There seems to be a problem connecting to our database

What do I do when this message is shown?

If your database credentials have been altered incorrectly, you might receive an unexpected screen when visiting your store:

Sorry!
There seems to be a problem connecting to our database. Please give us a few minutes to remedy the problem. Thank you.

Common causes:

  • You’ve changed your database name or database username on your webserver
  • You’ve deleted the tables from the database on your server
  • You’ve changed the DB_PREFIX setting in your configure.php files to a value that doesn’t match the tables in your database
  • You’ve edited your /includes/configure.php file and incorrectly altered the defined values for the various DB_XXXXXX settings contained therein. You should first go and fix those. Then make sure you’ve also got the correct values in the /your-renamed-admin-folder/includes/configure.php as well.

The error is specifically displayed when the DB_XXXXXX values (which mainly denote your database login credentials for MySQL) are used but return a security login error when trying to connect to the database.

If you don’t know the correct database name, MySQL username and MySQL password, and database host name (servername), then you need to talk to your hosting company’s tech support staff for assistance.

NOTE: THIS ERROR MEANS THERE IS A PROBLEM ON YOUR SERVER. THE PROBLEM IS NOT WITH zen-cart.com AND ONLY YOU CAN FIX THE ERROR!




Still have questions? Use the Search box in the upper right, or try the full list of FAQs. If you can't find it there, head over to the Zen Cart support forum and ask there in the appropriate subforum. In your post, please include your Zen Cart and PHP versions, and a link to your site.

Is there an error or omission on this page? Please post to General Questions on the support forum. Or, if you'd like to open a pull request, just review the guidelines and get started. You can even PR right here.
Last modified September 13, 2020 by Scott C Wilson (dfc38fe).