WordPress images not uploading or media library not loading

Why it happens

The HTTP error on upload. Almost always one of: PHP memory exhaustion during image resizing (the editor opens a 6000px phone photo and dies), file permissions wrong on wp-content/uploads after a migration, or a security plugin blocking the request. The message is vague on purpose; the causes are not exotic.

Media library blank or endless spinner. The grid loads thumbnails through AJAX; an object-cache misconfiguration, a broken database table (imported sites), or a plugin injecting errors into the JSON response breaks exactly that grid while everything else seems fine.

Uploaded but not displaying. The file is on the server, the URL 404s: upload path mismatch after a migration (the database remembers an old uploads path), or a CDN/rewrite rule pointing image URLs at a domain that no longer serves them.

Triage in order

Upload the same image with all plugins deactivated: if it works, reactivate one by one until the culprit shows. Still failing? Check WooCommerce > Status (or Site Health) for the memory limit, raise it to 512M in wp-config, retest. Check permissions on wp-content/uploads (folders 755, files 644). Still broken? Open browser dev tools on the upload request and read the actual server response; the “HTTP error” always has a real message hiding behind it. After a migration, compare the uploads URL stored under Settings > Media with the real folder path.

When to bring us in

If images broke after a migration, after switching hosts, or the media library has been broken so long the site runs on FTP uploads, this is an hour of emergency WordPress work for us: fix the root cause, repair the broken records, and verify the library is whole again. Fixed price, scoped before we start.