WordPress White Screen of Death

Critical Frequency: Common

Error message: The site is experiencing technical difficulties.

The WordPress White Screen of Death (WSOD) is one of the most common and frustrating WordPress errors. Your site shows a completely blank white page with no error message, making it difficult to diagnose.

Since WordPress 5.2, the recovery mode feature catches most fatal errors and sends an admin email with debugging information and a recovery mode link. However, the WSOD can still occur when errors happen before the recovery mode handler loads, such as in wp-config.php or very early-loading mu-plugins.

The WSOD almost always indicates a PHP fatal error. The key is to find and read the actual error message, which is hidden because WP_DEBUG is off by default on production sites.

Common Causes

A PHP fatal error in a plugin or theme
PHP memory limit exhausted (usually 64MB or 128MB default)
Corrupted .htaccess or wp-config.php file
Database connection failure after migration
Incompatible PHP version after server update

How to Fix It

Enable WP_DEBUG: Add define('WP_DEBUG', true); define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true); to wp-config.php, then check wp-content/debug.log
Disable all plugins: Rename wp-content/plugins/ to plugins.bak/ via FTP or SSH. If the site loads, re-enable one by one to find the culprit
Switch to a default theme: Rename your active theme folder. WordPress will fall back to Twenty Twenty-Four
Increase memory limit: Add define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M'); to wp-config.php
Check PHP error logs: Look at /var/log/php-fpm/error.log or your host's error log viewer
Restore from backup if all else fails u2014 or use WordPress recovery mode (check your email for the recovery link)

Frequently Asked Questions

What causes the WordPress White Screen of Death?

The WSOD is almost always caused by a PHP fatal error u2014 typically from a plugin or theme conflict, memory exhaustion, or a corrupted core file. It can also happen after WordPress, PHP, or plugin updates.

How do I fix WSOD if I can't access wp-admin?

Use FTP or SSH to either rename the plugins folder to disable all plugins, or add define('WP_DEBUG', true) to wp-config.php to reveal the actual error message.

Does the WSOD affect only the frontend or admin too?

It can affect both. If only the admin is showing WSOD, try adding define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M') to wp-config.php, as the admin uses more memory than the frontend.