How to check PHP memory limit for Joomla

Quite often on Joomla! forums users ask what to do when the website runs out of memory. When it happens you may receive the following or similar error message:

Fatal error: Allowed memory size of NNN bytes exhausted

That means the hosting set-up cannot provide enough memory for proper running of the website and often makes a blank page to be displayed. First you should find out how much memory your website can take. The below information will help you troubleshoot the memory limit failure.

A White Screen

When a white screen appears, the first step for a website developer to resolve the problem is to change the error reporting setting to a maximum level. We gave full information on troubleshooting the white screen in one of the previous tutorials.

PHP Information

Log into the back end of the Joomla! website, select the system tab and then system information (the latter directory holds a lot of important information about the website hosting architecture).

Click the PHP Information tab and start searching for “memory limit” via browser functions.

Loaded Configuration File

By searching for “loaded configuration file” you will learn which php.ini file should be revised in order to extend the memory limit.