How to Fix the Allowed Memory Size Exhausted Error

A common error with Open Source software like WordPress, Drupal, Moodle, and Joomla is the PHP “Allowed memory size error”. Increasing the memory limit is an easy solution. This memory_limit can be changed in the php.ini in the public_html folder in your hosting account. This error can creep up in your website during the normal development process. The following is an example of the error:

Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 268435465 bytes exhausted
(tried to allocate 280559520) in Unknown on line 0

This is due to PHP variable data being stored in the memory that is not cleared while the PHP scripts for your CMS or web application are running.

For those who code their own sites: Coders use the unset() function to clear variable data that is no longer needed; however, with open source software, you will not want to alter any code.

How to Fix the “Allowed Memory Size Exhausted” Error

The PHP memory resource can be increased in the php.ini file located in the public_html directory on your server. The following steps will explain how to set the php.ini to allow a larger amount of memory use.

1. Login to cPanel.
2. Go to the File Manager, or FTP/SSH into your server.
3. Select the Web root (public_html/www) directory and click Go.
4. Find the php.ini file in the public_html directory.
   
   
   Note! If you do not have a php.ini in your public_html files, you can have our tech support staff restore the php.ini to your public_html directory.
   Open the php.ini file with a code editor.
5. Find the following section in the php.ini file.
   
   max_execution_time = 30
max_input_time = 60
memory_limit = 128M
   
   Increase the memory_limit value to 256M.
   
   If the PHP memory_limit is already at 256M, you can increase it to 512M.
   

   Important: The PHP max_execution_time is capped at 90 seconds on Shared Hosting Plans to prevent extremely long processes from impacting other users sharing the server resources. If you need a longer max_execution_time, consider one of our VPS Hosting Plans.

6. Save the changes.
7. In order for your memory limit to take effect you will need to make the php.ini recursive.
   
   
   Important! Making the php.ini recursive is an important step. If you do not know how to do this, please see our article on Make the php.ini recursive in the .htaccess.

Now visit the website these changes were applied to. You should not see the “Allowed memory size” error anymore. If the error still shows on your website, there may be a setting within the software itself that is overriding the change or the php.ini file in the public_html directory may be overwritten by another setting elsewhere. If this is the case, you can contact our our tech support staff to have them look into the error further.