How to Fix the WordPress White Screen of Death (6 Quick Solutions)

The WordPress White Screen of Death (WSoD) is exactly what it sounds like: you visit your website and see nothing. No error message, no content, no dashboard — just a completely blank white page. It's one of the most common WordPress errors and, fortunately, one of the easiest to fix once you know where to look.

The WSoD is almost always caused by one of four things: a PHP error in a plugin or theme, a PHP memory limit being exceeded, a corrupted core file, or a database connection issue. This guide walks through each cause and its solution, starting with the most common fixes.

Before You Start: Enable WordPress Debug Mode

A white screen means WordPress is hiding the actual error. The first step is making that error visible. Connect to your site via FTP or your hosting file manager and edit the wp-config.php file in your WordPress root directory.

Find this line:

define('WP_DEBUG', false);

Change it to:

define('WP_DEBUG', true);

define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true);

define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', true);

Now reload your site. Instead of a white screen, you should see a specific PHP error message — something like "Fatal error: Allowed memory size exhausted" or "Fatal error: Call to undefined function." This error message tells you exactly which solution to apply.

"Debug mode turns a mystery into a diagnosis. Never try to fix the White Screen of Death without enabling WP_DEBUG first — you're guessing blindly without it."

Important: After fixing the issue, set WP_DEBUG back to false. Debug mode displays errors to all visitors, which is a security risk on a live site.

Solution 1: Deactivate All Plugins

Cause: A plugin with a PHP error, a plugin conflict, or a plugin incompatible with your WordPress or PHP version.

How common: This is the cause roughly 70% of the time.

If you can access wp-admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins, select all plugins, and choose "Deactivate" from the Bulk Actions dropdown. If your site comes back, reactivate plugins one at a time until the white screen returns — the last plugin you activated is the culprit.

If you can't access wp-admin (which is common during WSoD), use FTP or your hosting file manager:

1. Navigate to /wp-content/
2. Rename the plugins folder to plugins-disabled
3. Reload your site. If it comes back, the issue is a plugin.
4. Rename the folder back to plugins (this deactivates all plugins but doesn't delete them)
5. Reactivate plugins one by one from wp-admin to identify the problem plugin

What to Do with the Problem Plugin

• Check if an update is available. The error might be fixed in a newer version.
• Check if it's compatible with your PHP version. Some plugins break on PHP 8.2+ if they haven't been updated for newer PHP syntax.
• Contact the plugin developer. Report the error on the plugin's support forum on WordPress.org.
• Find an alternative. If the plugin is abandoned or the developer is unresponsive, switch to a maintained alternative.

Solution 2: Switch to a Default Theme

Cause: A PHP error in your active theme, a theme update that introduced a bug, or an incompatible theme.

How common: This is the cause roughly 15% of the time.

If plugins aren't the issue, your theme might be. Switch to a default WordPress theme (Twenty Twenty-Five, Twenty Twenty-Four, or Twenty Twenty-Three) to test:

Via FTP or file manager:

1. Navigate to /wp-content/themes/
2. Rename your active theme's folder (e.g., rename generatepress to generatepress-disabled)
3. WordPress will automatically fall back to the latest default theme installed
4. If your site loads, the issue is in your theme

If you don't have a default theme installed, download Twenty Twenty-Five from WordPress.org, upload it to the themes folder via FTP, and WordPress will activate it automatically when your current theme's folder is renamed.

Solution 3: Increase the PHP Memory Limit

Cause: WordPress or a plugin is trying to use more memory than your server allows. The error message will typically say "Allowed memory size of X bytes exhausted."

How common: This is the cause roughly 10% of the time, especially on shared hosting with low default memory limits.

WordPress has a default memory limit of 40MB (64MB for multisite). Many plugins, especially WooCommerce and page builders, need 128MB or more. Here's how to increase it:

Method 1: Edit wp-config.php

Add this line before the "That's all, stop editing!" comment:

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

Method 2: Edit .htaccess

Add this line to your .htaccess file in the WordPress root:

php_value memory_limit 256M

Method 3: Edit php.ini

If you have access to php.ini (usually through your hosting control panel), change or add:

memory_limit = 256M

If increasing to 256MB doesn't fix it, try 512MB. If you need more than 512MB, you likely have a code problem (a plugin with a memory leak) rather than a genuine memory need. In that case, identify the offending plugin using the method in Solution 1.

Solution 4: Check File Permissions

Cause: Incorrect file or folder permissions prevent PHP from reading WordPress files.

This usually happens after a server migration, manual file upload, or hosting change. The correct WordPress file permissions are:

You can fix permissions via FTP (right-click > File Permissions) or via SSH with the commands:

find /path/to/wordpress -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;

find /path/to/wordpress -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

Solution 5: Reinstall WordPress Core Files

Cause: Corrupted or missing WordPress core files due to a failed update, server issue, or malware.

WordPress core files can become corrupted during incomplete updates (e.g., if the server timed out during an auto-update) or from malware that modifies core files. To fix:

1. Download the latest WordPress from wordpress.org
2. Extract the ZIP file on your computer
3. Upload the wp-admin and wp-includes folders to your server via FTP, overwriting the existing folders
4. Do NOT overwrite wp-content — that folder contains your themes, plugins, and uploads
5. Do NOT overwrite wp-config.php — that contains your database credentials

This replaces all WordPress core files with fresh, uncorrupted versions while preserving your content and settings.

Solution 6: Check Your Database

Cause: The database connection has failed, or database tables are corrupted.

If you see "Error establishing a database connection" instead of a white screen, the issue is your database. This can happen when:

• Database credentials in wp-config.php are wrong (check DB_NAME, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD, DB_HOST)
• Your database server is down (contact your hosting provider)
• Database tables are corrupted (often after a server crash)

Repairing a Corrupted Database

Add this line to wp-config.php:

define('WP_ALLOW_REPAIR', true);

Then visit: yoursite.com/wp-admin/maint/repair.php

WordPress will scan and repair database tables. After the repair completes, remove the WP_ALLOW_REPAIR line from wp-config.php (anyone can access the repair page while it's enabled).

When Nothing Works: Restore from Backup

If none of the six solutions above fix your white screen, restoring from a recent backup is the fastest path to recovery. This is why we emphasize daily backups on every WordPress site — they're your safety net when troubleshooting fails.

Check these backup sources in order:

1. Your backup plugin (UpdraftPlus, BlogVault, etc.) — restore through the plugin's interface if you can access wp-admin, or through the cloud storage location
2. Your hosting provider's backups — most quality hosts keep 7–30 days of daily backups accessible from the control panel
3. Your hosting support — if you can't access any backup interface, contact support and ask them to restore the most recent clean backup

Preventing the White Screen of Death

Prevention is always easier than recovery. Follow these practices to minimize WSoD occurrences:

• Use a staging site for updates. Test plugin updates, theme changes, and WordPress core updates on a staging copy before applying them to your live site.
• Update one plugin at a time. If you update 10 plugins at once and something breaks, you don't know which one caused it. Update individually.
• Keep PHP updated. Outdated PHP versions cause compatibility issues with newer plugins and themes.
• Set a sufficient memory limit. 256MB is a safe minimum. WooCommerce sites should use 512MB.
• Run daily backups. No matter how careful you are, things break. Daily backups ensure you can always roll back.
• Choose a quality host. Budget hosting with low memory limits, outdated PHP, and slow support turns every WSoD into a multi-hour ordeal.

"The White Screen of Death sounds scary, but it's almost always a 5-minute fix once you know the cause. Enable debug mode, check plugins first, check your theme second, and verify your memory limit third. That covers 95% of cases."

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the White Screen of Death only affect some pages?

If only specific pages show the white screen while others work fine, the issue is usually with a shortcode, widget, or page builder element on those specific pages. Check for recently added content blocks or shortcodes from deactivated plugins. A plugin-specific shortcode that can't render because the plugin is inactive or broken will often cause a white screen on just the pages using that shortcode.

Can the White Screen of Death be caused by hosting?

Yes. Low PHP memory limits (32–64MB on budget hosts), outdated PHP versions, server-level resource limits, and database server issues can all trigger the WSoD. If you experience it frequently despite having well-maintained plugins and themes, your hosting environment may be the root cause.

Will I lose my content if I get the White Screen of Death?

No. The WSoD is a display issue, not a data loss issue. Your content, posts, pages, media, and database are all intact — WordPress just can't render them due to a PHP error. Once you fix the underlying cause, everything comes back exactly as it was.

How do I prevent plugin conflicts that cause the white screen?

Use fewer plugins, choose well-maintained plugins with active development, update plugins individually (not in bulk), and always test updates on a staging site first. Avoid running two plugins that do the same thing (e.g., two caching plugins or two SEO plugins), as they often conflict with each other.

Should I contact my hosting provider about the White Screen of Death?

Yes, especially if the basic solutions don't work. Good hosting providers can check server logs, identify the error, increase memory limits, and restore backups much faster than you can troubleshoot independently. On managed WordPress hosting, WSoD resolution is typically part of the included support.