Ultimate Guide to Fixing Broken CSS in Your WordPress Admin Dashboard

Encountering broken CSS in your WordPress admin dashboard can be alarming. However, it is often the result of a simple issue, such as a plugin conflict or a caching rule, which can be quickly identified.

Through our experience assisting thousands of readers and clients, we have developed a comprehensive checklist that helps identify the source of the problem without altering your content or causing downtime.

Stay with us as we walk you through each step to restore your admin area, allowing you to continue building your site with confidence.

Here’s a brief overview of the topics and troubleshooting steps we will discuss in this article:

Understanding the Causes of Broken CSS in the WordPress Admin Area

There are various reasons CSS may break in the WordPress admin area. Like many common WordPress issues, it can be challenging for beginners to determine the necessary fixes.

Based on our findings, the primary reasons for broken CSS in the WordPress admin dashboard include:

• Plugin ConflictsPoorly designed plugins that include their own CSS can disrupt the default WordPress styles by overriding or interfering with the styles in the admin area.
• HTTP/HTTPS Mismatch:Mixed content issues arise when some files are loaded over HTTP instead of HTTPS, which can lead browsers to block CSS files.
• Theme Interference:Certain themes may load CSS within the admin area, leading to conflicts. If you are using a custom admin theme, it may also result in styling problems.
• Cache Problems:The browser cache might store outdated versions of CSS files. Caching plugins could serve old CSS files, resulting in styling issues.
• CDN Issues:Improperly configured Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) can deliver outdated versions of CSS files, causing styles to be missing or broken.
• Incorrect File Permissions:CSS files with incorrect permissions may not be accessible by the server.
• Corrupted Files:CSS files can become corrupted or lost during updates or uploads.
• Browser Extensions:Certain extensions, particularly content blockers, can disrupt the display of CSS.

By understanding the reasons behind broken CSS, you can effectively troubleshoot and resolve issues in your WordPress admin dashboard.

Step 1: Identify Plugin Conflicts

In our experience, poorly designed WordPress plugins frequently cause broken CSS in the admin area, but even well-designed plugins can encounter issues based on your site or server configuration.

Follow these steps to detect and fix plugin conflicts.

Deactivate All Plugins

Start by accessing your WordPress admin dashboard and going to the Plugins » Installed Pluginspage.

Select all plugins, choose ‘Deactivate’ from the ‘Bulk actions’ dropdown, and then click ‘Apply.’

Next, refresh your admin area or reload the page to check if the CSS issue has been resolved. If the CSS is functioning properly, the problem is likely with one of the plugins.

Reactivate Plugins Individually

To identify the plugin causing the problem, reactivate each one separately by clicking the ‘Activate’ link located below the plugin.

After reactivating each plugin, refresh the admin area to see if the CSS issue reoccurs.

This process will help you pinpoint the exact plugin responsible for the problem.

Look for an Alternative or Update the Plugin

Once you’ve identified the conflicting plugin, check for any available updates. If updating doesn’t fix the issue, consider finding a different plugin or reaching out to the plugin developer for assistance.

For comprehensive guidance, refer to our tutorial on how to deactivate plugins. This guide also explains how to deactivate plugins via FTP if you cannot access your WordPress admin area.

Step 2: Loading Insecure Files Over HTTPS

Another frequent cause of broken CSS reported by our users is the misconfiguration of secure URLs, resulting in mixed content issues.

This occurs when your website is configured to use the HTTPS protocol, but the CSS is loaded from HTTP or an insecure protocol.

When this issue occurs, popular browsers such as Google Chrome will block insecure resources, leading to broken CSS in your WordPress admin dashboard.

You can confirm this problem by using the Inspect tool in your browser. Just switch to the Console tab to view the Mixed Content error.

To resolve this issue, first ensure that your WordPress settings contain the correct URLs.

Navigate to the Settings » General section and verify that both the WordPress Address and Site Address include HTTPS in their URLs.

If both URLs already include HTTPS, you can manually enforce WordPress to use the HTTPS protocol.

Simply edit your wp-config.php file and add the following code:

define('FORCE_SSL_ADMIN', true);
if (strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO'], 'https') !== false) { $_SERVER['HTTPS'] = 'on';
}

Alternatively, you can utilize plugins like Really Simple SSL to enforce HTTPS for all URLs.

For further information, check out our tutorial on how to resolve the mixed content error in WordPress.

Step 3: Verify for Theme Conflicts

We have discovered that unnecessary interference from themes is a frequent reason for CSS issues in the WordPress admin dashboard.

Here’s how to identify and fix issues related to your theme.

Switch to a Default Theme

To determine if your WordPress theme is responsible for the broken CSS, start by switching to a default WordPress theme.

Access your WordPress dashboard and go to the Appearance » Themes section.

Here, activate a default WordPress theme, like Twenty Twenty-Four.

Note: If you don’t have any default themes installed, you can add one by clicking the ‘Add New Theme’ button at the top. Default WordPress themes are named after their release years.

After switching to a default theme, refresh your admin area to check if the CSS problem is resolved.

If the CSS is now loading properly, the issue originates from your previous theme.

Resolving Theme Conflicts

To address this, first check if there is an update available for your theme.

Navigate to Appearance » Themes, select your theme, and click ‘Update now’.

If this solution does not resolve the issue, you should examine any modifications made to your theme. Look for any customizations that might be causing the CSS problem.

Specifically, check for any additional CSS or custom code in the functions.php file to identify any errors.

If all else fails, reach out to the theme developer for assistance or consider switching to a different theme.

We suggest using WPCode to prevent these types of errors in the future. It is the top WordPress code snippets plugin that enables you to manage all your custom CSS in one location without needing to edit the functions.php file.

Here are some advantages of using WPCode:

• You can easily save and manage your custom CSS code.
• WPCode comes with built-in error checks.
• Your custom CSS remains intact when you switch themes.

A free version of WPCode is available with limited features.

We utilize WPCode on our websites to handle custom code snippets, including custom CSS. For more information, check out our WPCode review.

Step 4: Resolve Caching Issues

Typically, WordPress caching plugins do not cache the WordPress admin area.

We have observed that incorrect caching settings can conflict with the browser cache, leading to broken CSS issues.

To resolve this, start by clearing your browser cache.

After clearing the cache, refresh the WordPress admin area to check if the problem persists. If it does, proceed to clear the WordPress cache.

This refers to the cache generated by your WordPress caching plugin. We provide a comprehensive tutorial on how to clear the cache for various WordPress caching plugins.

Step 5: Resolve CDN Issues

If you are utilizing a Content Delivery Network (CDN), a misconfiguration may sometimes lead to broken CSS issues in the WordPress admin area.

Here’s how to identify and fix these problems.

First, use the Inspect tool in your browser and navigate to the ‘Console’ tab. Here, you will see errors if your CSS files are blocked or missing.

Next, visit your CDN service provider’s website and log into your account dashboard.

From there, go to the Caching » Configuration section and click on the ‘Purge Everything’ button under the Purge Cache option.

Note:We are displaying a screenshot of the Cloudflare CDN. You can easily find the option to clear the cache with any CDN provider.

Next, return to your website and refresh the admin area to check if the issue has been resolved.

If the problem persists, proceed to the next step.

Step 6: Correct File Permissions

We discovered that incorrect file permissions are preventing the server from accessing CSS files, which results in broken CSS in the WordPress admin area.

Here’s how to verify and correct file permissions.

Begin by connecting to your WordPress site via FTP.

Once connected, navigate to your WordPress root directory, which contains the wp-admin, wp-includes, and wp-content folders.

Now, right-click on the wp-admin folder and choose ‘File permissions’ or ‘Properties.’

Ensure that all directories are set to 755.

If they are not, adjust the permissions and apply them recursively to all subdirectories.

You can then repeat this process, setting permissions to 644and apply these changes to all relevant files.

For further information, refer to our guide on setting file permissions in WordPress.

After completing this, check the admin area to see if the broken CSS issue is fixed. If the problem persists, proceed to the next step.

Step 7: Repair Corrupted Files

Corrupted files can lead to broken CSS in the WordPress admin area.

Your WordPress files may become corrupted without any direct action from you. This can occur due to an incomplete WordPress update, accidental deletion of files, or misconfigurations by your hosting provider.

Here’s how to fix or replace corrupted files.

First, download a fresh copy of WordPress from WordPress.org.

Next, extract the downloaded ZIP file onto your computer.

Then, connect to your WordPress site using FTP and upload the new WordPress files from your computer.

Select ‘Overwrite’ when prompted to ensure that the new files replace the old ones on your website.

Once the upload is complete, check your WordPress admin area to see if the broken CSS issue has been resolved.

If this does not fix the issue, it’s time to proceed to the next step.

Step 8: Review Browser Extensions

Browser extensions, particularly those for content and ad blocking, may disrupt the display of CSS in your WordPress admin dashboard.

Here’s how to detect and fix problems caused by browser extensions.

Start by opening your browser and going to the extensions or add-ons section.

Temporarily disable all extensions, particularly ad blockers and security plugins.

You can either disable the extensions or uninstall them completely.

After doing this, revisit the WordPress admin area to check if the CSS problem has been fixed.

If the problem is resolved, you’ll need to determine which extension was responsible.

Reactivate each extension one at a time and refresh the admin area after enabling each one to pinpoint the culprit.

Once you identify the problematic extensions, review their settings to prevent them from blocking CSS in the WordPress admin area.

If that doesn’t solve the issue, consider finding a different extension.

Troubleshooting Tips

Hopefully, the steps above will fix the CSS issues in your WordPress admin area. If not, try these additional suggestions:

Update Permalinks:

Update your WordPress permalinks to refresh the .htaccess file to avoid any potential errors. Sometimes, WordPress rewrite rules can interfere with the loading of CSS files. This step helps to clear and reset the URL rewriting rules.

Check for Malware:

In some cases, a hacking attempt or malware infection could lead to issues in your admin area. Conduct a thorough scan of your WordPress site for any malware and take steps to clean up any hacks.

We hope this article has assisted you in resolving the broken CSS problem in your WordPress admin area. You may also find our WordPress troubleshooting guide helpful for more solutions or check out our guide on how to effectively request WordPress support.

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