Question

Problem 'Installation failed: Destination folder already exists.' with Wordpress Plugin

Hi DO community. I have a problem with a Wordpress Plugin that I want to install. It’s about the Login or Logout Menu Item plugin, which I installed earlier, but seems to be gone all the sudden.

When I want to re-install it, I get this error ‘Installation failed: Destination folder already exists.’ Does anyone know how I can remove this destination folder from my droplet?

I am using Ubuntu 20.04 with a LAMP stack.

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pistle2020 • October 16, 2020
Accepted Answer

The first thing that you should do is visit your themes or plugins page to see if you have it already installed on your site.

If it isn’t already installed, then this could mean two things:

  1. A previous attempt to delete the plugin or theme didn’t succeed, and it left the plugin / theme folder behind.

  2. A previous installation attempt was interrupted and left an empty destination folder.

In either case, there is a folder with the same name as the theme or plugin you are trying to install. This folder is stopping WordPress from completing the installation.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to easily solve destination folder already exists error in WordPress.

Fixing Destination Folder Already Exists Error in WordPress

First you will need to connect to your WordPress site using an FTP client or cPanel File Manager.

Once connected, you need to go to the /wp-content/plugins/ or /wp-content/themes/ folder (depending on what you were trying to install).

Now, look for the folder named after the plugin or theme that you were trying to install and then delete it.

Delete folder

You can now go back to your WordPress admin area and retry installing the plugin or theme like you would normally do.

You should be able to install your WordPress plugin or theme without any error. I hope this helps. Best Regards