--- title: "How to fix the WordPress white screen of death | WP Ministry" url: https://wpministry.co/errors/white-screen-of-death/ description: "A blank page or \"There has been a critical error on this website\" means PHP hit an error, almost always in a plugin or the theme. The error log names which one." lang: en-US --- Skip to content # How to fix the WordPress white screen of death A blank page, or "There has been a critical error on this website", means PHP hit an error it could not recover from, almost always in a plugin or the theme. Switching that one plugin or theme off brings the site back. The error log names which one. By WP Ministry Published October 6, 2026 Tested on WordPress 7.1.4, PHP 8.3.36 ## In short - Your content is safe. One piece of code failed, and WordPress stopped instead of showing a half-built page. - WordPress may have emailed the site's administrator a link that lets you log in with the faulty plugin paused. - The error log names the file that failed. The folder it is in tells you which plugin or theme to switch off. - Switching a plugin off loses none of its settings. You can switch it back on once it is fixed. The "white screen of death" is what people call a WordPress site that shows nothing at all. Since WordPress 5.2 the page is rarely pure white: it usually says "There has been a critical error on this website." Both mean the same thing, and the page about that message (https://wpministry.co/errors/critical-error/) starts from the sentence itself. PHP, the language WordPress runs on, hit an error it could not carry on from, and WordPress stopped rather than show a broken page. Nothing has been deleted. The site returns as soon as the code that failed is switched off or fixed. If the screen is blank for your visitors and you want it dealt with for you, emergency WordPress support (https://wpministry.co/services/emergency-support/) is a one-time repair, no care plan needed. ## Before anything else, check your email When this happens, WordPress emails the address of the site's administrator with the subject "Your Site is Experiencing a Technical Issue". The email names the plugin or theme at fault and holds a link. If you have that email, the first fix below is the quickest way back in. ## If the log says "Allowed memory size exhausted" Then nothing is faulty in the way described above: a page needed more memory than PHP allows. See how to fix "Allowed memory size exhausted" (https://wpministry.co/errors/allowed-memory-size-exhausted/). ## Where it goes wrong A page request passes through each of these in turn. This one comes from **PHP, the language WordPress runs on**. 1. Browser 2. DNS 3. HTTPS 4. CDN or firewall 5. Web server 6. PHP (this error comes from here) 7. WordPress 8. Database and files ## What causes it - ### A plugin has an error in its code Common A plugin was updated to a version with a fault, or two plugins clash, or a plugin does not work with the version of PHP the server runs. Fix: Use the recovery link WordPress emailed you, or Find the plugin at fault and switch it off - ### The theme has an error in its code Common A theme update introduced a fault, or a snippet pasted into the theme's functions.php has a mistake in it. Fix: Use the recovery link WordPress emailed you, or Switch to another theme - ### The page ran out of memory Sometimes The page needed more memory than PHP allows. The error log will say "Allowed memory size exhausted". ## How to fix it ### Use the recovery link WordPress emailed you - Easy - No risk - About 5 minutes 1. #### Step 1: Open the email and follow its link The link opens your login page in recovery mode. It works for one day. 2. #### Step 2: Log in as usual The dashboard loads with the faulty plugin or theme paused for you alone. Visitors still see the error. 3. #### Step 3: Switch the faulty plugin or theme off A notice at the top says which one was paused. Go to Plugins and deactivate it, or to Appearance, then Themes, and activate another theme. 4. #### Step 4: Leave recovery mode Use the "Exit Recovery Mode" button in the top bar, then reload the site. No email? It may have gone to an old address, or the site may not be able to send mail. Use the next fix. ### Find the plugin at fault and switch it off - Takes care - Low risk - About 15 minutes - Steps tested on WordPress 7.1.4 1. #### Step 1: Turn the debug log on In `wp-config.php`, find the line `define( 'WP_DEBUG', false );` and replace it with these three. They record the error in a file without showing it to visitors. wp-config.php Copy ``` define( 'WP_DEBUG', true ); define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true ); define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false ); ``` 2. #### Step 2: Load the site once, then open the log Open `wp-content/debug.log`. Find the newest line that begins "PHP Fatal error". It ends with the path of the file that failed. 3. #### Step 3: Read the folder name in that path A path through `wp-content/plugins/` followed by a folder name points at that plugin. A path through `wp-content/themes/` points at the theme: use the next fix instead. 4. #### Step 4: Rename that plugin's folder In your host's file manager or over SFTP, open `wp-content/plugins/` and rename the plugin's folder, for example by adding `-off` to its name. WordPress can no longer find the plugin and switches it off. 5. #### Step 5: Reload the site It loads without that plugin. Its settings are kept, and return when you install a working version. 6. #### Step 6: Turn the debug log off Put the line back to `define( 'WP_DEBUG', false );` and delete `debug.log`, which can hold details you do not want on a public server. With WP-CLI, turn the log on: bash ``` wp config set WP_DEBUG true --raw wp config set WP_DEBUG_LOG true --raw wp config set WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY false --raw ``` Then switch the plugin off, using its folder's name. The two extra options stop WP-CLI from loading the broken plugin itself, which would stop the command too: bash ``` wp plugin deactivate plugin-folder-name --skip-plugins --skip-themes ``` And turn the log off again: bash ``` wp config set WP_DEBUG false --raw wp config set WP_DEBUG_LOG false --raw ``` ### Switch to another theme - Takes care - Low risk - About 10 minutes - Steps tested on WordPress 7.1.4 If the log's path runs through `wp-content/themes/`, the active theme is at fault. Switching to another theme brings the site back while you sort the first one out. Your content is not affected, though the site will look different until you switch back. 1. #### Step 1: Rename the active theme's folder In `wp-content/themes/`, rename the folder of the theme the log named. 2. #### Step 2: Log in and open the Themes screen Go to Appearance, then Themes. WordPress says "The active theme is broken. Reverting to the default theme." and switches to a default theme if one is installed. It makes the switch on that screen, not when the folder is renamed. 3. #### Step 3: Reload the site If it loads, the theme was the cause. If you pasted code into the theme's `functions.php` shortly before this began, that code is the likeliest fault: remove it, then rename the folder back. With WP-CLI, activate another installed theme by its folder's name: bash ``` wp theme activate other-theme-folder-name --skip-plugins --skip-themes ``` ## When to get help If the log points at WordPress's own files rather than a plugin or theme, or the site stays blank with every plugin off and a default theme active, something deeper is wrong, such as files damaged by a failed update. That is a job for someone with access to the server. ## Common questions Have I lost my site? No. Your posts, pages, settings and uploads are untouched. Only the code that builds the page failed. Will switching a plugin off delete its data? No. Deactivating a plugin, or renaming its folder, leaves its settings and data in the database. Deleting the plugin from the Plugins screen is what removes them, and only for some plugins. Why is the page blank instead of showing an error? WordPress hides error details from visitors on purpose, because they can reveal how the site is built. The details go to the log when you ask for one. It happened right after an update. Can I go back? Yes. Switch the plugin off as above, then install its previous version, or restore the site from the backup taken before the update. ## More on this subject - WordPress errors and troubleshooting: https://wpministry.co/topics/wordpress-troubleshooting/ - Guide How to update the PHP version of a WordPress site: https://wpministry.co/blog/update-php-version-wordpress/ - Guide WordPress uptime monitoring: what a check sees and what it misses: https://wpministry.co/blog/wordpress-uptime-monitoring/ - Glossary term debug.log: https://wpministry.co/glossary/debug-log/ - Glossary term Heartbeat API: https://wpministry.co/glossary/heartbeat-api/ - Guide How to change WordPress permalinks without breaking your old links: https://wpministry.co/blog/change-wordpress-permalinks-safely/ - Guide How to deactivate WordPress plugins when you are locked out of the dashboard: https://wpministry.co/blog/deactivate-wordpress-plugins-locked-out/ ## Would you rather we fixed it? Emergency Fix is $99. Site down or checkout broken. Goes to the front of the queue. No fix, no fee. 30-day warranty. More about this work: Emergency WordPress support (https://wpministry.co/services/emergency-support/) May we measure how this site is used? A yes notes the pages of this visit and loads Google Analytics. A no keeps and loads nothing. See the cookies page (https://wpministry.co/legal/cookies/). If you say yes, we note the pages you look at during this visit and load Google Analytics. If you say no, nothing is kept and nothing is loaded. The site works the same either way. 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