---
title: "Fix WordPress Download Failed Errors on Update"
description: "If you run into problems trying to update WordPress, it could be caused by the temporary directory WordPress uses for downloads. You can easily fix this by defining a WP_TEMP_DIR in your..."
url: https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/wordpress/fix-download-failed-errors-on-update/
date: 2013-11-05
modified: 2021-09-21
author: "InMotion Hosting Contributor"
categories: ["Website Error Numbers", "WordPress Hosting", "WordPress Tutorials"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# Fix WordPress Download Failed Errors on Update

If you run into **problems trying to update WordPress**, it could be caused by the temporary directory WordPress uses for downloads. You can easily fix this by [defining a WP_TEMP_DIR in your wp-config.php file](#wp-temp-dir) below.

## WordPress update failing

If you’re trying to [upgrade WordPress](/support/edu/wordpress/update-wordpress-from-admin-dashboard/) itself, you might encounter this error when trying to update:

*Download failed.: Destination directory for file streaming does not exist or is not writable.*
*Installation Failed*

[![WordPress core update failed](/support/images/stories/wordpress/wp-temp-dir/wordpress-update-core-failed.png)](/support/images/stories/wordpress/wp-temp-dir/wordpress-update-core-failed.png)

## WordPress plugin update failing

If you were trying to [update a WordPress plugin](/support/edu/wordpress/plugins/update-wordpress-plugin/), you might have encountered this error instead when updating:

*An error occurred while updating (Plugin Name). Download failed. Destination directory for file streaming does not exist or is not writable.*

[![WordPress plugin update failed](/support/images/stories/wordpress/wp-temp-dir/wordpress-update-plugin-failed.png)](/support/images/stories/wordpress/wp-temp-dir/wordpress-update-plugin-failed.png)

## Define a WP_TEMP_DIR in your wp-config.php file

If you’ve encountered issues trying to update WordPress, you can simply follow the steps below to resolve them.

1. Open you **wp-config.php** file with the [cPanel File Manager Code Editor](/support/edu/cpanel/file-manager-code-editor/)
2. You should see this code towards the top of the file: * @package WordPress */ // ** MySQL settings - You can get this info from your web host ** // /** The name of the database for WordPress */ define('DB_NAME', 'anotherd_wrd1'); Place this definition of define(‘WP_TEMP_DIR’, ABSPATH . ‘wp-content/’); in-between the lines mentioned above, so it ends up looking like this when you’ve completed it: * @package WordPress */ define('WP_TEMP_DIR', ABSPATH . 'wp-content/'); // ** MySQL settings - You can get this info from your web host ** // /** The name of the database for WordPress */ define('DB_NAME', 'anotherd_wrd1'); Now **Save** your **wp-config.php** file.
3. Try to update WordPress again, if for some reason it is still failing, be sure to [check file permissions](/support/edu/cpanel/change-file-permissions/) on your **wp-content** folder, and ensure it’s set to **755** so that the server can write to it.