How to increase the Elementor memory limit

The Elementor editor won’t load, only shows a gray area, or crashes with “Allowed memory size exhausted”? In most cases, the PHP memory limit is too low. In this article, you’ll learn what’s behind it, how to check the current value and how to increase it.

What is the PHP memory limit?

The memory limit defines the maximum amount of memory a single PHP script may use. Every page request in WordPress is such a script. If it needs more memory than allowed, PHP aborts – and you see an error or a blank page.

By default, WordPress itself only sets 40 MB for the frontend (constant WP_MEMORY_LIMIT). That’s far too little for page builders like Elementor. For Elementor Pro, you should plan for at least 512 MB. More headroom doesn’t hurt: the more plugins you use and the more complex your pages, the more memory the editor needs.

Step 1: Check the current value

The quickest way is right inside WordPress:

• Elementor: In the dashboard under Elementor → System Info, you’ll find the “Memory Limit” value in the “WordPress Environment” section.
• WordPress: Under Tools → Site Health → Info, you’ll find the “PHP memory limit” in the “Server” section.

Step 2: Increase the memory limit

There are three common ways. Which one works for you depends on your hosting.

Option A: In Plesk (recommended)

If your hosting uses Plesk, this is the easiest and cleanest way:

1. Log in to Plesk and select your domain.
2. Open PHP Settings (or “PHP”).
3. Set the memory_limit value to 512M or higher.
4. Save – the change takes effect immediately.

Option B: In wp-config.php

Open the wp-config.php file in the root directory of your WordPress installation and add the following above the line /* That's all, stop editing! Happy publishing. */:

define( 'WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '512M' );
define( 'WP_MAX_MEMORY_LIMIT', '512M' );

Important: WordPress can only request as much memory as the server allows. If the server’s limit is lower, this setting has no effect – then you need option A or C.

Option C: In php.ini or .user.ini

With some web hosts, you can create your own php.ini or .user.ini in the root directory:

memory_limit = 512M

The .htaccess method that used to be recommended often only works on Apache servers with mod_php. On NGINX servers, the file is ignored.

Step 3: Check the result

Open Elementor → System Info again and check the value. Then reload the editor. If it still doesn’t run smoothly, take a look at the other causes of a slow Elementor.

If your web host doesn’t allow a higher limit

Especially with cheap shared hosting plans, the memory limit is often capped at 128 or 256 MB. Then your only option is to switch plans or providers.

At servflix.com, every plan gives you 1 GB of memory for PHP – twice the recommended 512 MB for Elementor Pro. Plus PHP 8.1+, NVMe storage and OPcache. Learn more on our Elementor hosting page.