warning your backup directory is not writable - wordpress error

warning your backup directory is not writable

I have been checking out my blog stats to know what are the keywords people use to arrive at my blog.

So the search phrase or keywords I’m going to discuss now is the wordpress error I encountered before.

warning your backup directory is not writable

Cause of the problem

I’ve encountered this problem while using the wordpress plug-in called, Wordpress DB Backup. Basically, the plugin wants to write the backup files into a temporary directory but it can’t because it does not have “write” permissions.

Old Solution to the problem

The best thing to do in this situation is to contact your webhost because there is something wrong with the PHP configuration. In my experience, I just waited and then it worked after a few hours. Don’t try to CHMOD 777 your folders because that is a big security risk.

Solution to the problem

First thing you should know that the Wordpress DB Backup plugin creates a backup directory inside your /wp-content/ folder. It is usually named as /backup-XXXXX/ where XXXXX are random numbers and letters. So go check your /wp-content/ folder, did you see the backup folder?

• If there is already a backup folder…

You can try to CHMOD that backup folder to 777. Did it work?

An alternative you can do is to delete that folder (do keep track of the folder name just in case), then follow the instructions below, “If there is not backup folder”.

• If there is no backup folder…

The Wordpress DB Backup plug-in needs a backup folder in order to work. First thing you should do is to CHMOD your /wp-content/ folder to 775 (if this does not work, use 777) TEMPORARILY. I know that this is a big security risk that’s why I’m saying that you should do that temporarily.

After that, try reloading your backup page in your wordpress administration (you can find it under Wordpress->Manage->Backup)


Try creating a backup. If there are no errors, then you have solved the problem.

Remember to CHMOD your /wp-content/ folder back to 755!!!

For more information, read this explanation by the plug-in author himself.

(Mini tip: You can take advantage of this by making a blog post about those keywords. Not only can you contribute to those who need the information, you can bring more traffic to your site.)