How to fix White Screen of Death error in WordPress

White Screen of Death is one of the scariest errors in WordPress (WP). Although you certainly won't be very happy when you see the White Screen of Death error, this is not a problem if you know how to fix it. This article will give some reasons for the White Screen of Death error in WordPress and how to fix it.

What is White Screen of Death?

White Screen of Death, also known as deadly white screen, when an error occurs, you will not see anything but a white screen. This problem occurs when there is an error within your server and it cannot display the content on the screen. For development sites, you will see an error message on the screen to know that the server has a problem, but for live websites, this error message is often hidden, so you will only see the color screen. plain white.

1. Plugin or incompatible theme

Plugin or incompatible theme is the most common reason you see this annoying white screen. Fortunately, it is also the easiest problem to solve.

If you're lucky, you can access the dashboard admin (http://yourcencebab.com/wp-admin unless you've changed the login URL). Visit the page and log in, then disable the incompatible plugin or theme.

If you see a white screen error on the admin page, you need to change it via FTP. Connect to your website by FTP client and access the folder 'wp_content -> plugins' if you suspect the reason is because the plugin is not compatible or access the "wp_content -> themes directory" if you suspect the theme is reason. You do not need to delete the plugin or theme, just change the name to disable it.

Now check if the problem has been resolved. If that has been resolved, please remove that plugin or theme. If the plugin or theme you just disabled does not fix the problem, try other plugins or themes. If you still don't see the white screen error disappear, try the solutions below.

2. Automatic update failed

Great when WP, theme and plugin are updated automatically all the time without any manual work, however it can lead to broken WP site. The new version of the plugin or theme may not be compatible with the rest and this causes a problem.

If you see a White Screen of Death error after automatically updating, you should restore the configuration before a problem occurs from backing up and disabling automatic updates. If you have not done backup yet, this is a disaster and you must disable all plugins one by one and find the plugin that caused the problem.

3. Issues about database configuration and WP

WP configuration and database problems are not a common cause as the plugin / theme leads to White Screen of Death errors but does not mean it does not happen. These problems do not occur without reason, usually because you or someone else messes up the database or configuration files. Get rid of the changes you've made and hope to fix the problem. Just like the automatic update problem, a recent backup of the database files or the main configuration is your savior.

It is also possible that the database itself is corrupted but this problem is rare and often leads to many problems that not only cause the White Screen of Death error and you will recognize as soon as the database has a problem. Damaged database is a serious problem, you need to call a WP expert to help you solve the problem.

4. Hosting issues

Sometimes your hosting leads to White Screen of Death errors, which often occur on shared servers. You can try more

 define ('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '64M'); 

Go to the "wp-config.php" file to increase the memory limit to 64MB. If not, you may consider using a larger package or switching to another hosting provider.

5. Your website may be hacked

Hackers who attack your site may also have White Screen of Death errors but this is not a common cause when compared to plugins / themes. There is no specific solution to fix the problem of the website being attacked because it depends on how much damage you have.

The White Screen of Death error is not as scary as its appearance, but the worst is that you don't check your website for a long time and if a white screen error occurs you won't know how long it will take. So regularly check and be careful when downloading anything on your site.

See more:

1. Instructions for creating websites with WordPress from A to Z (Part 1)
2. Instructions on how to embed Google Forms into WordPress
3. Ways to change website domain names on WordPress