Back to Community
Home / Community / General

How to Fix the 'Popup Maker Detected an Issue with Your File System' Error

21 threads Sep 11, 2025

Content

If you're seeing the message "Popup Maker detected an issue with your file system's ability and is unable to create & save cached assets..." in your WordPress dashboard, you're not alone. This is a common notification that can be persistent and frustrating. This guide will explain what the error means and walk you through the most effective solutions to resolve it.

What Does This Error Mean?

Popup Maker tries to improve your site's performance by creating cached CSS and JavaScript files. This error appears when the plugin encounters a problem while attempting to create or write these cache files to your server's wp-content/uploads/pum/ directory. While the popups will usually still function, this can lead to suboptimal performance.

Common Causes

  • Incorrect File Permissions: The web server does not have write access to the necessary folders.
  • Server Security Restrictions: A firewall, security module (like ModSecurity), or strict server configuration is blocking file creation.
  • Plugin or Theme Conflicts: Another plugin may be interfering with the process.
  • A Known Plugin Bug: In some past versions, this notification was triggered incorrectly by a bug that has since been patched.

Step-by-Step Troubleshooting Solutions

1. Try the Built-in Solutions First

The notification itself often provides two buttons:

  • "Try to create cache again": Always click this button first. It often resolves the issue immediately by retrying the process.
  • "Keep current method": This dismisses the notification, but the underlying issue may remain.

2. Disable Asset Caching in Popup Maker Settings

If retrying doesn't work, you can simply tell Popup Maker to stop trying to cache files. This is a perfectly valid solution that eliminates the error.

  1. Go to Popup Maker > Settings > Misc in your WordPress admin.
  2. Check the box next to "Disable asset caching".
  3. Click "Save Changes".

3. Check File and Folder Permissions

The most common cause is incorrect permissions on the wp-content and wp-content/uploads directories. They typically need to be set to 755, and the files within should be 644. You will likely need to contact your hosting provider to verify and correct these permissions.

4. Contact Your Web Host

If the problem persists, contact your hosting support. The error log sometimes shows a "403 Forbidden" status code, which strongly indicates a server-level security rule or firewall is blocking file writes. Provide them with the error message and ask them to:

  • Confirm folder permissions for wp-content/uploads/.
  • Check if any firewalls (e.g., ModSecurity) are blocking requests to create files in that directory.
  • Ensure that PHP processes have the necessary ownership to write to the folder.

5. Ensure You're Using the Latest Version

The 'Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popups Builder' team has released updates in the past to fix bugs that caused false positive warnings. Always ensure your plugin is updated to the latest version to benefit from these patches.

What If the Notification Won't Go Away?

In some cases, even after the issue is fixed, the notification might keep reappearing due to a separate AJAX bug. If you are confident the file system problem is resolved (e.g., the cache files exist, or caching is disabled) but the notice remains, it may be a minor display bug that a future update will address.

Conclusion

The filesystem error is usually more of an annoyance than a critical failure. The fastest solutions are to click "Try to create cache again" or to disable asset caching in the settings. For a more permanent fix that keeps caching active, working with your host to check permissions and security rules is the best course of action.

Related Support Threads Support