{"id":95,"date":"2026-09-26T06:54:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T06:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/?post_type=docs&p=95"},"modified":"2026-09-26T13:32:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T13:32:03","password":"","slug":"wp-config-is-not-writable","status":"publish","type":"docs","link":"https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/docs\/bugtrace\/debug-settings\/wp-config-is-not-writable\/","title":{"rendered":"Fix “wp-config.php is not writable”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BugTrace changes your wp-config.php<\/code> file to turn debug settings on or off. If WordPress cannot write to this file, you see this message on the Logs and Settings pages:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please note, wp-config.php is not writable. Please change file permissions.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
The message on the Settings page.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
What this means<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • BugTrace cannot save any setting. This includes the Log Timezone<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • When you click Save Settings<\/strong>, nothing happens. You do not see an error.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • You can still read your log on the Logs page.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    How to fix it<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    The file permissions of wp-config.php<\/code> do not let your website change the file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    1. Log in to your hosting account.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Open the File Manager<\/strong>. Or connect with FTP.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Find wp-config.php<\/code> in the main folder of your WordPress site.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. Change the permissions. 644<\/code> works on most hosts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    5. Go back to BugTrace \u2192 Settings<\/code>. The message is gone. Save your settings again.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
      If you are not sure how to do this, ask your web host. Tell them: “Please make wp-config.php writable for WordPress.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
      \n
      Some hosts make wp-config.php<\/code> read-only on purpose, for security. After you change your debug settings, you can ask your host to make it read-only again. BugTrace cannot save settings while the file is read-only.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
      If your wp-config.php is in another folder<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
      WordPress allows you to move wp-config.php<\/code> one folder above your WordPress folder. BugTrace only looks in the WordPress folder. So it shows the message, even if the file is writable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
      In this case, set the debug lines by hand. Open wp-config.php<\/code> and add or change these lines. Put them above the line \/* That's all, stop editing! *\/<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
      define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );\ndefine( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true );\ndefine( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false );<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
      BugTrace can still show your log on the Logs page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
      What the “wp-config.php is not writable” message means, and how to fix it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"doc_category":[4],"doc_tag":[],"knowledge_base":[2],"class_list":["post-95","docs","type-docs","status-publish","hentry","doc_category-debug-settings","knowledge_base-bugtrace"],"year_month":"2026-11","word_count":293,"total_views":"4","reactions":{"happy":"0","normal":"0","sad":"0"},"author_info":{"name":"PrefixWP","author_nicename":"nikhil-gawali","author_url":"https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/author\/nikhil-gawali\/"},"doc_category_info":[{"term_name":"Debug settings","term_url":"https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/docs\/bugtrace\/debug-settings\/"}],"doc_tag_info":[],"knowledge_base_info":[{"term_name":"BugTrace","term_url":"https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/docs\/bugtrace\/","term_slug":"bugtrace"}],"knowledge_base_slug":["bugtrace"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/95","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/docs"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/95\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106,"href":"https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/95\/revisions\/106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"doc_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/doc_category?post=95"},{"taxonomy":"doc_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/doc_tag?post=95"},{"taxonomy":"knowledge_base","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/docs.prefixwp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/knowledge_base?post=95"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}