Elementor stuck on the loading screen: how to find the cause and fix it

Go to Elementor, then Editor, then Tools. On the General tab set Safe Mode to Enable and click Save Changes. Only an administrator sees the setting.

There is a second way in. When the editor has not loaded after 30 seconds, a box headed "Can't Edit?" appears with the line "Having problems loading Elementor? Please enable Safe Mode to troubleshoot." and a button, Enable Safe Mode.

In Safe Mode a box headed "Safe Mode ON" sits in the corner. It gives two answers:

• "Editor successfully loaded?" followed by "The issue was probably caused by one of your plugins or theme."
• "Still experiencing issues?"

If the editor loaded, carry on with the next step. If it did not, the cause is not an ordinary plugin or the theme: go back to the table.

Click Disable Safe Mode in the box, or set the setting back to Disable and save. Leaving it on hides the fault in your browser for an hour and fixes nothing.

Elementor's own instructions are to deactivate every plugin except Elementor and Elementor Pro, check the editor, then reactivate them one at a time until it fails again. If no plugin is at fault, switch for a moment to a default theme. Do this on a staging copy if you have one, because it changes what visitors see. How to find and fix a WordPress plugin conflict has a faster search by halves, and a way to test that only affects your own login.

A 500 from WordPress means PHP stopped, and the log says where. How to turn on WordPress debug mode shows the lines to add to wp-config.php and how to keep errors off the page.

The line ends with the file that failed. A path through wp-content/mu-plugins/ is a must-use plugin. A path through wp-content/plugins/ is an ordinary plugin that Safe Mode keeps on, or one that fails where Safe Mode does not reach. A line that says "Allowed memory size" is the next fix.

Plugins, then the Must-Use link above the list, shows them. So does the "Must-Use Plugins" section of System Info.

Ask the host first if the file is theirs: a host's must-use plugin can be part of how its caching or its login works. Move the file out of the folder; do not delete it.

Put it above the line that says "That's all, stop editing".

"Memory limit" now reads 256M. Open the editor again.

A line in wp-config.php sets WP_MAX_MEMORY_LIMIT lower than WordPress's own default, or the host does not let WordPress raise the limit. Remove the line, or ask the host.

That means the caching plugin, the host's cache and the CDN. Elementor's help page says Cloudflare's cache can keep a browser from recognizing a new version of Elementor or Elementor Pro, and to clear it before updating either.

Rocket Loader defers the loading of all of a page's JavaScript. Elementor's help page says it changes scripts to load asynchronously, "which breaks the editor". Cloudflare's own advice for script trouble is to disable Rocket Loader and retest. To confirm, switch it off under Speed, then Settings, then Content Optimization, and reload the editor.

To keep it for visitors, Cloudflare says to use a Configuration Rule that excludes a page by its URL. Elementor gives the two patterns to exclude: your site's address followed by /*elementor* for pages, and by /?elementor_library=* for templates.

Check whether the plugin optimizes pages for logged-in users, and switch that off first. Autoptimize's own answer to a broken page builder is to disable the option that keeps it active for logged-on users.

WP Rocket's page on Elementor says to tick the Elementor boxes under "One-click exclusions" if Delay JavaScript execution breaks or delays Elementor's modules. It also says that when a server has too little memory for both, the editor can show a blank page, and that raising PHP memory should fix it.

If you cannot tell which feature it is, turn off minifying, combining, deferring and delaying of JavaScript together, empty the cache and reload the editor. Then switch them back on one at a time.

Run this from a terminal on a Mac or Linux computer, or over SSH, with your own address in place of example.com.

A healthy site prints 400: the request reached WordPress, which turned it down only because nobody is logged in. 403 means it was refused on the way.

A healthy site prints 200. These two tests carry no login, so a pass here does not clear a firewall that objects only to what the editor sends. The Network panel remains the real evidence.

In the Network panel, open the failed request's Response. A bare page that says "Forbidden" comes from the web server: a rule in .htaccess, or the host's firewall. A page with a product's name on it comes from that firewall or CDN. A reply that names a plugin comes from that plugin.

Keep a copy of the file first. Then search it for the editor's addresses.

Lines such as Require all denied inside a block that names admin-ajax.php, or a RewriteRule for wp-json that ends in [F], are hardening rules that also shut out the editor. Remove them, or put # in front of each line, and test again.

If a security plugin is active, look in its own record of blocked requests for one made when you opened the editor, and allow it. Elementor's help pages name ModSecurity, a firewall run by the host, and say to ask the hosting company to review its error log for a rule that is causing the issue. Give them the time and the address of the failed request.

Choose Enable in the dropdown and click Save Changes.

If it loads, leave the setting on.

On the Plugins screen, read the version under Elementor, Elementor Pro and each Elementor add-on, and look for an update notice on any of them.

The section "Elementor - Compatibility Tag" lists add-ons that declare which Elementor version they were tested with. One marked "Incompatible" was last tested with an earlier major version of Elementor than the one you run: update it, or ask its author.

Elementor recommends updating Elementor Pro first when both have an update, because add-ons are updated before the plugin they extend. How to safely update WordPress, plugins and themes covers the backup and the order.

Empty the site's caches and the browser's first, so the new version's scripts are the ones that load.

In Chrome press Ctrl+Shift+N, or Cmd+Shift+N on a Mac. Chrome keeps extensions out of Incognito windows unless you turned on "Allow in incognito" for one. A private window also starts without the browser's stored copies of scripts.

If it loads, the site is fine and the browser is the cause.

In an ordinary window, switch extensions off one at a time, ad blockers and privacy tools first, and reload the editor after each. When you find it, add your site to that extension's list of allowed sites.

Clear the browser's cache for your site, or try a different browser. Elementor's requirements list the browser versions it supports, and say it cannot be used to edit on a phone or tablet.

PHP 7.4 reached its end of life in November 2022, and PHP's list of supported versions begins at 8.2. The PHP end-of-life checker shows where your version stands.

Old plugins and themes can fail on a newer PHP. Open the main pages and the editor on the copy first.

Most hosts have a PHP version setting per site. If yours does not, ask them.

With the newer PHP in place, WordPress offers the updates it was holding back.