When you try to update wordpress or install /update a plugin and fail to do so, it means you need to reset the folders and files permissions on your server. You can bulk fix the problem by updating the permissions of the directories and files in your web host location: cd /home/www/yourdomainfolder/ In your web directory root run the below command: find . -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \; This would change the access permission to all folders to rwx r_x r_x Now time to change the files permissions to -rw-r--r-- find . -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \; The Directories and files are now reset to the default. If you still face a problem it means you need to change the owner of the folders and files.