{"id":4804,"date":"2023-09-24T23:25:57","date_gmt":"2023-09-24T22:25:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harmonweb.com\/blog\/?p=4804"},"modified":"2023-09-27T17:47:24","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T16:47:24","slug":"how-to-fix-the-updating-failed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harmonweb.com\/blog\/how-to-fix-the-updating-failed\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Fix &#8220;Response is Not a Valid JSON Response\u201d Error in WordPress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>How to Fix The \u201cUpdating Failed. The Response is Not a Valid JSON Response\u201d Error in WordPress<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Did you try uploading a file or adding content to your WordPress website and instead got the red notification \u201c<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/rankmath.com\/blog\/fix-invalid-json-error\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Updating failed. The response is not a valid JSON response<\/a><\/strong>\u201d? I guess the experience was disorienting and frightening because you didn\u2019t know what to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The invalid JSON error message can sometimes be annoying, especially when it appears when you are making an update or editing posts on your WordPress website. The error message can disrupt your work and keep you from performing more tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take a deep breath. Now relax, we have got your back.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here, we will discuss the error and how you can fix the invalid JSON error on your WordPress website. Let\u2019s go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-69d20e476fc24\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-69d20e476fc24\"  aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/harmonweb.com\/blog\/how-to-fix-the-updating-failed\/#What_is_a_%E2%80%9CNot_a_Valid_JSON_Response%E2%80%9D_Error\" >What is a \u201cNot a Valid JSON Response\u201d Error?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/harmonweb.com\/blog\/how-to-fix-the-updating-failed\/#What_is_the_cause_of_the_error\" >What is the cause of the error?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/harmonweb.com\/blog\/how-to-fix-the-updating-failed\/#How_to_Fix_The_%E2%80%9CUpdating_Failed_The_Response_is_Not_a_Valid_JSON_Response%E2%80%9D_Error_in_WordPress\" >How to Fix The \u201cUpdating Failed. The Response is Not a Valid JSON Response\u201d Error in WordPress<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/harmonweb.com\/blog\/how-to-fix-the-updating-failed\/#1_Check_the_WordPress_Site_URL_Settings\" >1. Check the WordPress Site URL Settings<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/harmonweb.com\/blog\/how-to-fix-the-updating-failed\/#2_Check_Your_Website_Permalink_Structure\" >2. Check Your Website Permalink Structure<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/harmonweb.com\/blog\/how-to-fix-the-updating-failed\/#3_Check_the_Plugins\" >3. Check the Plugins<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/harmonweb.com\/blog\/how-to-fix-the-updating-failed\/#4_Check_the_Theme\" >4. Check the Theme<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_a_%E2%80%9CNot_a_Valid_JSON_Response%E2%80%9D_Error\"><\/span>What is a \u201cNot a Valid JSON Response\u201d Error?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<strong>Updating failed. The response is not a valid JSON response<\/strong>\u201d error message appears when you upload an image or publish or update content on your WordPress website. It occurs when using a WordPress block editor, particularly when trying to add a media file directly to a block in your block editor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_the_cause_of_the_error\"><\/span>What is the cause of the error?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>When you edit a page or add content to your WordPress website,&nbsp; the website sends a request to your web server. The server communicates its response to the website in JSON format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If, for some reason, there\u2019s an error in your JavaScript code or the web server doesn\u2019t send any response back to your WordPress website, then you will get the \u201cNot a valid JSON response\u201d error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are different causes of the invalid JSON response error. We will take a look at some below and how you can fix them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_Fix_The_%E2%80%9CUpdating_Failed_The_Response_is_Not_a_Valid_JSON_Response%E2%80%9D_Error_in_WordPress\"><\/span>How to Fix The \u201cUpdating Failed. The Response is Not a Valid JSON Response\u201d Error in WordPress<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Now that you know what an invalid JSON response error is, we will look at some of the causes and different approaches you can take to troubleshoot the error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Check_the_WordPress_Site_URL_Settings\"><\/span>1. Check the WordPress Site URL Settings<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If your website displays the \u201c<strong>Updating failed. The response is not valid JSON response<\/strong>\u201d error, you first need to check the URL settings. It is probably that you have mistakenly put HTTP instead of HTTPS.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This mixup can result in you having a mix of HTTP and HTTPS content on your site all transmitting to the web browser simultaneously. This can cause an error message to appear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before you get started, ensure that you have <a href=\"https:\/\/harmonweb.com\/blog\/how-to-fix-common-ssl-issues-in-wordpress\/\">activated your SSL certificate<\/a>. With your SSL activated, you can proceed with fixing the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Go to your WordPress website <strong>Dashboard<\/strong>. Then go down to the <strong>Settings<\/strong> on the sidebar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/IIXscKQBiFDJFwNYdbVxXn4drSdVdajgBK-bhYjbF3X-Dg_2xeBErk0acJpFLhuF_EWfoluCQqLe8ZkMzXB3YfjV9dgCo-vZsp4byDiHxzypUxQqQthLVAmVwnu1l70n0ZrHNcHDaoildOiw2zBDnMg\" width=\"602\" height=\"276\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"602\" height=\"276\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/IIXscKQBiFDJFwNYdbVxXn4drSdVdajgBK-bhYjbF3X-Dg_2xeBErk0acJpFLhuF_EWfoluCQqLe8ZkMzXB3YfjV9dgCo-vZsp4byDiHxzypUxQqQthLVAmVwnu1l70n0ZrHNcHDaoildOiw2zBDnMg\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the <strong>Settings, <\/strong>select <strong>General<\/strong>. Now, check if the URLs are set correctly.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/fx0wKdZIgdVQK72PCCE-X1OOyTIZrrkU4TfavKPCfpLF5tzQl3xPbXdczhIjCKkowl7qG78_B3JOsE6Aovnb8hK6hX8hMIgvVYg1EE2mL11oA9szKLqhG1x7Dr5_LPYRHJDNesNgrqYS__Z293UKaJI\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you are done with the page, you can click on <strong>Save Changes<\/strong> to save any changes you made on the page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_Check_Your_Website_Permalink_Structure\"><\/span>2. Check Your Website Permalink Structure<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Another reason you may be experiencing this error on your WordPress website is probably because your permalink isn\u2019t set correctly. This can cause your website to receive the wrong JSON response, resulting in an invalid JSON response error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can quickly fix this by going to your WordPress <strong>Dashboard<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/N6-yasglBl9XBOm4tYQCAXMNdIExo-mOFZyfDcQheawP5rDQZCWiedrkvUzWwm9-pMt_oGeF5jFnmOiBCrtrfPCcgoo9NU-Lzs9J4YfmTs-vOREF0_YaLKSNXcTK5_UspC8I7F_5_fYMCPtFSKUhY3M\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Go to <strong>Settings<\/strong> and select <strong>Permalinks.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/igqGRlROUUIBJ0XeRJjOW8HLcOXO2o5Az6i_fOnCd5IL6qEUy7YPKW3igPr7DSlYG78NIr4vjvP8yLXgWxq1rJPeRaAsl-JEZnf6rVUoI3mH-3n1_QLctVjIrIVn6cal8K3JmFTS1busJRAgWL2vDWU\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Check if the permalinks are set correctly. Once you are done fixing any error in the permalink settings, click on <strong>Save Changes<\/strong>. Now, go back to your website and try updating a post to see if you will receive the error message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_Check_the_Plugins\"><\/span>3. Check the Plugins<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If the error doesn\u2019t go away after you have fixed the permalink and the site URL, then you should check the plugins on the site; they may be the ones behind the error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To be sure the error isn\u2019t from your plugin, you will have to deactivate all the plugins on your website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Go to your WordPress <strong>Dashboard <\/strong>and go to <strong>Plugins<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/Km8vHKEAcjdxliujG63Jb9w5i2HmXVAhD0wj9BhbnDEa5_vExnpE8NaephisVhABtgp26Sn9b714CyWIz1Au0aa6Nm2uUoel3qJnq4xJRplbXkgNqVOjsJR31mJB9wFCumLGXNZruJ4YAzK-uCHsl-E\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Select the <strong>Installed Plugins <\/strong>option. Select all your installed WordPress plugins, click on the <strong>Bulk Actions <\/strong>dropdown menu, and choose <strong>Deactivate.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/auxNR6FYRmLzGjOIaSErFyoX9JOjOsPtL4lgTgRuhgJS49EmXsW_qFgfAuGjuX_hY1kDt6lPsebUZmRd_cvjIVof6OJVqvB4rHSJxORnzeDpYZXsHLkWKdMBYUUyB4wrxQO9J1kE3FskUBsl77SIOl4\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Now that you have selected the <strong>Deactivate <\/strong>option click <strong>Apply<\/strong> to deactivate all the plugins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/eDEzxtcR6xHKd2jcu96g1vfEa0aQAdDMNdB9aQDXiWf2edNNs_ABFpGWjmHhsY-zNRTb6yMTaXrKkQ4drQhEr13iW65A6BOrmC5ag5EwB7tot9uVt8hQ65J6IX2RJ4006hz7cbSpddltKetFCIMcR6o\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If, after deactivating the plugins, you don\u2019t see the error message again, then it was probably caused by a plugin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You must turn on each plugin separately to find the plugin causing the error. If the error appears when you turn on a particular plugin, deactivate the plugin and activate all the other plugins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can go ahead and find an alternative to the plugin, one that won\u2019t cause your site to have any errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_Check_the_Theme\"><\/span>4. Check the Theme<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If, after deactivating your plugins, the error still hasn&#8217;t gone away, the next step to take is to check the theme you are using on your site; the error may be coming from there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simply go to your WordPress <strong>Dashboard<\/strong> and navigate to <strong>Appearance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/_mM5rFp3iWj1clqC-F47T1aoyhDiUt1-iyNQjgssRQDcle0GrTfR8-92ddOd4MkMuNDg4Y1sYaMg6gUNsFB_UIMW6sgtcfSMUG_HcjX2wlMUZ8amUdDwQQZZm4nPUAJ8aSm0mz4Y7z3WWAa49-KZTsg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In <strong>Appearance<\/strong>, select <strong>Themes<\/strong>. Activate the default WordPress theme. <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/csv6ZZ1WQwD4XgpHXf87ahTAmywBcSqaP7W7-4HWARjR5o5TYs4CNiu47ye9c84fc80MCwVqPHlP-r_KVYPBdFZ8ytk5hh4pJZSDT-JDihS81fcU6yONkCOiQBh5KhTnRsRnwebq3HkJK8J3ftuKTsM\" width=\"602\" height=\"275\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you have activated the default WordPress theme, check if the error has been fixed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How to Fix The \u201cUpdating Failed. The Response is Not a Valid JSON Response\u201d Error in WordPress Did&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[158],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-troubleshooting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harmonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harmonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harmonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harmonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harmonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4804"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/harmonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4816,"href":"https:\/\/harmonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4804\/revisions\/4816"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harmonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harmonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harmonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harmonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}