WordPress Error – How To Fix The White Screen of Death FAST!

Ever suffered a WordPress error message and experienced ‘The White Screen of Death’?

Also known as a stop error, WSoD, whitescreen, White Box/Screen of Doom, or simply White Death).

These are all terms which mean you have broken something caused by PHP code after editing or adding code, installing a poorly coded plugin or upgrading and or editing a poorly coded WordPress theme.

The Fix

1. Login to cPanel or FTP
2. Locate File Manager
3. Navigate to the plugin or file that’s caused the error
4. If its a new plugin or theme that’s caused the error, simply delete the folder that contains the plugin or theme.
5. If the error is caused by a coding mistake, locate the code and delete the code which you added and click save

The reason i recommend you use File Manager in cPanel rather than FTP is because it normally includes a built in code editor so you can easily inspect and delete the problem code rather than having to open Notepad++ in as well.

Alternative Method

1) Check your .htaccess file

.htaccess can be tricky. The easist way to see if your .htaccess is the cause of this error is to rename the file. Rename .htaccess to .htaccess_old

After renaming your .htaccess file, clear your browser cache, and then check the site.

If this resolves the issue, then you know where the problem is. You can modify the .htaccess code, or just create a new one.

If it does not resolve the issue, then rename the file back to .htaccess.

2) rename the wp-content/plugins folder

If this resolves the problem, you know it was one of your plugins. You will have to re-activate the plugins one by one to determine which one cased the problem. Once it is found, you should see about installing a new version, consulting the plugin developer/vendor, or just not using it.

If it does not resolve the issue, then rename the folder back to wp-content/plugins

3) rename the wp-content/themes folder or use phpmyadmin to change the theme you are using

If this resolves the problem, you know it was your theme. In this case, you should install a new version of that theme, consult with the theme developer, or pick a different one.

If it does not resolve the issue, then rename the folder back to wp-content/themes.

Still Not Fixed?

If you can’t fix the error, contact your forum if your using a premium theme or your web host may help you solve the problem.

Otherwise you can hire someone to fix your broken site or post the error message on one of the best WordPress forums.