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Troubleshooting the 'No Images Were Found' Error in NextGEN Gallery

35 threads Sep 9, 2025

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Understanding the 'No Images Were Found' Error

A common and frustrating issue reported by users of the 'Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery' plugin is the sudden appearance of a "no images were found" message on their website galleries. This problem often occurs even though the images are visible in the WordPress dashboard and the files are confirmed to exist on the server. Based on community reports, this error frequently manifests after events like site migrations, plugin updates, or server changes.

Why Does This Happen?

The error is typically not caused by images being physically deleted. Instead, it's often a symptom of a mismatch between the image paths stored in the WordPress database and the actual file locations on the server. Common triggers include:

  • Site Migration: Moving a site to a new server or domain can break internal path references.
  • Plugin or Core Updates: An update can sometimes cause a glitch in how galleries are read from the database.
  • Server Configuration Changes: Hosting providers may update PHP versions or server modules, which can affect how the plugin interacts with the file system.
  • Permission Issues: Incorrect file or folder permissions can prevent the plugin from reading the images.

Step-by-Step Troubleshooting Guide

If you encounter this error, follow these steps to diagnose and resolve the issue.

Step 1: The Simple Save Trick

This is the most common and effective first step, as highlighted in multiple support threads.

  1. Navigate to your WordPress Dashboard.
  2. Go to NextGEN Gallery -> Manage Galleries.
  3. Select the gallery that is displaying the error.
  4. Click the Save Changes button without making any edits.

This action often forces the plugin to refresh its internal cache and re-establish the correct paths to your images. Many users report this single step resolves the issue immediately.

Step 2: Reset Plugin Options

If the first step doesn't work, try resetting the plugin's options to their default state. This can clear any corrupted settings.

  1. Go to NextGEN Gallery -> Other Options.
  2. Select the Reset Options tab.
  3. Click Reset all options.

Note: You will need to reconfigure any custom settings you had previously, so note them down first.

Step 3: Check File and Folder Permissions

Incorrect permissions can prevent the web server from reading your image files. Using an FTP client like FileZilla:

  1. Connect to your website's server.
  2. Navigate to your gallery directory (typically wp-content/gallery/ or a custom path set in the plugin's settings).
  3. Ensure folders have permissions set to 755 and image files are set to 644.

Step 4: Verify the Gallery Storage Path

After a migration, the path where NextGEN expects to find galleries might be incorrect.

  1. Go to NextGEN Gallery -> Other Options -> Image Options.
  2. Look at the setting for Where would you like galleries stored?
  3. Ensure the path is correct and that the folder exists on your server. If it doesn't, you may need to create it manually via FTP.

Step 5: Reinstall the Plugin

As a last resort, a clean reinstall can sometimes fix persistent issues.

  1. Deactivate and delete the NextGEN Gallery plugin from your WordPress Plugins page.
  2. Reinstall a fresh copy of the plugin from the WordPress repository.

Your image files and gallery data are stored in the database and the wp-content/gallery folder, so they should remain intact through this process.

When to Contact Your Hosting Provider

If none of the above steps work, the issue may lie with your server configuration. Contact your hosting provider and ask them to:

  • Check the server error logs for any related messages.
  • Confirm that the GD Library or Imagick module is installed and functioning correctly.
  • Verify that there have been no recent changes to server security rules or PHP versions that could interfere with file access.

Conclusion

The "no images were found" error can be alarming, but it is usually resolvable. The most important first step is to try the simple act of saving your gallery settings. For more complex cases, systematically checking paths, permissions, and plugin settings will most often lead you to a solution.

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