Learn how to fix the WordPress white screen of death.

What this problem looks like

The white screen of death (WSOD) means PHP hit a fatal error and display_errors is turned off on your server. Visitors see nothing. You may still have hosting file access even when wp-admin is dead.

The fix is almost always a plugin, theme, or PHP version conflict. You need the real error message first, then you isolate the code that triggers it through File Manager, SFTP, or FTP.

Step 1: Turn on debug logging in wp-config.php

Connect via SFTP or hosting File Manager and open wp-config.php in your site root. It usually sits next to the wp-admin and wp-content folders. Search for WP_DEBUG, WP_DEBUG_LOG, and WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY first. If those lines already exist, set them to the values below instead of adding duplicates. If none of them exist, paste these lines above the line that says stop editing. On a live site, log to file only and never print errors to visitors.

define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );
define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true );
define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false );
@ini_set( 'display_errors', 0 );

Step 2: Read debug.log and hosting error logs

Reload the broken page once, then open wp-content/debug.log. The last lines usually name the plugin file and line number. If debug.log stays empty, check your host PHP error log in cPanel, Plesk, or Site Tools.

• Look for fatal error, memory exhausted, or undefined function messages.
• Note the full file path, especially anything inside wp-content/plugins/.
• Check if the error started after a plugin update or PHP version change.

Step 3: Deactivate plugins at the file level

When wp-admin will not load, rename the plugins directory so WordPress cannot load any plugin PHP. If the site then loads, a plugin is causing the white screen.

1. Go to wp-content/ in File Manager or SFTP.
2. Rename plugins to plugins.disabled.
3. Reload the site and wp-admin.
4. If the site works, rename plugins.disabled back to plugins. WordPress will see the plugins again, but they should remain deactivated.
5. In wp-admin, activate plugins one at a time and reload the site after each activation.
6. When the white screen returns, the plugin you just activated is the culprit. Deactivate or remove it, then activate the rest as needed.

Step 4: Rule out the active theme

If disabling plugins does not help, switch themes at the file level. WordPress falls back to a default theme when the active theme folder is missing.

1. Open wp-content/themes/.
2. Rename your active theme folder, for example mytheme to mytheme.off.
3. Ensure twentytwentyfour or another default theme folder exists.
4. Reload the site.

Step 5: Check PHP version and memory limits

Hosts often migrate PHP versions without warning. Legacy plugins break on PHP 8.x. Temporarily switch PHP 8.2 to 8.1 in hosting only as a short test, not a permanent fix.

If logs mention memory exhausted, raise limits in wp-config.php in your site root, next to wp-admin and wp-content:

define( 'WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M' );
define( 'WP_MAX_MEMORY_LIMIT', '512M' );

When to stop DIY and hire help

If the white screen persists after plugin and theme isolation, or the error log points at WordPress core files you did not change, stop guessing on a live site. BugShield fixes white screen errors at a confirmed price without hourly billing surprises.