WordPress White Screen of Death: 7 Fixes That Actually Work

Updated May 15, 2026

A WordPress white screen — front end, admin, or both — is one of the most common and frustrating WP errors. The good news: 95% of cases are caused by one of seven things. This guide walks through each fix in order, fastest first.

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Why WordPress shows a white screen

PHP fatal errors used to crash WordPress with a blank page. Modern WP shows a 'There has been a critical error' page and emails the admin — but if WP_DEBUG is off and the email is missing, you still get a wordpress white screen.

Most common causes, in order: a bad plugin, a bad theme update, exceeded PHP memory, a corrupted .htaccess, a recent core update, server-side caching, or a CDN bug.

Step 1 — Enable WP_DEBUG to see the real error

Edit wp-config.php and change the line near the bottom to:

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

Reload the site, then check /wp-content/debug.log. The first fatal error usually names the exact plugin or theme file.

Step 2 — Disable all plugins (without admin access)

Connect via SFTP or your host's File Manager and rename /wp-content/plugins to /wp-content/plugins-off. Reload the site.

If the white screen in WordPress is gone, rename it back to /plugins, then disable each plugin folder one at a time until you find the culprit.

Step 3 — Switch to a default theme

Rename your active theme folder under /wp-content/themes/. WordPress will fall back to the latest Twenty* theme. If the wordpress website white screen disappears, your theme broke — usually after a PHP version bump.

Step 4 — Increase PHP memory

Add this to wp-config.php above the 'stop editing' line:

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

Many cheap shared hosts cap WP at 64MB, which any modern theme + WooCommerce will exceed.

Step 5 — Regenerate .htaccess and clear caches

Rename .htaccess to .htaccess-old in the WordPress root. Visit Settings → Permalinks in wp-admin to regenerate.

Clear every cache layer: server (LiteSpeed/NGINX FastCGI), plugin (WP Rocket, W3TC), and CDN (Cloudflare 'Purge Everything').

Step 6 — Reinstall WordPress core

From wp-admin go to Updates → 'Re-install version X.X.X'. If you can't reach wp-admin, download the zip from wordpress.org and SFTP-upload only /wp-includes and /wp-admin (never overwrite /wp-content or wp-config.php).

Step 7 — Check PHP version compatibility

Hosts auto-bump PHP versions. A theme or plugin written for PHP 7.4 may break on PHP 8.2 with a fatal error. Roll PHP back one minor version in your hosting control panel to confirm.

Frequently asked questions

Why is my WordPress site showing a white screen?

A PHP fatal error from a plugin, theme, or memory limit. Enable WP_DEBUG to see the exact line and file, then disable plugins or switch themes.

How do I fix the white screen in WordPress admin only?

Almost always a plugin. Rename /wp-content/plugins via SFTP, log in, then re-enable plugins one at a time.

Can a Cloudflare or caching plugin cause a WordPress white screen?

Yes — stale cached HTML can show a blank page even after the underlying error is fixed. Always purge every cache layer after a fix.