White Screen of Death in WordPress – causes and solutions

The “white screen of death” (WSoD) is a common WordPress error where your website shows only a blank white screen instead of your content. It can affect both visitors and admins and usually shows no clear error message. In this article you’ll learn what WSoD is, why it happens, and — most importantly — how to fix it step by step. I also cover when to ask an expert for help and how to reduce the chance of it happening again.

Nothing is more alarming than a sudden empty white screen on your website. There’s no clue what went wrong, and both the front‑end and back‑end can seem unreachable. Luckily the White Screen of Death is usually not as fatal as it sounds — it’s one of the most common WordPress errors and in most cases it’s fixable. Below I explain what’s going on and how to get your site back online quickly.

What is the WordPress White Screen of Death (WSoD)?

The White Screen of Death (WSoD) means your WordPress site shows nothing but a completely blank white screen — no content, no menus, possibly only a general HTTP 500 error message. It’s as if the site is “dead,” hence the dramatic name. In some browsers you’ll see a message that the page isn’t working, for example “This page isn’t working – HTTP ERROR 500” in Google Chrome.

Important to know: in recent WordPress versions, instead of a blank screen you may see a message like “There has been a critical error on this website. Please check your site admin email inbox for instructions.” This is the same error — WSoD — but WordPress now tries to help by sending an email with more information and a recovery mode link. In older versions you would see only a white screen. If you see the “critical error” message, you can follow the email instructions to fix the issue. If you see nothing at all (no email, no message), you’re experiencing the classic WSoD and need to find the cause manually.

Why does this happen? – Common causes of a white screen

A white screen in WordPress almost always means something fundamental is wrong with code or memory. The most common causes are:

• Plugin error (conflict or bad update): by far the most common cause is a plugin problem. A bug or conflict between plugins can trigger a fatal PHP error. Sites often go down right after installing or updating a plugin. Poorly coded or outdated plugins can do this.
• Theme issue: a broken or incompatible theme can cause WSoD. For example, activating a new (or outdated) theme that isn’t compatible with your WordPress version can crash the site.
• PHP code errors or syntax errors: the white screen almost always results from PHP code errors. A single wrong character or invalid code in a file (for example in functions.php of your theme, a plugin file, or even core files like wp-config.php or .htaccess) can stop the site from loading. This is especially likely if you recently added or edited code manually.
• Exhausted PHP memory limit: WordPress has a limited amount of memory on the server. If a script exceeds that limit (for example an infinite loop or a plugin that hangs), WordPress stops executing. No error is displayed because the server simply stops — result: a white screen. Too little memory or a strict max_execution_time can also be the culprit.
• Failed update: sometimes a WordPress core, plugin, or theme update doesn’t complete. For example, a timeout during the update can leave the site stuck in maintenance mode. If an update doesn’t finish (or leaves files behind), you can end up with a blank page until it’s resolved.
• Server or file permission issues: less often, the problem is outside WordPress itself — incorrect file permissions or server settings can prevent WordPress from running. It’s rare, but if all other causes are ruled out, server configuration may be to blame (in which case you’ll need host support).

As you can see, it usually comes down to code (plugins/themes) or memory. With that in mind, I’ll walk you through troubleshooting the white screen step by step.

How to fix the White Screen of Death (step‑by‑step)

When your site is unusable due to WSoD, you want to fix it fast. Below are step‑by‑step solutions. Try them in order — after each step, refresh your site to see if it’s resolved. Ideally make a backup before changing anything so you can always roll back if something goes wrong (or restore a backup from before the issue started).

1. Deactivate all plugins (possible conflict)

The first and simplest step is to disable all WordPress plugins. In many cases a plugin is the culprit — for example a failed update or a conflict between two plugins. Disabling all plugins is the fastest way to test this.

If you still have access to the WordPress dashboard: go to Plugins → Installed Plugins, select all, choose Deactivate in the bulk actions menu, and apply. This disables all plugins. Then check the front‑end. If the site loads now, a plugin was the cause.

If yes — find the culprit: re‑enable plugins one by one and refresh the site each time. As soon as the white screen returns after enabling a specific plugin, you’ve found the culprit. Remove or replace that plugin, or contact the developer for a fix. Then re‑enable the remaining plugins.

If you can’t access wp-admin: you can disable plugins via FTP or your hosting file manager. Log into the server files and go to the wp-content folder. Rename the plugins folder to something like plugins_old. WordPress will no longer see the plugins and will disable them all. Now try loading your site. If it works, a plugin was the cause.

Then follow the same process: rename plugins_old back to plugins and re‑enable plugins one by one (via FTP renaming or in the dashboard if you can access it) to identify the plugin that triggers the white screen. That plugin should be removed or updated/replaced.

(If disabling all plugins doesn’t change anything, rename the folder back to plugins so your plugins are recognized again — they will remain deactivated until you re‑enable them.)

2. Switch to a default WordPress theme

If the issue wasn’t caused by a plugin, your active theme may be causing the WSoD. Custom or outdated themes often break after WordPress updates. The fix is to switch temporarily to a default WordPress theme.

Via wp-admin (if accessible): go to Appearance → Themes and activate a recent default theme such as Twenty Twenty‑One/Two/Three. Then reload your site. If it works, your previous theme is the issue.

No wp-admin access: use FTP or your hosting file manager. Go to wp-content/themes and rename your active theme folder (e.g., mytheme → mytheme_old). If another theme exists, WordPress will fall back to it (such as Twenty Twenty). If no other theme is installed, download a default theme from wordpress.org and upload it to the themes folder.

Check your site again. If it works, your theme was the culprit. Contact the theme developer or look for an update/patch. If the issue persists, consider switching to a better‑maintained theme.

3. Clear cache (if applicable)

Sometimes the WSoD appears to persist because of caching even though the root cause has already been fixed. This can happen if the back‑end is accessible but the front‑end stays blank. Solution: clear both browser cache and WordPress cache (if you use a caching plugin).

• Clear browser cache: force a hard refresh (Ctrl + F5 on Windows, Cmd + Shift + R on Mac). Or clear cache/history in browser settings.
• Clear caching plugin: if you use plugins like WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, WP Super Cache, etc., use their Delete/Empty Cache button in the plugin settings.

After clearing caches, reload the site. If the original issue is fixed, the page should now load. If it’s still white, move on.

4. Enable debug mode for more information

If the steps above don’t solve it or you still can’t find the cause, enable WordPress debug mode. In debug mode, WordPress shows error messages instead of a silent white screen, so you can identify the cause.

To enable debugging, edit wp-config.php in the WordPress root. Find this line:

define('WP_DEBUG', false);

Change false to true (or add the line if it doesn’t exist), save, and reload the site.

Instead of a blank page, you should now see PHP error messages on screen. Example:

Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function get_posts() in /var/www/html/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/my-plugin/plugin.php on line 38

This tells you the error is in a plugin file — a clear hint. The debug output usually shows which file/line caused the crash.

Based on this, return to step 1 or 2: disable the plugin or fix/replace the code. You can also paste the exact error message into a search engine to find others with the same issue and potential fixes.

Tip: if no error message appears after enabling WP_DEBUG, the server may block error output. WordPress creates a log file in debug mode — check for wp-content/debug.log via FTP. If that’s empty too, ask your host for server error logs; some hosts disable logging by default.

Once you find the cause, don’t forget to turn debug mode off again (set WP_DEBUG back to false). Leaving it on exposes errors to visitors, which you don’t want on a live site.

5. Increase the PHP memory limit

If errors mention “Allowed memory size exhausted” or the white screen persists, increasing memory can help. This prevents heavy processes from crashing due to memory limits.

Try the WordPress method first via wp-config.php:

Add this line (near the top, before “That's all, stop editing”):

define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '64M');

Save and test again. This sets WordPress to 64 MB (default is often 40 MB). If the issue persists, try 128M. Some hosts won’t allow overriding WP_MEMORY_LIMIT. If so, increase it server‑side:

• .htaccess: add this line to the root .htaccess file:

php_value memory_limit 128M

• php.ini: on many servers you can create or edit a php.ini or php.ini.user file and add memory_limit = 128M.

If raising the limit doesn’t help or the site remains inaccessible, there may be a deeper issue consuming resources (like a plugin memory leak). In that case, ask a developer or host for help.

Note: don’t raise the limit excessively (256M is usually plenty). If the site still hits memory limits, something else needs to be fixed — simply raising limits isn’t sustainable and can affect other server processes.

6. Check for a failed update (.maintenance)

If the WSoD appeared right after an update, the update may not have completed. During updates, WordPress temporarily creates a .maintenance file in the root folder. If the update fails, the file can remain and leave the site stuck in maintenance mode.

Solution: use FTP or your file manager and look for .maintenance in the WordPress root. Delete it and reload the site.

If the update had actually finished and only the file remained, your site should now work. If the update truly failed, WordPress may try to finish the update or roll it back. Give it a moment.

If the problem remains, run the update manually per WordPress instructions. For core updates, you can upload a fresh WordPress copy via FTP (excluding the wp-content folder) to replace missing or corrupted files.

7. Revert recent code changes or restore a backup

Did you manually edit code shortly before the WSoD (theme, plugin, or the editor in wp-admin)? A single typo can crash the site. That’s why WordPress recommends not editing code on a live site.

You can fix this by reverting the change via FTP: remove the added code or replace the file with the original version. If you’re not sure what changed, restore a backup from before the crash and then investigate in a staging environment.

Debug tip: if debug mode is enabled, you might see a “parse error” or syntax error in a specific file/line, which tells you exactly what to fix.

8. (Rare) A very long page or post causes WSoD

In rare cases, an extremely long page or post can cause a white screen. PHP may struggle with large text processing (e.g., regex functions) and time out. You might notice this happens only on a specific page.

Advanced fix: increase PHP’s text processing limits by adding these lines to wp-config.php:

ini_set('pcre.recursion_limit', 20000000);
ini_set('pcre.backtrack_limit', 10000000);

Save and refresh the affected page. If it still doesn’t load, the content may be too heavy — consider splitting it into multiple pages or sections.

These methods should resolve most WSoD situations. A simple check of plugins and themes fixes the problem in many cases. And debug mode helps you pinpoint the cause so you can apply a targeted fix.

When should you ask an expert for help?

Not everyone feels comfortable modifying files or reading error messages — and that’s fine. Ask an expert for help if the site still doesn’t work after the steps above, or if it simply feels too technical. There’s no shame in asking; a WordPress specialist can often identify and fix the issue quickly.

Especially when the issue is deeper (server settings, database, file permissions), professional help is wise. File permission problems can also cause WSoD, but it’s risky to experiment if you’re unsure — you can create security issues. Your host or an expert can safely check and fix this.

In short, don’t hesitate to contact your host or a WordPress professional if the problem persists. If the site is still unreachable after all fixes, the cause may be outside WordPress (server‑level) and your host can investigate further. Getting help can save time and frustration.

Tips to prevent WSoD in the future

You can’t completely prevent WSoD, but you can reduce the risk with good maintenance:

• Keep WordPress updated: always run the latest WordPress core, themes, and plugins. Many white‑screen issues happen after updates when outdated themes/plugins are incompatible. Regular updates (and replacing incompatible software) reduce risk.
• Use reliable plugins and themes: choose high‑quality plugins/themes with good ratings and recent updates. Avoid unnecessary plugins — fewer plugins means fewer conflicts. Poorly maintained extensions are a recipe for issues.
• Always make backups: regular backups are your safety net. Set automatic daily backups (many hosts offer this, or use a plugin) and make a manual backup before major updates.
• Test updates in a safe place: if your site is business‑critical, use staging. Test updates there first, then apply on live once verified. This prevents a bad update from taking down production.
• Be careful with custom code: add custom code cautiously (e.g., in functions.php or via code snippets). One typo can crash the site. Test on staging first. Use a child theme for theme changes.
• Monitor your website: use monitoring tools or plugins that alert you when your site goes down or errors occur. Error logging plugins can also warn you early.
• Maintenance and security: keep PHP up to date (in consultation with your host) and ensure your server has enough resources. Periodic maintenance — like database optimization and cleaning unused plugins/themes — helps prevent small issues from turning into big ones.

Conclusion

A WordPress White Screen of Death is alarming, but usually not as serious as it looks. The white screen is often WordPress’ way of saying something went wrong without telling you what. With a structured approach — as described above — you can usually find the cause and bring your site back online.

In summary: start with the usual suspects (plugins and themes), use debug mode to see technical details, and apply targeted fixes like increasing memory or reverting a bad change. Keep your WordPress environment healthy with updates, backups, and quality plugins/themes to avoid trouble.