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

Having a WordPress website is all fun & games, but it also comes with a series of errors that may appear while doing your regular activities like updating a plugin, theme, etc. And it can be VERY frustrating.

One of these is the “Installation Failed: Could Not Create Directory” error.

It’s an error that often arises due to file permissions issues or ownership settings on your server.

But don’t worry. We got the fix. This blog will dive into the technical details, including the causes, diagnosis, and easy fixes to resolve it effectively.

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

The “installation failed: could not create directory” error usually occurs when our WordPress website is unable to create a directory for a new plugin or theme due to misconfigurations or permission issues. It can occur during various processes, such as:

• Installing new plugins or themes.
• Updating existing plugins or themes.
• Uploading media files.

When these processes are initiated, your WordPress website may display an error message indicating that it cannot create the required directory or directory structure under the wp-content folder.

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

The Installation Failed: Could Not Create Directory Error typically happens for the following four main reasons:

1. Incorrect File Permissions

Your hosting provider may enforce security permissions to prevent unauthorized changes to server and site folders. These restrictions can also block the creation of new directories during plugin or theme installation.

When you install a plugin or theme, a new directory (named after the plugin or theme) is created in the wp-content folder. You need proper permissions to set up this file structure and manage updates, including adding new versions and removing outdated ones.

Further, permissions are categorized into write, read, and execute, each with a numeric value defining the access level for the user, group, and world.

This blog will guide you through setting the correct permissions for your files and folders to prevent this error. For WordPress’s recommended settings, check this resource.

JUMP here for the diagnosis and fixation of this issue.

2. Insufficient Disk Space

This WordPress error can also occur if your server runs out of disk space, often due to high memory usage.

To avoid this, it’s advisable to host your websites on a dedicated cloud hosting platform, where you can easily scale up your server size with a few clicks.

JUMP here for the diagnosis and fixation of this issue.

3. File/Folder Ownership Issues

File and folder ownership is crucial for WordPress to function correctly. If the ownership is incorrectly assigned, WordPress might not have the necessary access to create or modify directories. This can happen when files are transferred between servers or when different users upload files via FTP.

Ensuring that your web server has ownership of the WordPress files and folders can resolve this issue. You may need to change the ownership using the chown command in your server’s command line, typically setting it to the web server user.

JUMP here for the diagnosis and fixation of this issue.

4. FTP Configuration Issues

Other than this, incorrect FTP configuration may also lead to the “Could Not Create Directory” error. Usually, this happens in the case of incorrect FTP credentials or if you don’t properly configure the server’s FTP settings.

But you can avoid this by rechecking that your FTP credentials (username, password, and host) are correctly set in your WordPress configuration. Also, verify that your FTP client is configured to use the correct protocol and port settings and that the passive mode is enabled if required by your hosting provider.

JUMP here for the diagnosis and fixation of this issue.

How to Diagnose & Fix the “Installation Failed: Could Not Create Directory” Error in WordPress (4 Fixes)

Now that we know about the error and its causes let’s learn how to diagnose the installation failed error and, more importantly, how to FIX this annoying error.

1. Incorrect File Permissions

Diagnosis:

In WordPress, if the wp-content folder or its subfolders have incorrect file or folder permissions, your site will not be able to create new files or folders, eventually resulting in this error.

The default WordPress permission settings are as follows:

• Folders: 755 (This sets read/write/execute for owner & read/execute for group and others)
• Files: 644 (This sets read/write for owner & read for group and others)

Fix:

Here’s how you can fix the file permission issue:

• Access your control panel and reset permissions for the wp-content directory to the correct settings.
• If you are a Cloudways user, then you can easily reset the permissions under the application management settings with one click.
  • Just select the user and set it to reset to reset the ownership and permissions for your application.

• Alternatively, you can also update the permissions via SFTP Client, such as FileZilla.

2. Ownership Issues

Diagnosis

Even if the folder and file permissions are set correctly, then you MUST  check that the user ownership is also set correctly, particularly within the wp-content folder.

Fix

You can simply access your control panel to set the ownership right via CLI.

• Run the following command to change the ownership of the concerned file or folder to the web server user, which is commonly set to be www-data, apache, or nginx:

sudo chown -R master_user:www-data /set/path/to/your/wordpress/public/directory/

• Modify /set/path/to/your/wordpress/public/directory/ with the actual path to your WordPress website’s wp-content folder within the public directory.

3. Disk Space Optimization Issue

Diagnosis:

When your server has insufficient disk space, it cannot create any new files or folders, leading to the installation failure error.

Fix

Regularly monitor disk space consumption via your hosting’s cPanel.

Or you can also check it via SSH using the following command:

df -h

• Executing the command above will help you check your disk consumption status. You may need to clear some space on your server or increase its disk space.
• And if you are a Cloudways user, you can easily check your disk space consumption directly on the Cloudways Platform.
• Go to Server Management and click Monitoring to check the summary of your server health.
• From here, you can also check the disk consumption status, and the application-wise data from the Application Wise Details option as shown in the screenshot below.

• If you’re still confused, follow this guide for more details.

4. FTP Configuration Issues

Diagnosis:

On Cloudways, users don’t face FTP-related issues, as you might see on other hosting platforms. Because Cloudways provides SSH and SFTP access, which simplifies file management without the need for FTP configurations.

However, if your site is not hosted on Cloudways but somewhere else, make sure that your FTP settings are correctly configured in the wp-config.php file, if applicable. It’s not always the case, but it can cause problems for directory creation if you have set it up in your wp-config.php file.

Fix:

• Make sure the FTP details are correctly configured in the wp-config.php file, using the correct pattern and details:

define(‘FS_METHOD’, ‘ftpext’);

define(‘FTP_USER’, ‘your_ftp_username’);

define(‘FTP_PASS’, ‘your_ftp_password’);

define(‘FTP_HOST’, ‘your_ftp_host’);

• Change the credentials as per your setup details.

Wrapping Up!

The error occurs when you try to utilize a variable that has not been initialized or allocated. WordPress users frequently encounter the “Installation Failed: Could Not Create Directory” problem, especially when using Cloudways hosting. This error is generally caused by not sufficient file permissions, insufficient disk space, or a misconfigured server setup. It might be annoying, but the good news is that it is typically simple to resolve with the right method.

Our detailed guide allows you through each step of the troubleshooting process, assisting you in determining the main cause of the problem—whether it’s changing file permissions, increasing disk space, or altering server settings. By following these instructions, you may immediately restore your WordPress site’s functionality without suffering extra downtime.

We also understand that different website environments can require different solutions, so if you’ve already experienced this issue and discovered an alternate way that works for you, we’d love to hear from you. Please share your experiences in the comments section. Your feedback might help others in the Cloudways community who have experienced similar issues.

Owais Khan

Owais works as a Marketing Manager at Cloudways (managed hosting platform) where he focuses on growth, demand generation, and strategic partnerships. With more than a decade of experience in digital marketing and B2B, Owais prefers to build systems that help teams achieve their full potential.

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