WordPress white screen (blank page, no error): how to fix it

A blank white page means PHP stopped with a fatal error and WordPress is set to hide it. The cause is almost always a plugin, a theme, or a PHP version change. Your content is still in the database.

What to do, in order

  1. Check your email. WordPress 5.2 and later sends the admin address a "Your site is experiencing a technical issue" letter. It names the plugin or theme and has a recovery mode link.
  2. Turn on the error log. In wp-config.php, above "That's all, stop editing", add define('WP_DEBUG', true);, define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true); and define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false);. Reload the page. Open wp-content/debug.log. The last "PHP Fatal error" line names the file.
  3. Turn off the plugin it names. Over FTP or your host's file manager, rename that plugin's folder in wp-content/plugins. If no plugin is named, rename the whole plugins folder to plugins-off. If the site comes back, rename it back and find the bad one.
  4. Switch the theme. If the error is in wp-content/themes/yourtheme, rename that theme's folder. WordPress falls back to a default theme if one is installed.
  5. Check the PHP version. If your host upgraded PHP this week, old plugins can break. Most hosts let you pick the version in the control panel. Step back one version to confirm, then update the plugin.
  6. Check memory. "Allowed memory size exhausted" in the log means PHP ran out. Add define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M'); to wp-config.php.

Turn WP_DEBUG off again when you are done.

Check it yourself

Run curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}\n" https://yourdomain.com. A 500 with a blank page is a PHP fatal error. A 200 with a blank page is often a theme that printed nothing.

Want the rest of your site checked after it is back? Run a free 40-point check at tinkeraudit.com.