How to Fix Error Establishing a Database Connection in WordPress

WordPress is a free and open-source CMS written in PHP and paired with a MySQL database. When a database error occurs in a WordPress site, you will see "Error establishing a database connection". Two most probable reasons for a database connection error are database server down and incorrect wp-config.php. In this tutorial, I will describe how to fix error establishing a database connection in WordPress step by step.

Why Do I Get Error establishing a database connection?

If you recently transferred your WordPress site from a hosting company to another, you may face this problem. If you are transferring your site for the first time, you will face a database connection error if you cannot transfer your site properly. Another most probable reason is an irresponsive database server. Error establishing a database connection occurs in a WordPress site for the following reasons:

Incorrect wp-config.php settings
Incorrect database name, database username and password
Database server down
Corrupted database

How To Fix Database Connection Error in WordPress

As almost every problem has a solution, it also has. Here I will describe 4 effective ways to fix error establishing a database connection.

1. Check wp-config.php settings

As the site cannot establish a database connection, you should check the database credentials. As I previously mentioned, the database problem in WordPress most probably happens at the time of transferring the site to another hosting or another cPanel account. If you recently transferred your site, then follow the following instructions:

Login to your cPanel
Go to file manager
Then go to your site
And open wp-config.php (If the site is root domain, you will find wp-config.php in public_html or if the site is on addon domain, you will find in yoursite.com)
Finally check the credentials according to the following box. (DB_NAME, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD and DB_HOST)

<?php
/**
 * The base configuration for WordPress
 *
 * The wp-config.php creation script uses this file during the
 * installation. You don't have to use the web site, you can
 * copy this file to "wp-config.php" and fill in the values.
 *
 * This file contains the following configurations:
 *
 * * MySQL settings
 * * Secret keys
 * * Database table prefix
 * * ABSPATH
 *
 * @link https://wordpress.org/support/article/editing-wp-config-php/
 *
 * @package WordPress
 */

// ** MySQL settings - You can get this info from your web host ** //
/** The name of the database for WordPress */
define( 'DB_NAME', 'Your Database Name' );

/** MySQL database username */
define( 'DB_USER', 'Your Database Username' );

/** MySQL database password */
define( 'DB_PASSWORD', 'Your Database Username Password' );

/** MySQL hostname */
define( 'DB_HOST', 'localhost' );

/** Database Charset to use in creating database tables. */
define( 'DB_CHARSET', 'utf8mb4' );

/** The Database Collate type. Don't change this if in doubt. */
define( 'DB_COLLATE', '' );

/**#@+
 * Authentication Unique Keys and Salts.
 *
 * Change these to different unique phrases!
 * You can generate these using the {@link https://api.wordpress.org/secret-key/1.1/salt/ WordPress.org secret-key service}
 * You can change these at any point in time to invalidate all existing cookies. This will force all users to have to log in again.
 *
 * @since 2.6.0
 */
define( 'AUTH_KEY',         'Key' );
define( 'SECURE_AUTH_KEY',  'Key' );
define( 'LOGGED_IN_KEY',    'Key' );
define( 'NONCE_KEY',        'Key' );
define( 'AUTH_SALT',        'Key' );
define( 'SECURE_AUTH_SALT', 'Key' );
define( 'LOGGED_IN_SALT',   'Key' );
define( 'NONCE_SALT',       'Key' );

/**#@-*/

/**
 * WordPress Database Table prefix.
 *
 * You can have multiple installations in one database if you give each
 * a unique prefix. Only numbers, letters, and underscores please!
 */
$table_prefix = 'wpke_';

/**
 * For developers: WordPress debugging mode.
 *
 * Change this to true to enable the display of notices during development.
 * It is strongly recommended that plugin and theme developers use WP_DEBUG
 * in their development environments.
 *
 * For information on other constants that can be used for debugging,
 * visit the documentation.
 *
 * @link https://wordpress.org/support/article/debugging-in-wordpress/
 */
define( 'WP_DEBUG', false );

/* That's all, stop editing! Happy publishing. */

/** Absolute path to the WordPress directory. */
if ( ! defined( 'ABSPATH' ) ) {
	define( 'ABSPATH', __DIR__ . '/' );
}

/** Sets up WordPress vars and included files. */
require_once ABSPATH . 'wp-settings.php';

Make sure that host name value is localhost.

2. Check MySQL database name, username and password

If you manually transfer or restore your site from a cPanel backup, you might make a mistake. So check MySQL database name, MySQL Username and Passwords. To check these info:

Log in to your cPanel
Go to MySQL® Databases
Scroll down to Current Databases
Check the database name and Privileged username of the affected site

If everything is okay and you are still seeing "Error establishing a database connection" then follow the next instructions:

Again login to your cPanel
Go to MySQL® Databases
Scroll down to Current Users
Change the passwords of the database users and copy the passwords. (You may see more than one user, just change the passwords of the current user)
Finally, paste the passwords in "Your Database Username Password" in your wp-config.php. (See the following box)

/** MySQL database password */
define( 'DB_PASSWORD', 'Paste Your Database Username Password Here' );

3. Check the database server is down or not

Sometimes the error occurs for the database server down. Make sure that the database server is not down. You can easily check whether the database server of your cPanel is down or not. Visit another website that is hosted on the same server or in the same cPanel account. If you notice the same issue, your server is down. Another simple way to check is to install new WordPress on a subdomain of the root domain. Then you need to visit the subdomain. After that, if you see the error, then your server is down. If you confirmed that your database server is down then contact your hosting provider to fix the issue.

4. Contact your hosting provider

If you fail to identify the issue and cannot fix the "error establishing a database connection" then it is better to contact your hosting provider. Tell them what actually happed or create a support ticket from your account. Then will help you.