WordPress White Screen of Death: What Causes It and How to Fix It

On this page

1. What the white screen of death actually is
2. Quick checks before you touch anything
3. The usual causes
4. Check for the recovery mode email
5. Enable WP_DEBUG safely to see the real error
6. Disable plugins or the theme through FTP or the file manager
7. Restore a backup if you're stuck
8. When to call a developer

You open your website and see nothing at all: no error, no logo, just a blank white page. This is the "white screen of death", and while it looks frightening, your content is almost always still safe in the database. Something stopped WordPress before it could build the page. Here's how to find out what, and how to get the site back without making things worse.

What the white screen of death actually is

WordPress runs on PHP. When PHP hits a fatal error, it stops. On a properly configured live server, error messages are hidden from visitors, so instead of a helpful message you get an empty page.

Newer versions of WordPress catch many of these errors and show "There has been a critical error on this website" instead; if that's what you see, follow the critical error fix guide. A truly blank page still happens, though, especially on older installations, when the error occurs very early in loading, or when the server runs out of memory or time. It also comes in a few variations:

• The whole site is blank, front end and admin
• Only the dashboard (wp-admin) is blank, while visitors see the site normally
• Only one page or post type is blank
• The page starts loading, then stops halfway

Note which one you have; it narrows down the cause.

Quick checks before you touch anything

1. Open the site in a private window and on mobile data, to rule out your browser or network
2. If you use a caching plugin or CDN, a blank page may be cached; purging the cache can bring the real page (or the real error) back
3. Check whether wp-admin loads. If it does, you can deactivate plugins normally
4. Ask yourself what changed: an update, a new plugin, a code edit, a hosting change
5. Log in to your hosting panel and look for resource limit warnings or a suspension notice

Then take a backup of the current state, even though it's broken, so you can undo anything you try.

The usual causes

Cause	Typical clue
Plugin or theme conflict	Started right after installing or updating something
PHP memory limit exhausted	Heavy pages, imports or the admin go blank first
PHP version change	Your host upgraded PHP, or you switched it, and old code doesn't support the new version
Failed or interrupted update	An automatic update ran overnight, or an update timed out
Code edit mistake	Someone edited functions.php or added a snippet
Hacked or corrupted files	Unfamiliar files, strange redirects or spam pages as well

Memory problems have their own guide: fixing "Allowed memory size exhausted" errors. For PHP version issues, see updating your PHP version safely.

Check for the recovery mode email

When WordPress detects a fatal error, it usually emails the site's admin address with a subject like "Your Site is Experiencing a Technical Issue". The email names the plugin or theme that failed and includes a special recovery mode link.

1. Search your inbox and spam folder for that email
2. Open the link and log in; the faulty plugin is paused only for your session
3. Deactivate the plugin or switch away from the theme named in the email
4. Exit recovery mode, then update, roll back or replace the faulty plugin

The email goes to the address under Settings, General. If that's an old developer's address, you won't see it, which is one more reason to keep it pointed at a mailbox you check.

Enable WP_DEBUG safely to see the real error

If there's no email, make WordPress write the error to a private log file instead of showing it to visitors. Using your hosting file manager or SFTP, open wp-config.php and find the existing WP_DEBUG line. Replace it (don't add a second copy) with:

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

Reload the blank page, then open wp-content/debug.log. Look for the most recent line containing "Fatal error". It shows a file path: if it mentions wp-content/plugins/ followed by a folder name, that plugin is your suspect; if it mentions wp-content/themes/, it's the theme.

When you're done, set WP_DEBUG back to false and delete debug.log, because the log can reveal details about your server. Your hosting panel's own error log is another good source if you'd rather not edit files.

Disable plugins or the theme through FTP or the file manager

If you can't reach the dashboard, you can still deactivate things from the files:

1. Go to wp-content and rename the plugins folder to something like plugins-off. WordPress deactivates every plugin
2. If the site comes back, rename the folder back, then rename individual plugin folders one at a time until the white screen returns. The last one you renamed is the culprit
3. If plugins aren't the cause, rename your active theme's folder. WordPress falls back to a default theme, provided one is installed

Once the site loads, log in, and reactivate everything else. Then fix the cause: update or roll back the plugin, ask your host to raise the memory limit, or temporarily switch PHP back while incompatible code is updated.

Restore a backup if you're stuck

If the site needs to be online now and you can't find the cause quickly, restore the most recent working backup from your host or backup plugin, and investigate on a staging copy afterwards. See the backup and restore guide.

Be careful on online stores and booking sites: a full restore can wipe out orders, enquiries or bookings received since the backup was taken. Sometimes restoring only the files, and leaving the database alone, is the safer option.

When to call a developer

• You can't access the admin email, hosting panel or files
• The log points to your theme's core files or custom code
• It's an online store and orders are being lost while the site is down
• You see signs of a hack, such as unknown files or spam redirects
• The white screen keeps coming back after updates
• You don't have a recent backup

Those situations need someone who can read the error, fix the code and protect your data while doing it.

Site showing a blank page right now? See WordPress maintenance and support, or malware removal if you suspect a hack.