try a few basic troubleshooting steps:
– Flushing any caching plugins you might be running, as well as server and/or browser caches.
– deactivating ALL plugins temporarily to see if this resolves the problem (plugin functions can interfere). If this works, re-activate them individually (one-by-one) to find the problematic plugin(s). When you can’t get into your admin dashboard, try deactivating via FTP or SFTP or whatever file management application your host provides (also read https://codex.www.ads-software.com/FAQ_Troubleshooting#How_to_deactivate_all_plugins_when_not_able_to_access_the_administrative_menus.3F). Also remember to deactivate any plugins in the mu-plugins folder (If you have such folder). The easiest way is to rename that folder to mu-plugins-old.
– If that does not resolve the issue, try switching to the unedited WordPress default Theme for a moment using the WP dashboard to rule out any theme-specific issue (theme functions can interfere like plugins). When you don’t have access to your admin area, navigate to /wp-content/themes/ and switch to the default theme by renaming your current theme’s folder by adding “-old” to the end of the folder name via FTP or SFTP or whatever file management application your host provides. Alternately, you can remove other themes except the default theme. That will force your site to use it.
– If that does not resolve the issue, try resetting the plugins foldervia FTP or SFTP or whatever file management application your host provides. Sometimes, an apparently inactive plugin can still cause problems (because the hooks remain unless plugins completely removed or some plugins stick around in cached files. So by renaming the folder, you break them and force them inactive).
– If all the above steps do not resolve the issue, then try MANUALLY re-uploading all files and folders EXCEPT the wp-config.php file and the /wp-content/ directory from a fresh download of WordPress. Make sure that you delete the old copies of files & folder before uploading the new ones. Read the Manual Update directions first!
– running the upgrade manually via wp-admin/upgrade.php
– If you haven’t already done, always backup everything (including your database) before doing any actions, just in case something really goes wrong.
