Unable to create directory Error in WordPress - Fix

If you are seeing any of the following errors when you try to upload/import media into WordPress’s media library then this tutorial is for you. It will show you how to fix this annoying error.

• Unable to create directory wp-content/uploads
• Unable to create directory /wp-content/uploads/ Is its parent directory writable by the server?
• Unable to create directory wp-content/uploads/2013/02

There are a few different possibilities for this error to show up. I will try to cover all the possibilities so hopefully one of them will help you fix the issue.

Fix 1: Update/Change the Uploads Directory Settings

This is the easiest option to try and solve this error so you should try this one first.

Log into your WordPress admin dashboard

1. Go to Media Settings menu (Settings -> Media)
2. Enter wp-content/uploads in the “Store uploads in this folder” text box
3. Save the changes by hitting the “Save Changes” button and you are done

The important thing here is to make sure you only enter the following in the “Store uploads in this folder” field:

wp-content/uploads

Fix 2: Manually Change the Folder Permission

Change folder permissions on the wp-content directory to 775 and try the upload again

1. If it fails, change the permissions to 777 and try again
2. if it still fails then do step 1 and 2 for the “wp-content/uploads” directory too

Once you can successfully create the folder and upload the media, be sure to return the permissions on wp-content directory to 755 (your folders should have a permission of 755 for security reasons).