in the root folder of your website and it acts as the controller or monitor of the website. It controls the requests to the functions. Many shared hosting providers limit Imagick to use multiple threads for faster image uploading which causes the HTTP error.

To fix this issue, you can add the following code to your .htaccess file:

SetEnv MAGICK_THREAD_LIMIT 1

This code limits Imagick to using a single thread to process the image.

Now, try re-uploading and check if the problem is solved.

7. Contact Support

If the solutions mentioned above don’t work, your last option is to contact your web hosting customer support. They have a dedicated team of experts with years of experience and will assist you in fixing your issue as soon as possible.

To troubleshoot and resolve this error, you can try the troubleshooting steps given below:

Conclusion

We understand how frustrating it can be for anyone to come across such errors, especially when uploading files or media to WordPress. However, we are sure that any of the troubleshooting methods mentioned above will be able to fix the error.

Whichever method works for you, do let us know in the comment section below.

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