Fatal error: Allowed memory size exhausted

If you are experiencing white screen on your site or at intermittent and in different webpages. Start troubleshooting by setting WP_DEBUG to true in your wp-config.php. If you are seeing something similar to the following error message on screen or in your server error log

Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 12345678 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 2345678 bytes) in /home/your-username/public_html/wp-includes/plugin.php on line 1000

This means your PHP does not have enough memory to work properly.

Solutions

The following are some solutions available to fix your memory exhaust issue.

Contact your Hosting Company

As mentioned above, this is the preferred way. Show them a screenshot of your error or write to them the error message. Ask them to assist in increasing the PHP memory, until you are able to get your site working properly.

Amending your wp-config.php

You can try adding a memory define to WordPress in it's wp-config.php, but this will not work, if your defined memory exceeds your actual server allocated memory.

Use your ftp program and navigate to your WordPress root directory.
Find your wp-config.php and download a copy to your computer as backup.
Open up wp-config.php using your plain text editor or code editor.
Insert the following code at the end of the file.
```
define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '3000M');
	
```
Save and upload back your wp-config.php to your WordPress installation.
Clear your browser cache and re-load your website.
If you are still experiencing error, you should contact your web hosting company for assistance.

Editing php.ini File

If you have access to the php.ini file. you can try the following.

Using your FTP program, navigate to your hosting server and look for the php.ini file.
Download and keep a backup copy.
Open it using your code or plain text editor.
Find the following.
```
memory_limit
	
```
Change the value to a much higher value. For example.
```
memory_limit = 3000M
	
```
Save and upload back your php.ini to your WordPress installation.
Clear your browser cache and re-load your website.
If you are still experiencing error, you should contact your web hosting company for assistance.

Using .htaccess file

Use your FTP program to access your WordPress installation.
Go to the root directory, it's the directory where you can find your wp-config.php file. You should be able to find your .htaccess file.
Download a copy of it onto your computer to save as backup.
Open it and added the following into a newline at the end of the file.
```
php_value memory_limit 300
	
```
Save your changes and overwrite the .htaccess file on your server.
Go back to your System Information and check if your values have changed. If not, you should contact your hosting company for assistance in editing these values in your php.ini file.

External resources

Common WordPress Errors