Automatic update failed, Yoast SEO gone & can’t be reinstalled

  • Resolved w-sky

    (@w-sky)


    1 year, 10 months ago

    Hi there, I got a email notification from my website saying that the automatic update of Yoast SEO from Version 19.14 to 20.0 failed.

    At the same time, the site went unresponsive for about 10 minutes. I got a notice from an uptime monitor. Now when I opened the WP backend, I see that Yoast SEO is gone and on the plugin page I saw a notice like “one or more plugins were deactivated because of missing files”.

    Now, I can’t even reinstall Yoast SEO, the error is “target folder already exists”. I guess I have to FTP connect and delete the Yoast Folder, then reinstall. Or should I do something else?

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Plugin Support marcanor

    (@marcanor)

    Hi there! I’m sorry to hear you had problems while trying to update Yoast SEO. Let’s check what could be the problem.

    From your description, it sounds like the update was interrupted and not all the files could be installed properly.

    The FTP method of deleting the /wordpress-seo/ directory and reinstalling will resolve this problem. Your settings are stored in your database, so you will not lose any of your work.

    We recommend creating regular backups of your site and database for your site’s health and safety. This is especially important before installing, updating, or removing plugins. It provides you with a safety net in case something were to go wrong. Learn more about the benefits of regular backups.

    Please let us know if you have any further questions, we’re here to help.

    • This reply was modified 1 year, 10 months ago by marcanor.
    Thread Starter w-sky

    (@w-sky)

    Okay thanks, it worked. All settings from the previous version seem to be intact.

    The Yoast data left in the plugins directory, which prevented plugin installation, was only one empty folder:
    /wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/conditionals

    Hey @w-sky,

    Thanks for confirming.

    Yeah, an incomplete or failed update can make an incomplete plugin folder, and just deleting the folder and reinstalling fixes this.

    Settings and previous work on your content should be indeed be still present, as this is not stored in the plugin files but in your database.

    I’ll marking the topic as resolved now. Have a great day!

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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