WordPress White Screen of Death: How to Fix a Blank Page

White screen versus critical error

Modern WordPress usually catches fatal errors and shows 'There has been a critical error on this website'. If you see that message, use our critical error guide. A true white screen is different: the page is completely empty, often with no title in the browser tab. It happens when the error occurs before WordPress's error handler loads, when the handler has been switched off with WP_DISABLE_FATAL_ERROR_HANDLER, when a cache serves an empty page, or when the server stops PHP before it can output anything.

Because nothing is displayed, the fix starts with finding out what the server actually returned.

Step 1: check the HTTP status and the cache

Open the blank page in Chrome or Edge, press F12, choose the Network tab and reload. Click the first request and look at the status code.

• 500: PHP crashed. Go to step 2.
• 200 with an empty response: the server thinks everything is fine, which usually means a cached empty page. Clear your caching plugin's cache (via the hosting file manager, delete the contents of wp-content/cache), purge your CDN such as Cloudflare, and clear any server-level cache in your hosting panel.
• 503 with 'Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance': delete the .maintenance file in the site's root folder.

Also try the site in a private window with browser extensions off, to rule out something local.

Step 2: read the server error log

In cPanel, open Errors or Metrics then Errors; in Plesk, open Logs for the domain. Many hosts also write a file called error_log in the site's root or wp-admin folder. Look at the most recent 'PHP Fatal error' or 'PHP Parse error' line. Typical examples:

• Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '}' in a theme's functions.php: a code snippet was pasted in wrongly.
• Allowed memory size of 134217728 bytes exhausted: PHP ran out of memory, often from a heavy plugin, a huge image import or a loop in custom code.
• Maximum execution time of 30 seconds exceeded: a slow process, such as an import or external API call, timed out.

If there is no log, enable WP_DEBUG_LOG in wp-config.php as described in our critical error guide, reload, then read wp-content/debug.log.

Step 3: fix the cause

Syntax error in functions.php: open the file over SFTP or file manager, go to the line number in the log and remove the snippet you added. Never edit theme files through the dashboard editor on a live site: one typo locks you out. A child theme or a code snippets plugin is safer.

Plugin fault: rename the plugin's folder in wp-content/plugins. If you do not know which, rename the whole plugins folder, confirm the site appears, then restore it and reactivate plugins one by one.

Memory: add define( 'WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M' ); to wp-config.php, and ask your host whether the PHP memory_limit allows it. Then find what is using the memory, because raising the limit only hides it.

Only wp-admin is white: the same plugin steps apply, but look especially at security, page builder and admin dashboard plugins.

When to call dijitul

Call us if you cannot reach the server files, the log is empty, the white screen only appears for some visitors (often a cache or CDN fault), or a theme you paid a developer for is involved. We check status codes, logs, caching layers and PHP settings, fix the cause and test every key page, at £45 an hour + VAT with a 30-minute minimum. Get in touch for help now.

If a white screen has happened more than once, our WordPress support plans from £25 a month + VAT apply and check updates with a backup taken first, so a bad update can be rolled back in minutes. If the whole site is unreachable rather than blank, start with website down: what to do.

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