How to Fix an Error Establishing a Database Connection WordPress 2024

WordPress is a widely used CMS (content management system) that powers millions of websites around the world. WordPress’s user-friendly interface and wide range of features help us create the website.

One of the most common and frustrating errors WordPress users face is “Error Establishing a Database Connection WordPress.” This error occurs when WordPress is unable to establish a connection with the database that stores all the website’s content and settings.

Error Establishing a Database Connection WordPress

In this post, we will explain the reasons behind this Error Establishing a Database Connection WordPress and provide step-by-step 100% solutions to fix it.

Check your WordPress Database Credentials

The most common reason for “Error Establishing a Database Connection” is Database Credentials. The first step in resolving this error is to check that the database credentials are correct. These credentials include the database name, username, password, and host. All your information is stored in wp-config.php.

If any of these items are incorrect, you’ll see “Error establishing a database connection WordPress.”

To easily verify the database credentials, you need to access your WordPress files via FTP or cPanel and locate the `wp-config.php` file. Open the file and ensure that the database name, username, password, and host are accurate. Make any necessary corrections and save the file.

You can easily confirm this information from your hosting cPanel account dashboard.

First of all, you need to confirm check database credentials in wp-config.php and MySQL Database

We’re use HostBet Shared Hosting (best shared hosting in India) screenshot (but the process will be same in other hosting control panels) with a cPanel account Dashboard. This guide will show you how to perform the same steps on other hosting platforms too. Here’s what you need to do:

Step 1 : Log in to your cPanel dashboard and click on “File Manager”.

– Once you’re in, navigate to the “public_html” folder and find the file called “wp-config.php“.

Step 2: Once you’ve located the file, right-click on it and select “Edit” to open it.

Step 3: In the opened file, you’ll find the database credentials, including the database name, user, and host.

Make sure that the database credentials in wp-config.php match the ones in your MySQL database.

To check your MySQL Database credentials, follow these steps:

Step 1: Look for the “Database” section and click on “MySQL Database”.

Step 2: Verify that the database credentials in the wp-config.php are the same as those in MySQL database

If the database credentials are different, you’ll need to update the wp-config.php file to match the credentials in your MySQL database.

Repair Corrupt  WordPress Database Tables

WordPress uses database tables to store website data. If any of these tables get corrupted, it can lead to the “Error Establishing a Database Connection WordPress” error. Fortunately, WordPress provides a built-in feature to repair database tables. To use this feature, you need to add the below code to your site’s `wp-config.php` file. Open the file and add the following code bottom of your wp-config.php file, then click on save changes

define('WP_ALLOW_REPAIR', true);

Once you are done repairing the database, make sure to remove this code from your wp-config.php.

To access the repair page by visiting `https://yourdomain.com/wp-admin/maint/repair.php` in your web browser. Replace “yourdomain.com” with your actual domain name. There are two options on the repair page: “Repair Database” and “Repair and Optimize Database.” Since you are probably troubleshooting an outage on your site now, we recommend using the repair database option as it is quicker.

Check Plugins and Themes

Conflicts between plugins or themes can also result in a database connection error. Disable all plugins and switch to a default WordPress theme to see if the error disappears. If it does, then one of the plugins or the theme was causing the issue. You can then enable each plugin or theme one by one to identify the culprit. Once you find the problematic plugin or theme, you can either update it, find an alternative, or contact the plugin or theme developer for support.

Check the Database Server

Another possible cause of the database connection error is an unresponsive or misconfigured database server. Contact your web hosting provider to ensure that the database server is functioning correctly. (choose HostBet, one of best Shared Hosting in India and Best Alternatives Of Hostinger )They can check if there are any server-side issues causing the problem. In some cases, restarting the database server or allocating more resources to it can resolve the issue.

FAQ Section on Error Establishing a Database Connection WordPress