How to Fix WordPress White Screen of Death

Published April 21, 2026

How to Fix the WordPress White Screen of Death

The WordPress white screen of death (WSOD) — a blank white page with no error message — is one of the most alarming WordPress problems. It is almost always caused by a PHP fatal error that WordPress is silently swallowing.

Step 1: Enable WP_DEBUG

Edit wp-config.php and add:

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

Refresh the white screen. Check /wp-content/debug.log for the actual error. The error message will tell you exactly which file and line caused the crash.

Step 2: Deactivate All Plugins

Connect via FTP or your hosting file manager and rename the /wp-content/plugins/ folder to plugins_disabled. If the white screen disappears, a plugin is the cause. Rename the folder back and reactivate plugins one by one until you find the culprit.

Step 3: Switch to a Default Theme

Rename your active theme folder in /wp-content/themes/ to force WordPress to fall back to a default theme. If the white screen resolves, your theme has a PHP error.

Step 4: Increase PHP Memory Limit

Add to wp-config.php:

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

Or add to .htaccess:

php_value memory_limit 256M

Step 5: Check File Permissions

Correct permissions: directories at 755, files at 644, wp-config.php at 600. Wrong permissions can cause PHP to fail silently.

Prevention

SiteICO's auto-update feature tests each update on a staging clone before applying it to your live site, catching PHP compatibility issues before they create a white screen on production.