How to Fix “Installation Failed: Could Not Create Directory” Error in WordPress

Are you encountering the “Installation failed: Could not create directory.” error in WordPress? You’ve come to the right place for a solution. We will walk you through the causes of this error and provide step-by-step instructions to resolve it.

Both the “Installation Failed” and “Updating Failed” errors in WordPress stem from similar underlying issues like file permissions and server configurations. Ensuring proper permissions and checking server resources can resolve both problems, ensuring your WordPress site updates and installs correctly.

What Is “Installation Failed: Could Not Create Directory”?

This error message is relatively common among WordPress users and is typically caused by incorrect file and folder permissions. For WordPress to create a new plugin or theme directory, the file permissions must be correctly configured. If they are not, WordPress cannot create the necessary directories, leading to this error.

If you are using a hosting provider like Azure, make sure you have Azure DDoS protection enabled. This service can help mitigate attacks and ensure your site remains accessible during traffic spikes, which can otherwise cause server overload and related errors.

What Causes the “Installation Failed: Could Not Create Directory” Error in WordPress?

You might encounter this error in various scenarios, including:

New Theme or Plugin Installation Issue

When you add a new theme or plugin, WordPress needs to create a new folder in the root directory to store its files. If the plugin or theme doesn’t have permission to write to this directory, you’ll see the “Installation failed: could not create directory.” error. This issue often occurs on newly developed WordPress sites.

Another less common cause could be insufficient disk space on your server, preventing the creation of new files or folders.

Updating an Existing Plugin or Theme

A similar error can occur when trying to update an existing plugin or theme. The error message might read, “Update failed: cannot create directory.” This happens when WordPress needs to rewrite files but cannot due to incorrect permissions or insufficient disk space.

Uploading Files Directly to the wp-content Directory

Hosting providers implement server permissions to prevent unauthorized changes. Incorrectly configured permissions can lock you out of your own files. Even if you try to bypass the error by uploading plugins or themes directly to the wp-content directory, the problem persists if the server settings are incorrect.

Fixing the “Installation Failed: Could Not Create Directory” Error in WordPress

Fortunately, this error is relatively easy to fix. Before diving into the solution, perform a site health check to identify the problem.

Step 1: Perform a Site Health Check

WordPress has a built-in health check system that provides useful information about your website’s health. Navigate to Tools > Site Health in your WordPress dashboard, then click on the Info tab. 

Scroll down to the “Filesystem Permissions” section. If permissions are not correctly configured, you’ll see “Not writable” next to the problematic folders. This indicates that you need to correct your file permissions.

Step 2: Create a Backup

Before making any changes, create a backup of your entire website. This ensures you can restore it if anything goes wrong.

You can use plugins like WP Umbrella for easy backups:

1. Install and activate WP Umbrella from your WordPress admin.

2. Create an account and navigate to WP Umbrella’s application. Click on your project, go to the backup tab, and select “Backup now.”

Step 3: Edit Folder Permissions via FTP

To fix the permissions, you need to use an FTP client like FileZilla. Here’s how:

1. Launch FileZilla and connect to your server using your credentials.
2. Navigate to the public_html folder.
3. Right-click on the wp-content, wp-includes, and wp-admin folders.

4. Select “File Permissions” and set the following options:
   • Owner Permissions: Read, Write, Execute.
   • Group Permissions: Read, Execute.
   • Public Permissions: Read, Execute.
   • Numeric value: 755.

5. Apply these changes to directories only.

Try installing or updating the plugin/theme again. Just as fixing installation failures requires attention to server settings and permissions, resolving media library loading issues often involves similar troubleshooting steps. Ensuring your server environment is properly configured can prevent these common WordPress errors.

Step 4: Edit FTP Permissions in the “wp-config.php” File

If the previous method doesn’t work, you might need to change the FTP permissions through the wp-config.php file. Here’s how:

1. Open your web hosting account and access the File Manager or use your FTP client.
2. Navigate to the root directory of your website and open the wp-config.php file.
3. Add the following code, replacing the placeholders with your credentials:

define(‘FS_METHOD’, ‘ftpext’);

define(‘FTP_BASE’, ‘/path/to/root/of/your/site/’);

define(‘FTP_USER’, ‘ftpusername’);

define(‘FTP_PASS’, ‘ftppassword’);

define(‘FTP_HOST’, ‘yoursite.com’);

define(‘FTP_SSL’, false);

4. Save the changes and try the installation or update again.

Conclusion

We hope this guide helps you resolve the “Installation Failed: Could Not Create Directory” error in WordPress. This issue usually stems from incorrect file and folder permissions, but with the right adjustments, you can quickly get back to managing your website. Remember to perform regular backups and monitor your site’s health to prevent future issues.

Consider whether your hosting environment is suitable for high-traffic WordPress sites. High traffic WordPress hosting helps you optimize resources and configurations that can handle large volumes of visitors, reducing the likelihood of errors like this one. 

By following these steps, you should be able to fix the error and continue installing or updating your plugins and themes without any issues. If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out to the WordPress support community.