Chykalophia Docs

What to do when images show as broken icons or blank spaces on your website pages.

Broken images — those little squares with an X or a missing picture icon — make your site look unprofessional. The good news is that the cause is usually straightforward to identify. This guide walks you through the most common reasons and what to do about each one.

Quick summary

First, hard refresh the page and check in another browser. If images are missing everywhere, it may be a hosting or SSL issue. If it's just one image, it was probably deleted or moved. Note which images are broken, on which pages, and contact us with a screenshot.

Step 1 — Rule out a browser display problem

Press Ctrl+Shift+R (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+R (Mac) to reload the page while ignoring the cached copy. Chrome and Edge both document that shortcut; for Safari and other browsers, see how to clear your cache.

Try in a different browser — Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge.

Check on your phone using mobile data (not Wi-Fi).

If images load fine on your phone or in a different browser, your browser cache needs clearing.

Step 2 — Identify the scope of the problem

The pattern of broken images tells you a lot.

What you see	Likely cause
All images on every page are broken	Hosting issue, domain change, or SSL problem
All images in the header/footer	A template or theme file issue
One or two images on one page	Those specific files were deleted or moved
Images broken only on mobile	A responsive image setting issue
Images broken after a migration	Paths (file locations) didn't update correctly

Step 3 — Check if images load at all on the site

Go to your WordPress media library — log in to your dashboard and click Media in the left menu.

Find one of the affected images. Can you see it in the library? Click on it.

Use "Copy URL to clipboard" in the details panel, then load that address directly in your browser. If it shows a 404 error ("page not found"), the file is missing from the server. ("View attachment page," in the same panel, only shows how the image would look in your theme.)

Don't delete and re-upload images used in many places

An image can appear on multiple pages. If you delete it and re-upload it, the old pages will still show broken links. Contact us — we can re-link the image properly.

Step 4 — Check for an SSL or URL mismatch

If your site recently switched from HTTP to HTTPS (the secure version of a web address), older images may still be pointing to the old http:// address. Browsers no longer simply load those. For a plain image, the browser quietly retries the address over https:// instead, and the image breaks if nothing is there. Images pulled in as a set of sizes for different screens are blocked outright.

Signs of this problem:

Images are broken on the live site but appear fine in the WordPress editor
The browser's developer console shows a mixed-content warning (right-click the page, choose "Inspect," then open the Console tab)

This requires a site-wide URL update. Contact us and we'll handle it safely.

Step 5 — Check after a recent migration or domain change

If your site was recently moved to a new host, or your domain changed, image file paths may need updating.

Note the date of the migration or domain change.

Check if images were loading before the change.

Contact us with this information. A database search-and-replace operation will fix the paths — but it must be done carefully.

What to send us

Your site URL
Screenshots showing which images are broken and on which pages
Whether all images are broken or just specific ones
Whether this started after a specific change (migration, domain update, etc.)
Any error messages in the browser — right-click a broken image and choose "Inspect" (or "Inspect Element"), then look at the Console tab for red error messages

Images broken after a major update or migration?

Do not attempt to fix file paths or run database operations yourself. Doing this incorrectly can break far more than the images. Contact us — we have the right tools and will back up first.

Common questions

One specific image broke after I edited the page.

You may have accidentally removed the image while editing. Go back to the page editor, find where the image should be, and re-insert it from the media library.

My logo is broken in the header but all other images are fine.

The logo image was probably re-uploaded or removed in your theme's own settings. Log in to your WordPress dashboard and go to Appearance. On a classic theme, choose Customize, then Site Identity, and check the Logo setting. On a block theme, choose Editor, then Identity, where Site Logo lives. Or contact us.

Images are loading slowly but not broken.

That's a performance issue, not a broken image issue. See My site is slow for guidance on image optimization.

Images look blurry, not broken.

A blurry image was either uploaded at too low a resolution, or WordPress is serving a smaller thumbnail than expected. Contact us with the specific image and we'll replace it with the correct size.

Need a hand?

If you're stuck, email support@chykalophia.com and we'll help. Include your website address and a screenshot if you can.

My images aren't loading