How to Fix the White Screen of Death in WordPress: A Beginner’s Guide

WordPress users usually encounter one of the most annoying challenges that they can ever face, commonly referred to as the ‘White Screen of Death‘ or WSoD. Consider going to your website that will open with nothing, no text, no graphics, and not even the famous ‘404 Page Error,’ but just an empty space. It’s one of the most common and perplexing issues that WordPress users face. But don’t panic! In this guide, we will walk you through understanding the causes of this issue, the systematic debugging process to fix it, and how you can prevent it from happening again.

What Is the “White Screen of Death” in WordPress?

Now, let’s define the “White Screen of Death” before going any further in trying to fix the problem. This problem dictates that your WordPress site is not loading completely as expected, hence the name. In fact, whenever you go to the URL, instead of receiving the usual content, you are faced with a white page. Somehow, no error messages are showing or anything like that, which makes it so annoying that it happens.

The White Screen of Death often occurs because something is causing WordPress to stop executing its code properly, preventing your site from rendering. While this may sound alarming, don’t worry. There are steps you can take to identify and resolve the problem, and this guide will walk you through the process.

Common Causes of the White Screen of Death in WordPress

There are several reasons why the White Screen of Death might occur on your WordPress site. Understanding these causes is the first step in troubleshooting the issue. Let’s examine the most common culprits.

1. PHP Fatal Errors

WordPress uses PHP pragramming language to interact with your server and display the content on your site. A PHP fatal error occurs when a piece of PHP code crashes because it tries to call a function or use a variable that doesn’t exist or if it encounters a problem it can’t recover from.

These errors can break your site entirely, causing the White Screen of Death. A simple missing function or an outdated PHP version can trigger fatal errors that prevent WordPress from loading.

2. Memory Exhaustion

WordPress has a memory limit that determines how much memory your site can use. When your site exceeds this limit, WordPress may not load properly, and the White Screen of Death will appear. This issue is common on sites with many plugins, large media files, or complex themes.

Increasing the memory limit or optimizing your site’s resources can often resolve this issue.

3. Plugin or Theme Conflicts

Plugins and themes are essential for adding functionality and design elements to your WordPress site. However, they don’t always work well together. Conflicts can arise when two plugins are incompatible or when a plugin doesn’t work well with your theme.

These conflicts can result in PHP errors, which ultimately lead to the White Screen of Death. Sometimes, just updating a plugin or theme can fix the issue, but other times, you may need to troubleshoot by disabling them one by one.

4. Corrupted .htaccess File

The .htaccess is a small file that contains configuration directives so that the Apache server handles certain requests to your website. A corrupted or improperly configured .htaccess file can cause your website to malfunction, leading to the White Screen of Death.

.htaccess file can often be easily regenerated, and resolving this issue involves creating. htaccess file.

5. Outdated or Incompatible Themes or Plugins

It’s very common that if you are running outdated themes or plugins can lead to serious problems such as the White Screen of Death. This core system is constantly evolving and anytime a new release comes out for WordPress, themes and plugins have to be updated to support these new changes.

If your plugins or themes haven’t been updated recently, they may be incompatible with the latest version of WordPress, which can cause errors that cause the White Screen of Death.

How to Debug the White Screen of Death in WordPress

Now that we’ve covered the most common causes of the White Screen of Death let’s look at the steps you can take to debug and fix the issue. The key to resolving the White Screen of Death is systematic troubleshooting. Here are the steps you should follow:

Step 1: Enable WP_DEBUG

The first step, WordPress will provide in diagnosing WSoD is to turn on WordPress’s inbuilt debug option, WP_DEBUG. When you make WordPress turn on WP_DEBUG, WordPress offers you error messages that help you solve the problem.

Here’s how to enable WP_DEBUG:

1. Access your website files via FTP or using your hosting control panel’s file manager.
2. Navigate to the root directory of wordpress and open the wp-config.php file.

Insert the following line of code just above the comment: “That’s all, stop editing!”:

define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );

3. Save the changes and upload them back to your server using FTP.

Enabling WP_DEBUG will make wordpress display errors on the site, which will assist in identifying what causes the White Screen of Death. Such error messages may specify that there are missing files or folders, memory limitations or even PHP errors.

Step 2: Check the error_log

Once WP_DEBUG is enabled, check the error logs to find more details about the error. These logs are usually stored in a file called error_log in the root directory of your WordPress site or a specific folder within your hosting account. Review the logs for any fatal errors or issues that might be causing the site to crash.

If you see any error messages that reference missing functions or files, those are usually the causes of the problem, and fixing them should restore your site.

Step 3: Disable All Plugins

One of the most common causes of the White Screen of Death is a plugin conflict. To rule this out, you can deactivate all of your plugins and check if the site loads correctly.

You can deactivate plugins in two ways:

• Via the WordPress Dashboard: Log into your WordPress admin panel, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins, and deactivate all plugins.
• Via FTP: If you can’t access the WordPress admin, connect to your site via FTP. Locate wp-content folder and rename the plugins folder to something like plugins_old. This process will deactivate all plugins at once.

Once you’ve disabled the plugins, check your website. If it works, you know a plugin is causing the issue. To identify the problematic plugins, you can reactivate each one individually and test the site.

Step 4: Switch to a Default Theme

Suppose deactivating the plugins doesn’t fix the issue. The next step is to switch to a default WordPress theme like Twenty-One or Twenty-Three. This process helps determine whether the issue is within your current theme.

You can switch themes in two ways:

• WordPress Dashboard: Go to Appearance > Themes, and activate a default theme.
• FTP: If you can’t access the WordPress admin, use FTP to navigate to the wp-content/themes folder. Rename the folder containing your active theme, and WordPress will automatically activate the default theme.

If switching to a default theme solves the problem, the issue is likely with your previous theme. You may need to update it or contact the theme developer for support.

Step 5: Increase the Memory Limit

If your site is running out of memory, it may result in the White Screen of Death. Try increasing the PHP memory limit to give WordPress more resources to work with.

To increase the memory limit:

1. Open the wp-config.php file.

Insert the following line of code just above the comment that says, “That’s all, stop editing!”:

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

This code will increase the memory limit to 256 MB, which is generally enough to prevent memory exhaustion. After making this change, check if the site loads correctly.

Step 6: Check for Syntax Errors in Custom Code

If you’ve added custom code to your theme or plugins, a syntax error could be the cause of the White Screen of Death. Syntax errors are common in custom code, and even a small mistake, like a missing semicolon or bracket, can cause the entire website to break.

Review any custom code you’ve added recently, and check for common syntax errors. If you’re unsure, you can use an online syntax checker to validate your code before applying it to your site.

Step 7: Use Query Monitor or Xdebug

If none of the above steps work, you can use advanced debugging tools such as Query Monitor or Xdebug to identify what is happening behind the scenes.

• Query Monitor is a plugin that provides detailed information about database queries, PHP errors, HTTP requests, and more. It’s an excellent tool for identifying performance bottlenecks or issues within WordPress.
• Xdebug (a PHP extension) allows you to step through your code and find the exact point where execution halts. It’s a powerful tool for developers, but setting it up requires some technical knowledge.

These tools can provide more insight into what’s happening during execution and help you pinpoint the source of the issue.

Questions and Answers

Conclusion

WordPress White Screen of Death can be a headache, but with the right tools and systematic debugging steps, you can usually get your site back online quickly. By following the steps outlined above—enabling WP_DEBUG, checking error logs, disabling plugins, switching themes, and more—you’ll be well on your way to diagnosing and fixing the issue.

Remember, if you ever get stuck or are unable to solve the problem yourself, don’t hesitate to contact professional WordPress developers for assistance.

About the writer

Hassan Tahir wrote this article, drawing on his experience to clarify WordPress concepts and enhance developer understanding. Through his work, he aims to help both beginners and professionals refine their skills and tackle WordPress projects with greater confidence.