How to Solve the WordPress White Screen of Death (Working Methods)

This article presents an effective guide to fixing the blank white screen on WordPress.

WordPress White Screen of Death is undoubtedly a scary situation for any website owner. It can significantly hamper your website’s rankings, taking it down from the search engines, and resulting in a business loss. However, all hope is not lost. You can still fix this dreaded error.

This article walks you through the best possible solutions to this problem that we tried and tested. However, before jumping into troubleshooting, it is beneficial to understand the probable causes of the issue to ensure better fixing. Hence, let us first take a look at why the problem may have occurred.

Table of Content show

Causes of WordPress White Screen of Death Error

The following factors may be why your website is showing a blank white page.

Outdated WordPress cache
Your website’s PHP scripts overload the server’s memory
There is some problem with the database
A plugin conflict has occurred
Auto WordPress update failures due to server issues
Problems with WordPress file permissions

The above are some reasons you get a blank white screen on WordPress. Let us now learn how to solve the WordPress White Screen of Death problem.

Fixes for WordPress White Page Issue

You can apply the following solutions to the WordPress White Screen of Death problem.

Fix 1: Delete your browser’s cache

Many browsers store WordPress data (cache) to load it quickly whenever you want. However, an outdated cache can lead to issues like WordPress’s blank white screen. Hence, you can follow these directions to clear the cache on your browser.

Note: The steps to clear the browser cache differ from one browser to another. However, they mostly remain the same. In this article, we explain how to clear Google Chrome cache since it is one of the most popular browsers.

First, open Google Chrome on your computer.
Secondly, go to the browser settings by clicking on the three dots in the upper-right corner of the Chrome screen.
In this step, choose More Tools from the available options.
You can now select Clear Browsing Data from More Tools.

The Clear Browsing Data window will appear on your screen. Select a time range (All time), checkmark the browsing history, cookies and other site data, cached images and files boxes, and Clear Data.

Note: After clearing the browser cache, you can also clear the WordPress caching plugin cache (if you have one installed). Though the steps to delete the plugin cache vary from plugin to plugin, the general steps include finding the plugin settings and then choosing to purge the cache.

Fix 2: Increase the server’s memory limit

The server memory limit may be exhausted if your PHP scripts put too much pressure on the maximum memory your web host has allocated, causing the WordPress White Screen of Death error. Hence, you can adjust your server’s memory limit to solve the problem. Below are the directions to do so.

First, use SFTP to log into the server.
Secondly, access the public_html folder and then find your wp-config.php file.
In this step, right-click wp-config.php and select the View/Edit option.
You can now scroll down to the end of the file and paste the following code.

define( ‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ’64M’ );

The above code allows WordPress to allocate over 64 megabytes of server memory for your PHP scripts.

Fix 3: Disable currently active plugins

Since plugin conflicts may be another factor responsible for WordPress’s blank white screen, disabling and activating the plugins one after the other can fix the issue. Hence, you can follow these steps to disable and re-enable all active plugins one by one.

The first step is to open your WordPress dashboard.
In this step, navigate to the Plugins and choose all active plugins via the Bulk Actions option.
You can now choose Deactivate and then click Apply.

If the error is resolved, activate each plugin one after the other. After activating each plugin, check if the error has returned to match the issue to a particular plugin. Once you have identified the problematic plugin, delete it and replace it with another plugin with similar functionality. However, if the issue persists, try the next solution.

Also know: App Builder For Mobile App Development

Fix 4: Change your WordPress theme

You may experience the WordPress white screen because your theme is incompatible with the plugins you use. Hence, you can replace your theme with a default theme. Here is how.

First, navigate to your WordPress dashboard and choose Appearance from the available menu.
Secondly, select Themes and then find a default theme.
After finding a default WordPress theme, you can install and activate it.
Lastly, load your website again.

Fix 5: Enter the debug mode

The debug mode helps identify the exact cause of the WordPress white page issue for easy troubleshooting. Hence, you can follow the below steps to enable debug mode.

First, open the wp-config.php file. You can open this file through your CPanel or by connecting to the server through SFTP via FileZilla (or another FTP client).

Secondly, open the file in a text editor and find define (‘WP_DEBUG’, false)

In this step, replace false with true as shown below.

define (‘WP_DEBUG’, true)

You can now save the above changes and upload the changed file.
Next, navigate to the browser and refresh your screen. You will still get the WordPress White Screen of Death error. However, the error message will indicate the exact cause of the problem, allowing you to solve the problem.

Fix 6: Solve WordPress auto-update problems

You may experience problems like the one you are facing if WordPress fails to complete automatic updates. Hence, below is how to fix the WordPress update issues.

The first step is to access the root directory. You can access it through the cPanel of your hosting provider or via an FTP client.
Next, launch the public_html folder.
You can now choose the .maintenance file from the available options and delete this file.

After deleting the file, you can reload the website.

Fix 7: Check the file permissions

Issues with WordPress file permissions may be responsible for the error you are experiencing. Hence, below is how to fix the file permissions. However, perform these steps only when no other option is available. Otherwise, you may end up with vulnerabilities, leading to hacks.

First, navigate to the File Manager.
Secondly, access the public_html folder and choose the wp-admin, wp-content, and wp-includes folders.
In this step, right-click the selection and locate Permissions to access the file permissions details for your website.
Next, ensure the numerical value of the selected files is set to 755. When setting the numerical value, make sure to check the Recursive button.

In this step, select every file in the root directory and right-click to access the file permissions.
This time, set the numerical value to 644 to complete the process.

Also know: How To Create A Website: Complete Guide

WordPress White Screen of Death Error Fixed

This article elaborated on various ways to fix the WordPress blank white screen. You can start troubleshooting from the first solution and keep going down the list of solutions until the problem is resolved. However, you can get in touch with us through the comments section if you have any questions or doubts. We will be happy to help.