Error establishing a Redis connection? Fix by removing object-cache.php

So you just migrated your WordPress site from one host to another, everything looks like it went smooth, your DNS is pointing where it should, your SSL certificate is installed correctly, and then you load up your site and get hit with this:

“Error establishing a Redis connection.”

Yeah. I’ve been there. Twice, actually.

I ran into this exact problem when I was transferring my site from Cloudways to Hostinger, and it’s one of those things where you’re sitting there going “but I did everything right?” because you did do everything right. Your DNS is configured, your SSL is good, the migration went through cleanly.

And yet your site is just throwing this error at you like you broke something.

The good news is the fix is stupid simple. The problem isn’t your configuration, it’s a leftover caching file from your old host.

What’s Actually Causing This

When you move from one hosting platform to another, the server configurations between the two aren’t always identical (they’re usually not, honestly). Your old host was running Redis for object caching, and that’s great, but when you pull your site files over to the new host the object caching drop-in file comes along for the ride.

The new server doesn’t match the old Redis setup, so it tries to connect using the old configuration and just… fails.

The file causing all the drama is typically called object-cache.php. It’s a WordPress drop-in file that lives in your site’s directory and it’s looking for a Redis server that doesn’t exist on your new host anymore, or at least isn’t configured the same way.

How to Fix It (Takes About 30 Seconds)

Now you can only do this after the website is fully transferred over and pulled over to your new host. Don’t go messing with files mid-migration.

Step 1: Log into your Hostinger dashboard (or whatever hosting platform you migrated to) and go to Files then File Manager. You’ll get your whole file directory which is pretty cool if you haven’t poked around in there before.

Step 2: Head over to public_html. Check the site root first. You might see the object caching file right there at the root level.

But if you don’t see it there, go into the wp-content folder because that’s the standard location for WordPress drop-in cache files and that’s where I found it the second time around.

Step 3: Once you find object-cache.php, you’ve got two options.

• You can just straight up delete it. That’s what I did and it fixed the problem immediately.
• Or if you’re nervous about deleting files from your server (which, fair enough) just rename the file to something different, like object-cache-old.php (or literally anything else). When the platform tries to look for that file it can’t find it anymore and it just assumes it’s not there. Same result, less anxiety.

Step 4: Load up your website again. That should fix your problem, because that certainly fixed mine. Both times.

Why This Works

The object-cache.php file is basically telling WordPress “hey, use this Redis configuration for caching” but the Redis setup on your new server either doesn’t exist or is completely different from what that file expects.

By removing the file (or renaming it so WordPress can’t find it) you’re just telling WordPress to stop trying to connect to a Redis instance that isn’t there. WordPress falls back to its default behavior and your site loads fine.

If you want object caching on your new host later, you can always set that up fresh with whatever caching solution your new host supports. But that’s a separate thing entirely—the goal is getting back online after the migration.

Quick Recap

• Migrate your site to a new host
• Get the Redis connection error even though DNS and SSL are fine
• Go to File Manager in your hosting dashboard
• Find object-cache.php in either public_html or wp-content
• Delete or rename it
• Reload your site
• Done

It’s really that simple. The fix takes 30 seconds once you know where to look. 🤙