September 19, 2025
If there’s one thing that’s unavoidable when managing your WordPress website, it’s encountering errors. These can range from simple plugin conflicts to fatal errors that completely shut down your site.
Your ability to quickly identify the cause of an error is very key to keeping things running smoothly. That’s where WordPress error logs are extremely helpful. They give you all the necessary information about an error, allowing you to find a fix much faster than if you had to figure it out without any clues.
So, how do you access and view your WordPress error logs? We’ll show you the options for doing so in this detailed guide.
Table of Contents
WordPress error logs are helpful for several reasons. Some of the most common reasons you may need access to them include:
However, keep in mind that because WordPress error logs contain a large amount of information, you don’t need to keep them enabled all the time. If left enabled, hackers could exploit this vulnerability and take control of your website. Only access your WordPress error logs when necessary.
There are two main ways to access and view your WordPress error logs: using a WordPress debugging plugin for a user-friendly approach, or manually adding debug code to your site’s wp-config.php file and viewing the debug.log file via FTP for a more technical approach.
In this section, we’ll show you both methods, starting with the easier plugin-based approach.
The easiest and fastest way to enable debug mode and view your WordPress error logs is by using a debugging plugin. We recommend this method for most WordPress users, especially those who aren’t comfortable editing code.
Several debugging plugins are available, each offering different features that make error debugging more intuitive. However, our preferred option for accessing and viewing WordPress error logs is the WP Debug Toolkit plugin.
WP Debug Toolkit is the most developer-friendly WordPress debugging plugin that features a modern user interface with many tools for managing WordPress errors more effectively.
With the WP Debug Toolkit plugin, you can turn on debug mode and error logging with just a click. The plugin also makes it easy to view, search, and filter all your WordPress error logs through its best-in-class Viewer App. This saves a lot of time that you would otherwise spend reviewing logs line by line with a text editor.
Additionally, the Viewer App is built to work independently of WordPress. This way, if you ever get locked out of your site or if it crashes completely, you can still access your error logs. This guarantees that, no matter what happens to your site, you can always find the cause of the issue and fix it quickly.
WP Debug Toolkit offers many other valuable features for efficient debugging, including:
With such a strong lineup of features, it’s clear why WP Debug Toolkit is our go-to debugging plugin! Now, let’s review how to install and use the plugin to access and view WordPress error logs.
To install the WP Debug Toolkit plugin, first get the plugin file by purchasing a license. Then go to Plugins › Add Plugin and install it as you would for any other plugin.
Next, select Debug Toolkit from the WordPress dashboard menu. Then click ‘Pro Feature – Activate License’ to open the license activation page and enter your license key. This step is essential so you can access the log viewer app to manage your error logs effectively.
On the Overview screen, you’ll see checkmarks to turn on WordPress Debug Mode and Error Logging. Check them to activate debug mode on your site.
Keep the Error Display option unchecked to prevent errors from showing to your site visitors.
To install the Log Viewer app, click the Install Viewer button. Within seconds, it will be installed on your site’s server.
With the Log Viewer app now installed on your site, you can access and view all logged errors. Click ‘Open Viewer’ or press the shortcut key O to open it.
The Log Viewer displays an interface that immediately shows all errors on your site, along with features that make finding and troubleshooting specific errors easy. From the interface, you can search the logs by including or excluding terms, filter through them, copy or download logs, clear entries, and explore detailed information for each error.
The interface makes it easier to quickly find details about specific errors, which helps you troubleshoot and keep your site running smoothly.
wp-config.php & View WordPress Error Logs via FTPThis method of accessing and viewing WordPress error logs requires caution because it involves editing code. It’s simple to follow the steps, but if you’re not comfortable coding, we recommend skipping to Option 1.
1. Access the wp-config.php file
To enable debug mode manually, the first thing you need to do is to gain access to your site’s wp-config.php file. This file can be found in the public_html folder of your WordPress installation. You can access this folder through your site’s cPanel.
2. Edit the wp-config.php file to enable debug mode
Once you locate the wp-config.php file, right-click and select Edit from the dropdown menu. After the file opens, find the line that reads /* That’s all, stop editing! Happy publishing. */ and add the following code above it:
define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );
define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true );The first line of code turns on debug mode on your site, while the second line enables WordPress error logging.
If you see an existing code that reads: define( 'WP_DEBUG', false );, you can either change the value to ‘true’ and add only the second line of code, or delete it from the file and add both lines.
3. Save changes to the wp-config.php file.
Now that debug mode and WordPress error logging are enabled, the final step is to click the save button to apply your changes. From this point on, every error on your site will be logged in the debug.log file.
1. Choose & Install FTP Software
To view your WordPress error logs, you need to use FTP software to access the debug.log file (you can also access it through the File Manager in your cPanel). There are several free FTP software options available, with FileZilla being the most popular.
Once you’ve made a choice, install the software on your computer to proceed to the next step.
2. Connect your site to FTP software
Connecting your site to the FTP software involves retrieving your FTP credentials (host IP address, username, and password) from your cPanel dashboard and entering them into the designated data fields. Doing so will automatically establish a connection to your site and enable the FTP software to access the files on your site.
3. Find the debug.log file in the wp-content folder
Now that your site’s files have been retrieved, navigate to the wp-content folder and scroll till you find the debug.log file. If you don’t find the file, it means everything is running smoothly, as your site has not logged any new errors.
4. Review the debug.log file
To review the debug.log file, either download it or view it directly through the FTP software’s text editor.
The file includes key details about every error on your site, such as timestamps, error type, file path, and the line of code where the error happened.
You can then use these details to troubleshoot errors on your site and resolve them quickly.
WordPress error logs are a very powerful tool, and with great power comes great responsibility. This means you need to take extra precautions when using them to troubleshoot errors on your site. Below are some tips to help ensure safety:
1. Backup your site and/or test fixes in a staging environment
Before making changes to your site to fix errors identified in the WordPress error log, ensure that you take a backup. This way, if something goes wrong, you can easily restore your site to its previous state.
An even better approach is to create a staging environment for testing fixes before applying them to your live site.
2. Enable debug mode only when needed
Only enable debug mode when troubleshooting errors on your site. Leaving it on for too long can cause excessive server resource use and may also pose a security risk by exposing sensitive information. The best practice is to turn off debug mode as soon as you’ve fixed any identified errors.
3. Monitor and review error logs regularly
Set up a regular schedule to enable debug mode and check for new errors on your site, so you can address them early enough before they create bigger problems.
4. Limit access to your logs
Your error logs contain sensitive information, so it’s crucial that you limit access to them. A plugin like WP Debug Toolkit allows you to password-protect the log viewer, so that only those you share the password with can view the logs.
5. Use a debugging plugin if you’re not comfortable with code
Enabling debug mode with code can be risky, especially if you lack prior coding experience. It’s much safer to use a debugging plugin to activate debug mode and WordPress error logging. WP Debug Toolkit is our recommended debugging plugin because it offers an intuitive interface along with numerous features that make debugging quick and straightforward.
6. Clean up old error logs periodically
WordPress error logs can take up a good chunk of server space as they accumulate. Therefore, it is advisable to make a habit of deleting them once the error has been resolved. This makes it easier to identify newer errors and helps keep the log file more manageable overall.
Keeping track of error logs is an integral part of administering any WordPress website. This is because errors are practically inevitable due to the multiple plugins, themes, and custom code that are often required to make a WordPress site functional.
For most WordPress users, WP Debug Toolkit is the fastest and easiest way to access and view error logs. It lets you enable debug mode with a single click, view logs through a searchable and filterable interface, and troubleshoot errors without touching any code. You also get access to advanced features like crash recovery and real-time error tracking, all from your WordPress dashboard.
If you’re comfortable with code and prefer a manual approach, you can still enable debug mode in wp-config.php and view logs via FTP. However, this method requires FTP access, code editing, and manual log file review, making it more time-consuming and better suited for experienced developers.
What is the error log file?
The error log file is a file that keeps a record of all errors that occur on your WordPress website. This file is known as the debug.log file.
Where is the error log file in WordPress?
The error log file is the debug.log file, which is typically stored in the wp-content folder of your site’s root directory. To access it, go to your hosting provider’s cPanel, then navigate to File Manager › public_html › wp-content › debug.log.
How to use WP_DEBUG?
WP_DEBUG is a WordPress constant used to enable debug mode and error logging on a WordPress site. To activate it, access your wp-config.php file through your site’s cPanel, then add the following lines of code:
define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );
define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true );How to check fatal error in WordPress?
To check for a fatal error in WordPress, you need to access and review your WordPress error logs. You can use a plugin like WP Debug Toolkit to activate debug mode and enable WordPress error logging on your site. Then, open the log viewer to view all logged errors. The plugin features a clear visual layout and color-coded highlights to help you easily identify fatal errors so that you can take action and resolve them.
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