{"id":3195,"date":"2025-11-27T13:42:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T12:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mijn.host\/blog\/how-to-solve-wordpress-white-screen\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T16:27:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T14:27:57","slug":"how-to-solve-wordpress-white-screen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/my.host\/blog\/how-to-solve-wordpress-white-screen\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Solve a White Screen in WordPress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The White Screen of Death (WSoD) is one of the more frustrating problems that can occur with your WordPress site. You see a completely white page with no error messages. This can happen on the front end of the website, the admin panel (wp-admin), or both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The cause is usually a script error or a memory limit being exceeded. WordPress suppresses the actual error message to prevent visitors from seeing sensitive technical information. That’s why the screen remains white.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, I’ll show you the steps you can take to solve this problem yourself in as little time and with as little frustration as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ll start with the easiest solutions and gradually move to more complex methods (should the simple solutions not resolve the issue). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 1: Quick initial checks<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before making any technical changes, it’s essential to rule out local issues and caching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Browser cache and cookies<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Clear your browser’s cache (I personally use the Clear Cache extension<\/a> for this). Old files can give a distorted view. Test the website in an incognito window or another browser. If the site loads there, the issue is local.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Server caching<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Are you using server-side caching like Varnish or Redis? Clear this cache through your hosting control panel (such as DirectAdmin or Plesk). An outdated cache might continue to show a defective version of the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check the server status<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Do you have multiple websites on the same hosting package? Check if these are accessible. If all sites are offline, there might be a server-wide issue. In that case, contact your hosting provider directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 2: Enable error debugging (debug mode)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Okay, if these “open door” solutions don’t offer relief, it’s time for heavier measures. We’ll debug<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The white screen provides no information about the cause. You need to force WordPress to display or log errors. You do this through the debug mode<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connect to your server via FTP or use the File Manager in your hosting panel. Find the file wp-config.php<\/strong> in the root directory of your WordPress installation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Open the file and look for the line:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

define( ‘WP_DEBUG’, false );<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Change false to true and add the logging line. The block will look like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

define( ‘WP_DEBUG’, true );<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

define( ‘WP_DEBUG_LOG’, true );<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Save the file. Reload your website. You may now see an error message on the screen. If the screen remains white, check the \/wp-content\/ directory for a file named debug.log.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The error message often points directly to a specific file or directory name. This way, you know whether a plugin or theme is the cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 3: Exclude plugins<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A conflict between plugins or an outdated plugin is the most common cause of a WSoD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Via the WordPress dashboard<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Do you still have access to the wp-admin area? Go to Plugins<\/strong> and deactivate all plugins. Check if the site works again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Then activate the plugins one by one. Check the website after each activation. As soon as the white screen returns, you’ve found the plugin causing the problem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Via FTP or File Manager<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Don’t have access to the dashboard? Navigate to the \/wp-content\/ directory via FTP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rename the plugins directory to plugins_old. This forces WordPress to deactivate all plugins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reload the website. Does it work now? Then the problem is with a plugin. Rename the directory back to plugins. Enter the directory and rename the folders of the individual plugins one by one to isolate the specific error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 4: Exclude theme issues<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If plugins are not the cause, the issue might be with the active theme. This could be due to an update with a bug, corrupt files, or because the theme conflicts with a new PHP or WordPress core version (this can happen if the theme is no longer maintained).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Navigate via FTP to \/wp-content\/themes\/. Rename the folder of your active theme (for example, kadence to kadence_old).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WordPress will detect that the active theme is missing and automatically fall back to a default theme, such as Twenty Twenty-Six. Check if the site is now visible again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 5: Increase PHP Memory Limit<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A white screen can occur when a script requests more memory than the server allows. The process is then abruptly terminated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can increase the memory limit for WordPress in the wp-config.php file. Add the following line, just before the line “That’s all, stop editing”:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

define( ‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘256M’ );<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Save the file and test the website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also check in the hosting panel that the PHP settings are correct. In tools like the PHP Selector, you can often manage the memory_limit for the whole account. Ensure that it matches the value in your config file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 6: Check syntax errors and recent changes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Have you recently manually added code to files such as functions.php? A small syntax error, like a missing semicolon or misused quote, directly causes a white screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The error message from Step 2 (Debug Mode) often indicates the exact line number where the PHP Parse Error occurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remove the recently added code via FTP. If you’re not sure what was changed, restore a backup of the specific file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 7: Advanced solutions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If the above steps don’t work, there might be an issue with the server configuration or the core files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check file permissions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

File permissions determine who can read, edit, or execute files on the server. If these settings are too strict, the web server cannot load the files. This results in a white screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The correct default values for WordPress are:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n