Fixing a white screen with no error message

A completely blank page — no header, no error, nothing — is usually a fatal PHP error with the message hidden. The fix is to make it visible.

1. Make PHP tell you what broke

1. Open your Pressy and go to WordPress in the sidebar.
2. Open the Advanced tab.
3. Switch on WP_DEBUG and WP_DEBUG_LOG.
4. Leave WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY off — that one prints errors onto your live pages where visitors can read them.
5. Reload the blank page once.
6. Go to PHP → Error log and press Load error log.

The newest entry names the file. A path under wp-content/plugins/ means a plugin; wp-content/themes/ means the theme.

Switch both flags off again once you are done.

2. Fix it

Now that you know the file, it is a 500 with a name — steps 3 onwards there apply exactly.

The short version:

• A plugin — deactivate it. If you cannot reach wp-admin, rename its folder in the Files screen or over FTP.
• The theme — switch to a default theme such as Twenty Twenty-Four.
• "Allowed memory size exhausted" — raise memory_limit to 256M.

White screen only in wp-admin

The front of the site works, the admin is blank. Same procedure, and the cause is nearly always a plugin that only loads in the admin. Rename the whole wp-content/plugins folder to plugins-off, get back in, then reinstate them one at a time.

White screen straight after an update

If it followed a WordPress core update, the site should have rolled itself back — check Activity log on the WordPress screen.

If it followed a plugin or theme update, that is the one to suspect, and a backup restore puts you back where you were before it.

When to write to us

Write to us if the debug log is empty and the page is still blank. Send the address of the blank page and roughly when it started.