Fixing the WordPress white screen of death

The WordPress "white screen of death" is when your site loads as a blank white page — no error, no content, nothing. It's almost always a PHP error that's been suppressed from output.

First step: turn on error display

Edit wp-config.php (via FTP or the file manager). Find:

define('WP_DEBUG', false);

Change to:

define('WP_DEBUG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', true);

Save. Reload the white-screen page. You should now see the actual error.

If the error displays, the message tells you what's broken — usually a specific plugin file or theme file. Skip to the relevant section below.

If the error logs but doesn't display (WP_DEBUG_LOG writes to /wp-content/debug.log):

1. Open /wp-content/debug.log via FTP or file manager.
2. Read the most recent entries.
3. The error message and stack trace point at the offending file.

Common causes and fixes

Plugin error

Most common. A plugin is incompatible with your PHP version, conflicts with another plugin, or has a bug.

To identify:

1. Disable all plugins via FTP: rename /wp-content/plugins/ to /wp-content/plugins.bak/.
2. Reload the site. If it works now, a plugin is the cause.
3. Restore the plugins folder: rename back to /wp-content/plugins/.
4. Disable plugins one at a time in wp-admin → Plugins, refreshing the site after each disable.
5. When the white screen comes back, the last plugin you re-enabled is the culprit.

Alternative without FTP: use wp-cli on plans with shell access:

cd /home/your-user/public_html
wp plugin deactivate --all

Then re-enable one at a time:

wp plugin activate plugin-slug-name

Theme error

If disabling all plugins doesn't fix it, the theme is suspect.

1. Edit wp-config.php to switch to a default theme:

   define('WP_DEFAULT_THEME', 'twentytwentyfour');
   

2. Or rename your theme folder via FTP — /wp-content/themes/your-theme/ to /wp-content/themes/your-theme.bak/. WordPress falls back to the most recent default theme.

If the site loads, your theme has the bug.

PHP version mismatch

Some plugins or themes don't support newer PHP. If you recently upgraded PHP:

1. Roll back PHP version: Services → click hosting → PHP tile → pick an older version.
2. Test the site.

If it works on the older PHP version, the offending plugin/theme needs updating to support your target PHP version. Either update it or replace it.

Memory exhausted

If debug.log shows "Allowed memory size exhausted":

Edit wp-config.php:

define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M');
define('WP_MAX_MEMORY_LIMIT', '512M');

Save and reload. If the limits work, your site needed more memory; debug what's using so much (usually a heavy plugin or theme).

Database connection error

If debug.log shows "Error establishing a database connection":

1. Check wp-config.php — DB_NAME, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD, DB_HOST should be localhost.
2. Check the database exists — open phpMyAdmin from your hosting, verify the database is there.
3. Check the user can connect — in cPanel → MySQL Databases → check the user is added to the database with All Privileges.

.htaccess corruption

If the white screen started after editing .htaccess:

1. Rename .htaccess via FTP to .htaccess.bak.
2. Reload the site.
3. If the site works, the .htaccess had a bad rule.

To regenerate clean rules: wp-admin → Settings → Permalinks → Save Changes. WordPress writes a fresh .htaccess.

Recently uploaded a corrupt plugin/theme

If you uploaded a plugin or theme via FTP and the white screen appeared:

• The upload was likely incomplete or corrupted.
• Re-upload the file via FTP, or delete and re-install via wp-admin.

Get the error visible to the visitor (don't, except in debug)

Setting WP_DEBUG to true shows errors to all visitors, not just admins. Useful while you're debugging; bad in production.

Once you've fixed the issue:

define('WP_DEBUG', false);
define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', false);
define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false);

Restore production settings.

When you can't get into wp-admin at all

If the white screen affects admin too (you can't even log in to disable plugins from the dashboard):

• FTP/file manager approach is your only path. Rename folders to disable plugins/themes as described above.
• wp-cli on plans with SSH gives the same control without FTP.
• Restore from backup if everything else fails. See Backup options.

After fixing

Worth doing:

1. Identify the root cause — which plugin/theme/code change broke it?
2. Update the offender — newer version may fix.
3. Replace the offender — if it's abandoned, use an alternative.
4. Document the fix — in your team's notes, especially if it's a custom plugin you've inherited.

Power-user note

For sites that white-screen frequently, consider a WordPress monitoring service like ManageWP or InfiniteWP — they ping your sites periodically and alert you to outages. Combined with a robust backup plugin, you can recover quickly when issues happen.