Lost Your Visual Editor? No Worries!

I see so many people asking basically the same desperation question here in WA community...

"Help! My visual editor has vanished! What can I do to get it back?"...

So I thought it would be a good idea to put up this blog, so there is a document available to refer to. Please pass this on to your followers, too, if you would be so kind.

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It happens to all of us. You are a newbie, working away on your site, when all of a sudden your visual editor has stopped working. The text editor is still functioning just fine, but the visual editor is just a blank white page with no tool bars above showing, either.

And it's PANIC ATTACK TIME!!

Just take a chill pill, relax, take a few calming deep breaths, and proceed with the following fix-it steps.

You may only need to do one or two of the first steps, but if your visual editor does not reappear after each step, proceed to the next, Sometimes you will have to go through the whole list, Doing so will, 9.5 times out of 10, solve the issue.

After step one, starting with step two, try refreshing the page after each step, to see if the problem is resolved. If not, keep plowing down through the list.

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1. Refresh the page. My visual editor goes blank on me almost every day at some point. Usually refreshing the page will make it reappear. I sometimes refresh 2 or 3 times, and just doing this gets the job done.
2. Make sure the browser you are using is updated to the most current version. If it is not, update it. Also you can try logging into your dashboard with a different browser. Kyle recommends using Google Chrome for your dashboard work. My favorite browser is Mozilla Firefox, but when I lose my Visual Editor on there, oftentimes I will still have it available on Chrome.
3. Make sure all of your plugins are updated to the most current version. If any of them are not current, update them. Also check to see if the plugin is even compatible with your version of WordPress. Not all plugins are compatible with all versions of WP.
4. Likewise, make sure your theme and your version of WordPress are updated to the most current version.
5. Empty your cookies and caches.
6. Have you added any plugins recently? If so, disable it (or them, if more than one) and check to see if that was the culprit.
7. Try rebooting your internet modem. Sometimes this can be the culprit, a weak internet signal coming into your machine.
8. If you have gotten this far and refreshing the page still doesn't bring your visual editor back, try rebooting your machine.

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Remember I said the above checklist will solve the issue 9.5 times out of 10? If you still can't see your visual editor after doing all these steps, you are apparently in the .5 category. So, as a last resort, submit a help/support ticket to WA. In rare cases there are things going on with your site that are buried too deep for these quick fix steps.

I asked for help the first couple of times it happened, and the helpful replies on what to do to fix it that I got from WA support are how I came up with this list. Ever since then, I have, in the dozens and dozens of times I have dealt with losing my visual editor, only once needed to resort to submitting a help ticket.

Hope this helps some people!