WordPress + Elementor critical error due to PHP limits on OVH shared hosting (tried .htaccess, wp-config, cron – no effect) [closed]

I am hosting a WordPress site (with Elementor) on OVH shared hosting. After installing my Elementor-compatible theme, the editor does not load and I only see:

There has been a critical error on this website.
Please check your site admin email inbox for instructions.

When I checked the server requirements from the template, I noticed some PHP settings are lower than recommended:

  • PHP version: 8.4.7 (works, but Elementor officially supports up to 8.2)

  • memory_limit: 512M ✅ (OK)

  • post_max_size: 130M ❌ (should be 256M)

  • upload_max_filesize: 128M ❌ (should be 256M)

  • max_execution_time: 165 ❌ (should be 300)

  • max_input_vars: 16000 ✅ (OK)

What I tried

  1. Edited .htaccess in /www/ root:

    php_value memory_limit 512M
php_value post_max_size 256M
php_value upload_max_filesize 256M
php_value max_execution_time 300
php_value max_input_vars 16000

    → No effect.

  2. Edited wp-config.php:

    @ini_set( 'memory_limit', '512M' );
@ini_set( 'post_max_size', '256M' );
@ini_set( 'upload_max_filesize', '256M' );
@ini_set( 'max_execution_time', '300' );
@ini_set( 'max_input_vars', '16000' );

    → No effect.

  3. Tried using cron in OVH Manager to force wp-cron.php.
    → Still same error when opening Elementor.

  4. I also tried switching PHP version inside OVH (.ovhconfig), but Elementor still crashes with the critical error.

Question

  • On OVH shared hosting, is it possible at all to increase post_max_size, upload_max_filesize, and max_execution_time to meet Elementor’s requirements?

  • Or do I need to upgrade to a different OVH plan (e.g. Pro / Performance) to get these PHP settings?

Any experience with Elementor + OVH hosting would be appreciated.