Knowledgebase

The WordPress White Screen of Death (WSOD) means your website displays a blank white page with no content and no error message. Here is how to diagnose and fix it.

Common Causes

• A plugin causing a PHP fatal error
• A theme causing a PHP error
• PHP memory limit too low
• PHP version incompatibility
• Corrupted core WordPress files

Fix 1: Enable WordPress Debug Mode

First, enable debug mode to see the actual error:

1. In cPanel File Manager, navigate to public_html and find wp-config.php.
2. Right-click and click Edit.
3. Find the line: define( 'WP_DEBUG', false ); and change it to: define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );
4. Save and reload your website. The actual error message will now appear.
5. Once fixed, change WP_DEBUG back to false.

Fix 2: Deactivate All Plugins

If you cannot access your WordPress admin, deactivate plugins via File Manager:

6. In cPanel File Manager, navigate to public_html/wp-content/plugins.
7. Rename the plugins folder to something like plugins_disabled.
8. Try loading your website. If it works, a plugin was the cause.
9. Rename the folder back to plugins.
10. Reactivate plugins one by one, testing after each, to identify the culprit.

Fix 3: Increase PHP Memory Limit

11. In cPanel File Manager, find or create a file called php.ini in your public_html folder.
12. Add or edit this line: memory_limit = 256M
13. Save and reload your website.

Fix 4: Switch to Default Theme

If plugin deactivation did not help, the theme may be the cause. Via File Manager, navigate to public_html/wp-content/themes/ and rename your active theme folder (e.g., rename mytheme to mytheme_old). WordPress will fall back to the default theme.

Fix 5: Check PHP Version

Go to cPanel > Select PHP Version and ensure you are using PHP 8.1 or 8.2. If you recently changed PHP versions, try reverting to the previous one.