The WordPress Visual Editor is a semi-WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get) content editor to easily create, edit, and format your WordPress website. Like any software tool, it’s a common problem for the editor to stop working.
Luckily, we found a few solutions to help you get your WordPress Visual Editor working again. Let’s explore the different methods below.
What’s the Cause of the WordPress Visual Editor Not Working?
Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to fixing your WordPress Visual Editor.
There are a few reasons why the problem may be happening. You may have an outdated theme or plugin interfering with the editor. Or maybe you didn’t update to the latest version of WordPress. To fix this issue, you'll need to do some troubleshooting.
Pro Tip: If the WordPress Visual Editor isn’t the best tool for your website, install a drag-and-drop visual page builder like Elementor to create beautiful, custom webpages.
WordPress Visual Editor Not Working?
Log into your WordPress dashboard. On the left-hand side, go to Users > Your Profile. Check the box beside Disable the visual editor when writing. At the bottom of the page, click the blue Update Profile button. Hard refresh the page using Ctrl + F5 (Windows users) or Cmd, Shift, and R (Mac users). Uncheck the box next to Disable the visual editor when writing. Now, check to see if your Visual Editor reappears.
Still not working? Let’s try the next solution.
Method 2: Reinstall Your WordPress Files
You also can try reinstalling your website to the latest version of WordPress. Before you attempt this method, you’ll want to create a backup of your current website. Then, follow the instructions below.
- Go to Dashboard > Updates in your WordPress account.
- Click Re-install Now.
After it's done installing, check to see if the Visual Editor is working. If not, go to the next method.
Method 3: Install a New Theme
Every theme won’t be compatible with your WordPress Visual Editor. But there’s good news. You can choose from thousands of themes and install them on your WordPress website.
- Go to Appearance > Themes.
- At the top, click Add New.
- Browse and select a theme.
- For your chosen theme, click Install and then Activate.
Now, check to see if your Visual Editor reappears. If not, go to the next method.
Method 4: Deactivate All Your Plugins
Plugins are known causes for issues within WordPress. Maybe the software isn’t configured correctly or maybe it needs an update to work with the latest version of WordPress. Whatever the reason, you should try deactivating all your plugins.
- On the left side of your dashboard, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins.
- Check the box next to Plugin to select all the plugins.
- Go to Bulk Actions and click Deactivate.
- Then, click Apply.
- Now, select Activate to reactivate all your plugins and click Apply.
Go to your Visual Editor to see if it’s working. If not, try our final solution.
Method 5: Edit Your WordPress Config
Our last solution involves more technical chops. If you feel comfortable, you’ll need to access your cPanel through your hosting account and edit your wp-confg.php file manually.
- Go to File Manager.
- A list of folders will be displayed. Open the public_html folder and scroll down to the wp-config.php file.
- Right-click the file and select Edit code.
- Copy the code below and paste it just below the line that reads define('db_collate',");:
define('CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS', false);
- Save the changes and see if your Visual Editor is working.
WordPress Visual Composer Not Loading
The Visual Composer (WPBakery) plugin is a drag-and-drop page builder that allows you to build visually in both the backend and frontend of your WordPress website. If it’s not loading, you can take several steps to ensure it loads again.
Method 1: Refresh the Post or Page
If you’re currently on the editing view for a post or page, and Visual Composer isn’t loading, try refreshing the page. If that fails, clear your browser’s cache and refresh again. Sometimes the editor may not load because it’s trying to access an old version of the page.
Method 2: Update the Plugin, Update WordPress, or Update Your PHP
Visual Composer may not be loading because you’re running an old version of the plugin. Double-check that you’re not trying to work on an older version that’s no longer supported by the creator of the plugin.
Go to your list of plugins in your WordPress admin dashboard and click the Update option for Visual Composer. Note that the option will only show up if there’s an update available.
It’s unlikely, but you may also be using an old version of WordPress that’s no longer compatible with the plugin. WordPress will send you a notification when it’s time to upgrade to the newest version. Double-check that you don’t have a message like that waiting for you when you access your WordPress admin dashboard.
Last, double-check that you’re on the latest PHP version. You can update it by accessing your site settings on your hosting provider’s website. Here are more detailed instructions on upgrading to the latest version of PHP.
Method 3: Deactivate All of Your Plugins
You may be inadvertently using a plugin that’s incompatible with Visual Composer, and that can affect the way the plugin performs on the backend.
First, try to think back to the last plugin you downloaded before Visual Composer stopped working. Deactivate that plugin, and then try to access the Visual Composer backend editor again.
If that doesn’t work, deactivate all of your plugins except for Visual Composer. Access the editor again. If it’s working, activate your plugins one-by-one, checking whether Visual Composer is working in between each activation. Once you find the plugin that makes it stop loading, uninstall that plugin and find a compatible alternative.
Method 4: Install a Compatible Theme
Some themes aren’t compatible with Visual Composer. If you recently installed a new theme and Visual Composer stopped working, that’s most certainly the culprit. Uninstall it and find a compatible one. Or go back to your old theme.
If you’re at a loss, you can look through our list of the best Visual Composer (WPBakery) themes.
Method 5: Uninstall and Reinstall the Plugin
If all else fails, uninstall and reinstall the plugin. This will most likely solve your issue if nothing has worked yet.
Troubleshooting the WordPress Visual Editor
It’s never fun to run into technical issues — especially when it comes to the WordPress editor, which is an important tool for updating the content on your site. Hopefully, one of these solutions got the WordPress Visual Editor or the Visual Composer plugin working again.
Once you’re ready to add even more functionality to the backend, download the HubSpot plugin to effortlessly grow your WordPress website. You can also try our free WYSIWYG editor to preview what it will look like as you build through our modular approach.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in July 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
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