How to Fix the WordPress White Screen of Death

The WordPress White Screen of Death (WSOD) is when your website displays a completely blank white page with no error message. It is caused by a PHP error that WordPress is hiding. Follow these steps to diagnose and fix it.

Step 1 — Enable WordPress debug mode

1. In cPanel, open the File Manager and navigate to your WordPress folder.
2. Find and edit the wp-config.php file.
3. Find the line: define('WP_DEBUG', false);
4. Change it to: define('WP_DEBUG', true);
5. Save the file and reload your website. You should now see the actual error message instead of a blank page.
6. Once you have fixed the issue, set WP_DEBUG back to false.

Step 2 — Deactivate all plugins

A faulty plugin is the most common cause of a white screen.

1. In cPanel File Manager, navigate to public_html/wp-content/plugins.
2. Rename the plugins folder to plugins_disabled.
3. Reload your website. If it loads, a plugin was the cause.
4. Rename the folder back to plugins.
5. Go to WordPress admin → Plugins and reactivate plugins one by one to find the faulty one.

Step 3 — Switch to a default theme

If disabling plugins did not help, the theme may be the issue.

1. In cPanel File Manager, navigate to public_html/wp-content/themes.
2. Rename your active theme folder (e.g. rename mytheme to mytheme_disabled).
3. WordPress will fall back to a default theme (like Twenty Twenty-Four).
4. If your site loads, the theme was the cause. Contact your theme developer or restore a backup.

Step 4 — Increase PHP memory limit

1. In cPanel File Manager, open wp-config.php.
2. Add this line before the line that says /* That's all, stop editing! */ :

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

3. Save and reload your site.

Still not fixed?

Contact TPC Hosting support with your domain name and any error messages shown — our team can check the PHP error logs to pinpoint the issue.

Updated on: 28/04/2026