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Elementor Pagination Not Working? Fix It Now

Are you building a beautiful archive page, a blog post listing, or a product catalog with Elementor, only to find your pagination links stubbornly refusing to budge? It’s a common frustration when your Elementor pagination isn’t working as expected, leaving your users stuck on the first page of content.

As experts in WordPress and Elementor, we understand how vital seamless navigation is for user experience and SEO. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll dive deep into the common reasons why your Elementor pagination might be playing up and provide you with multiple, step-by-step solutions to get it running smoothly again. We’ll cover everything from simple caching issues to more complex plugin conflicts, ensuring you have all the tools to diagnose and fix the problem.

Let’s get your Elementor pagination back on track and enhance your website’s navigability!

Understanding Why Elementor Pagination Might Not Be Working

Before we jump into solutions, it’s helpful to understand the underlying causes of a non-functional Elementor pagination. This can range from seemingly minor oversights to more significant technical glitches. Knowing the potential culprits will help you pinpoint the issue faster.

Common Reasons for Elementor Pagination Not Working:

• Caching Conflicts: Both WordPress and Elementor sites often use caching plugins or server-level caching. Stale cache can prevent pagination updates from showing.
• Incorrect Widget Configuration: The Elementor Post, Archive Posts, or Product Archive widgets have specific settings for pagination that, if misconfigured, can lead to issues.
• Theme Incompatibilities: While Elementor is highly compatible, certain themes, especially older or custom-coded ones, might interfere with its functionality, including pagination.
• Plugin Conflicts: Other plugins, particularly those that modify queries, content display, or introduce their own caching mechanisms, can clash with Elementor’s pagination.
• Query Loop Issues: If you’re using Elementor Pro’s Loop Builder, improper query settings can prevent pagination from functioning.
• Permalinks Structure: An incorrect or corrupted permalink structure in WordPress can sometimes affect URL rewriting, which is crucial for pagination.
• Custom Code or Snippets: If you’ve added custom code (PHP, JavaScript, CSS) to your site, it might inadvertently break Elementor pagination.
• Missing or Incorrect Global Post Settings: WordPress’s default reading settings (e.g., “Blog pages show at most”) can influence how many posts are displayed, which directly impacts pagination.
• Elementor or WordPress Core Updates: Sometimes, an update can introduce a bug or incompatibility that needs a subsequent patch.

Now that we have a better grasp of the potential causes, let’s explore the fixes.

Step-by-Step Solutions to Fix Elementor Pagination Not Working

We’ll start with the simplest and most common solutions and gradually move towards more advanced troubleshooting. Remember to test your Elementor pagination after each step to identify the fix.

1. Clear All Caches (Browser, Plugin, Server)

Caching is often the culprit behind Elementor pagination not working. Your browser, caching plugins, and even your hosting server can store old versions of your pages, preventing the pagination changes from showing. This is always the first step in troubleshooting any display issue on a WordPress site.

How to clear caches:

1. Browser Cache:
   • Chrome: Go to Settings > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data. Select “Cached images and files” and clear.
   • Firefox: Go to Options > Privacy & Security > Cookies and Site Data > Clear Data.
   • Safari: Go to Safari > Clear History.
   • Alternatively, use Ctrl + Shift + R (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + R (Mac) to hard refresh the page.
2. WordPress Caching Plugin:
   • If you use a plugin like WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache, LiteSpeed Cache, or Elementor’s built-in cache, navigate to its settings in your WordPress dashboard and look for options like “Clear Cache,” “Purge All Caches,” or “Delete Cache Files.”
   • For Elementor’s built-in cache, go to Elementor > Tools > Regenerate CSS & Data and click “Regenerate Files,” then clear “Cache” from the same tab.
3. Server-Level/CDN Cache:
   • If your hosting provider (like Hostinger) offers server-level caching or you use a CDN like Cloudflare, log into your hosting control panel (e.g., hPanel, cPanel) or CDN dashboard and clear the cache there. Look for options labeled “Purge Cache,” “Flush Cache,” or “Clear CDN Cache.”

After clearing all caches, revisit your page and check if the Elementor pagination is now functioning.

2. Verify Elementor Pagination Widget Settings

Sometimes, the issue is simply a misconfigured setting within the Elementor widget itself. This is especially true for the “Posts” widget, “Archive Posts” widget, or “Product Archive” widget (for WooCommerce) and the dedicated “Pagination” widget.

How to check widget settings:

1. Edit the page or template containing the posts/products in Elementor.
2. Click on the Posts, Archive Posts, or Product Archive widget.
3. In the left panel under the Content tab, locate the “Pagination” section.
4. Ensure “Pagination” is enabled (set to “Show”).
5. Check the “Pagination Type”:
   • Numbers: Displays numbered pages.
   • Previous/Next: Shows simple navigation links.
   • Load More: Adds a button to load more posts via AJAX (if this isn’t working, it might be a JS conflict).
6. Verify that the “Posts Per Page” setting (often found in the “Query” section) is set correctly and that you actually have more posts than this number to trigger pagination.
7. If you’re using a separate Pagination widget, make sure it’s linked correctly to the Posts widget (though typically, it automatically links if placed on the same page/template).
8. Review any custom queries you might be using, ensuring they don’t override the pagination.

For more details on Elementor’s query settings, refer to the official Elementor Post Widget documentation.

3. Check WordPress Reading Settings

WordPress has a global setting that dictates how many posts are displayed on blog pages. If this number is too high or misconfigured, it can prevent Elementor pagination from appearing.

How to check WordPress reading settings:

1. From your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Settings > Reading.
2. Look for the setting: “Blog pages show at most.”
3. Ensure this number is reasonable (e.g., 5, 10, 12 posts). If it’s set to a very high number (e.g., 999) or higher than the total number of posts you have, pagination won’t appear.
4. Click “Save Changes.”

While Elementor’s query settings can override this, it’s good practice to ensure consistency.

4. Update Elementor, WordPress, Theme, and Plugins

Outdated software can lead to compatibility issues and bugs, including those affecting your Elementor pagination. Keeping everything updated is crucial for security and functionality.

How to update:

1. Backup Your Website: Before performing any updates, always create a full backup of your website. This is a critical step! Hostinger users can easily do this via hPanel.
2. Update WordPress Core: Go to Dashboard > Updates in your WordPress admin area.
3. Update Elementor and Elementor Pro: Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins and update Elementor and Elementor Pro if new versions are available.
4. Update Theme: Go to Appearance > Themes and check for updates to your active theme.
5. Update Other Plugins: In Plugins > Installed Plugins, update any other plugins that have pending updates.

After updating, clear all caches again and check your pagination.

5. Identify Plugin or Theme Conflicts

Plugin and theme conflicts are very common causes of unexpected behavior in WordPress. A plugin that modifies queries, post loops, or injects JavaScript might be interfering with your Elementor pagination.

How to troubleshoot conflicts:

This process requires deactivating plugins one by one. It’s best performed on a staging site to avoid affecting your live website.

1. Switch to a Default WordPress Theme:
   • Go to Appearance > Themes and temporarily activate a default WordPress theme like Twenty Twenty-Four or Twenty Twenty-Three.
   • Check if the Elementor pagination works. If it does, your theme is likely causing the conflict. Contact your theme developer for support or consider switching themes.
   • Remember to switch back to your original theme once you’re done testing.
2. Deactivate Plugins One by One:
   • Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins.
   • Deactivate all plugins except Elementor and Elementor Pro.
   • Check your Elementor pagination. If it’s working, reactivate your plugins one by one, checking the pagination after each activation.
   • The plugin that causes the pagination to break upon activation is the conflicting plugin.
   • Once identified, try to find an alternative plugin, contact the plugin developer for support, or report the issue.

This systematic approach helps isolate the source of the conflict.

6. Check Permalinks Structure

WordPress permalinks define the structure of your URLs. If they become corrupted or are set incorrectly, it can sometimes affect how pagination links are generated and interpreted.

How to reset permalinks:

1. From your WordPress dashboard, go to Settings > Permalinks.
2. Note down your current permalink structure (e.g., “Post name”).
3. Change the structure to something different, like “Plain” or “Numeric.”
4. Click “Save Changes.”
5. Immediately change it back to your preferred (original) permalink structure (e.g., “Post name”).
6. Click “Save Changes” again.

This process “flushes” the rewrite rules, which can resolve issues related to URL generation.

7. Review Custom Code and Query Loops

If you’re using Elementor Pro’s Loop Builder or have custom queries/snippets, they might be interfering. For the Loop Builder:

How to check custom queries:

1. Edit your Elementor template (e.g., Archive Template) or page.
2. Click on the Posts or Loop Grid widget.
3. Go to the Content tab and expand the “Query” section.
4. Ensure that your query settings (e.g., specific post type, categories, tags, exclusions) are correct and not inadvertently preventing all posts from being displayed or making pagination impossible.
5. If you’re using a custom query, double-check its syntax and logic. Incorrect custom WordPress queries can severely impact pagination.

If you’ve added any custom code via a child theme’s `functions.php`, a custom plugin, or code snippets, try temporarily commenting them out or removing them to see if the pagination starts working. Any custom JavaScript affecting the DOM or AJAX calls could also be a factor.

8. Review Error Logs

Error logs can provide valuable clues about what’s going wrong behind the scenes. They often point to specific files or functions that are causing issues.

How to check error logs:

1. Enable WordPress Debugging:
   • Access your website’s files via SFTP/FTP or your hosting panel’s file manager.
   • Locate the `wp-config.php` file in your WordPress root directory.
   • Before the line `/* That’s all, stop editing! Happy publishing. */`, add or modify the following lines:

     define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );
     define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true );
     define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false ); // Set to false to hide errors from public view
     

   • Save the file.
   • Now, revisit the page where Elementor pagination isn’t working.
   • A `debug.log` file should be created in your `wp-content` directory. Open it to look for recent errors, warnings, or notices. These can often pinpoint the source of the problem.
2. Check Server Error Logs: Many hosting providers (including Hostinger) provide access to server error logs (e.g., Apache error logs or PHP error logs) through their control panel (hPanel, cPanel, Plesk). Look for any recent critical errors that coincide with the pagination issue.

For more information on debugging, refer to the WordPress Debugging documentation.

Common Issues and Troubleshooting Elementor Pagination

Beyond our direct solutions, here are some specific scenarios and related troubleshooting tips you might encounter.

Elementor Pagination Not Working for WooCommerce Products

If your Elementor pagination issues are specific to product archives:

• WooCommerce Settings: Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Display. Ensure “Shop page display” and “Category display” are set as desired.
• Elementor Product Archive Widget: Double-check the Query settings within your Elementor Product Archive widget. Ensure “Products Per Page” is less than the total number of products for the pagination to show.
• Product Count: Make sure you actually have enough products in the category or overall to trigger pagination.

For more WooCommerce-related troubleshooting, consult the WooCommerce Documentation.

“Load More” Button Not Working (AJAX Issues)

If you’re using the “Load More” pagination type and it’s not responding:

• JavaScript Conflicts: This is almost always a JavaScript conflict. Use the plugin deactivation method (Solution #5) to find the offending plugin.
• Theme JavaScript: Some themes include custom JavaScript that might interfere. Test with a default WordPress theme.
• Console Errors: Open your browser’s developer console (F12 or Cmd + Option + I). Go to the “Console” tab and look for any JavaScript errors when you click the “Load More” button. These errors can provide clues.

Pagination URLs Are Incorrect or Lead to 404 Pages

• Reset Permalinks: As described in Solution #6, resetting permalinks is the primary fix for this.
• Redirection Plugin: If you use a redirection plugin, ensure it’s not inadvertently redirecting pagination URLs.
• .htaccess File: Incorrect rules in your `.htaccess` file can sometimes cause 404s. If you’re comfortable, check your `.htaccess` file (located in your WordPress root directory) for unusual rewrite rules.

Pagination Showing for Pages, But Not Posts/Products

This implies the issue might be specific to the query being used for posts/products:

• Elementor Widget Query: Reconfirm the “Query” settings in your Elementor Posts/Product Archive widget. Ensure the correct “Source” (e.g., Posts, Pages, Products, Custom Post Type) is selected and that any filters (categories, tags) are correctly applied