Is your WordPress website suddenly showing blank white pages? Then you’re likely dealing with the White Screen of Death. More importantly: how do you fix it? Find out now.

WordPress White Screen of Death

If your WordPress site suddenly starts displaying blank white pages, chances are you’re facing the White Screen of Death. This is one of the most common errors in WordPress websites. When it occurs, the CMS shows nothing but empty, white pages – both on the front end (what visitors see) and sometimes in the admin area.

Fixing the WordPress White Screen of Death can be tricky because WordPress typically doesn’t display any clear error messages. To make matters more confusing, the issue may only affect specific parts of your site.

What Causes the White Screen in WordPress?

If WordPress is showing white pages on your site, several underlying issues could be the cause. Most often, it’s one of the following three:

  • There’s a problem with a plugin
  • There’s a problem with the theme/template
  • There’s a database error on the site

The first two are the most common and usually occur due to insufficient memory for a script. This causes the script to stop responding or the server to time out. Since no clear error is generated, WordPress simply shows a blank timeout screen.

How to Fix the White Screen of Death in WordPress

Now that you know what can cause the WordPress white screen, the next step is fixing it. Follow the steps below to resolve the White Screen of Death and get your site working like normal again.

1. Disable WordPress Plugins

Most of the time, a plugin is responsible for the White Screen on your WordPress site. The fix is simple: disable your plugins one by one until you find the culprit. If you’re still able to log in to your site’s admin area after the error, do the following:

– Go to Plugins in the dashboard
– Select All Plugins
– Choose Deactivate from the Bulk Actions dropdown
– Check your site in the browser

If your site works again, the issue is with one of the plugins. To find out which one is causing the WordPress White Screen of Death, reactivate the plugins one by one and test your site each time. When the error reappears, you’ve found the problematic plugin. It may have been corrupted due to a failed update. In that case, uninstall and reinstall the plugin – your site will likely function correctly again.

2. Disable Plugins via FTP

Step 1 often resolves the WordPress White Screen of Death, but not always. Sometimes, the error appears even in the WordPress admin dashboard, making it impossible to disable plugins the usual way. Fortunately, there’s another method. Depending on your hosting provider, you can access your site via SSH or FTP. For simplicity, we’ll refer to this as FTP. You’ll need your hosting login details and an FTP program like FileZilla.

Install FileZilla, enter the server’s URL along with your username and password, and click ‘Connect’. In the right panel, you’ll see the files and folders on your server. Navigate to the ‘wp-content’ folder and then to ‘plugins’. Temporarily rename the plugins folder to something like ‘plugins-old‘. This will deactivate all plugins in WordPress. Next, check your site in the browser. If it works again, the issue lies in one of the plugins. Rename the folder back to plugins, and then rename each individual plugin folder one by one to identify the culprit. Keep testing the site after each change until you find the plugin causing the issue.

Screenshot from FileZilla: Under public_html > wp-content > plugins, you’ll find your installed plugins.

If all goes well, you should now be able to log back into your site. Reinstall the corrupted plugin or look for an alternative. If your site works properly again, you can optionally delete the faulty plugin’s folder via FTP.

3. Switch to a Different WordPress Theme

A WordPress theme can also be the culprit behind the White Screen of Death. For example, something might go wrong during a theme update. To check if the theme is causing the issue, go to your website’s backend and activate a default theme, like Twenty Twenty. Then reload your site in the browser to see if it works again.

If the error prevents you from accessing the admin area, use FTP to navigate to the ‘wp-content/themes‘ folder and temporarily rename it – for example, to ‘themes-old‘. Then check in your browser to see if the theme was the cause of the issue.

4. Clear Your WordPress Plugin Cache

A caching plugin can speed up your WordPress website, but it can also cause problems. If you’re still seeing a white screen after testing your plugins and themes, try clearing your site’s cache. Go to your caching plugin’s dashboard – there’s often a button labeled ‘Empty Cache’. Try different cache-clearing options and check your website in between. There’s a good chance it will start working properly again.

5. Enable Debug Mode to Identify WordPress Errors

If the issue still persists, check the debug log via FTP. The easiest way is using FTP and Notepad++. In FileZilla, navigate to the root of your site and locate the ‘wp-config.php' file. Drag it to your local drive (left panel in FileZilla) and open it in Notepad++.

Look in ‘config.php’ for the following line:

define( ‘WP_DEBUG’, false );

The value 'false' means that visitors are not allowed to see error messages on the site. Temporarily change this to 'true' so you can see exactly what is going wrong:

define( ‘WP_DEBUG’, true );

Then save the file under the name ‘wp-config.php‘. It’s best to do this in a different location on your hard drive so the original file remains untouched. If anything goes wrong, you can easily restore the original. Finally, upload the modified file via FileZilla to the server and overwrite the original. If everything went correctly, you should now see error messages or warnings on the white screen. These will help you identify the root of the problem. You can also read more at WordPress.org: Editing wp-config.php.

6. Check for Failed Auto-Updates

Sometimes something goes wrong in WordPress when updating plugins – for example, due to a server timeout. This can also lead to the White Screen of Death in WordPress. If a WordPress update failed and your site now only shows a white screen, use FTP to navigate to the root directory of your site and check if there is a file named ‘.maintenance'. Delete this file and reload your site. After that, you may need to re-run the update manually.

7. Increase the WordPress Memory Limit

If the problem still persists, there might be a memory shortage. In that case, you can try increasing the memory limit via the ‘wp-config.php‘ file. Open ‘wp-config.php' in Notepad++ and add the following line:

define( ‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ’64M’ );

If this doesn’t work, you can also try increasing the memory limit via the ‘.htaccess‘ file or ‘php.ini‘. However, be cautious – improper changes can easily break your site. It’s best to let a specialist, like your hosting provider, handle this. Note: Not every hosting provider allows you to change the memory limit manually. Sometimes, a different hosting package is required. At Klarned, for example, even the smallest plan already includes a generous 15 GB memory limit!

What to Do If Nothing Fixes the White Screen of Death

Have you tried all possible solutions and are still facing the WordPress White Screen of Death? Then it’s time to contact your hosting provider. As a last resort, they can restore a recent backup of your website on the server.

A Good Hosting Provider Makes Daily Backups

WordPress is a very stable CMS, but the more plugins you add, the higher the risk of timeouts, database errors, and ultimately the WordPress White Screen of Death. Keep your site as lean as possible and avoid endless extensions to minimize this risk. We also recommend choosing a reliable hosting provider – preferably one with extensive WordPress experience and daily backups. That way, if you suddenly encounter unexplained errors, the White Screen of Death, or even a hacked website, a recent backup can be restored quickly. Klarned is one such hosting provider that’s happy to assist. Have questions? Feel free to reach out!