WordPress blank white screen fix

WordPress is awesome; until it isn’t.  Upgrades can really mess up a site and cause all sorts of weird error messages.  Believe me, at some point since I started using WordPress in 2003, I’ve seen just about every error message WordPress can throw at me.

Yesterday was no exception.  I had a client’s site using the Wishlist Member plugin.  I got a couple emails saying whenever they would try to login, they were redirected to a blank white screen.  What was worse, is that it wasn’t doing that for me, when I was logged in as the admin.

In this case, the site had not been recently upgraded, and there were some upgrades available – so I first backed up everything (never forget this step!) and then I upgraded WordPress, all the plugins and themes.

That fixed it!   Could have been a plugin was using an upgraded version that wasn’t compatible with the out-of-date version of  Wordpress, and that caused a conflict.  Not sure.

Other Causes of the WordPress White Screen of Death

1. Failed upgrades.  

In most cases, this happens if you do not deactivate all the plugins before you upgrade.  I know there’s that handy little Upgrade Now link that WordPress provides, but I for the life of me do not understand why they offer that, without it also backing up your files and deactivating the plugins as they tell you to!

Another way upgrades fail is that not all files are properly copied over.

This is why manually upgrading WordPress is always best.

2. Incompatible Plugins

The second most common reason for the blank white screen is an incompatible plugin.  Sometimes you will get the blank white screen and will be completely locked out of your wp-admin!  Don’t panic – simply log into your site via FTP, or your hosting cpanel file manager, and rename the plugins folder to something like plugins2. This will automatically deactivate all of your plugins. Then rename the folder back to it’s original name:  plugins.

If your issue was an incompatible plugin, you should now be able to log into your wp-admin.

How Re-Activate Your Plugins to Find the Incompatible Plugin

1. Log into the wp-admin area of your site.
2. Right mouse click on another tab in the left column of your wp-admin and open in a NEW TAB.  So you should have two browser window tabs open; one open to the Installed Plugins tab and another to any other area of your wp-admin of your choosing (doesn’t matter).
3. One at a time, click to activate a plugin.
4. Refresh that second browser window tab, to see if you get the blank white screen.  If not, move on to the next plugin and repeat the above steps.  If you do get the blank white screen, you know that the last plugin you reactivated is the culprit.
5. Log into your site via FTP, or your hosting cpanel file manager, and rename the file for the specific culprit plugin to deactivate just that plugin.
6. Refresh your second browser window tab again to see if that fixed the issue.
7. Continue re-activating plugins, following the steps above until all are reactivated (or culprit plugin folders renamed), as there could be more than one incompatible plugin.

3. Incompatible Themes

Sometimes, it’s a theme that is no longer compatible with a new WordPress upgrade. Although this issue usually does not result in the white screen of death, but weird error codes visible on your site.

So if the above two solutions do not eliminate your blank white screen issue, try switching to the Twenty Ten or Twenty Eleven theme and see if that resolves the issue for you.  If you are unable to access your wp-admin to switch themes, log into your site via FTP, or your hosting cpanel file manager, and rename the themes folder to something like themes2.  This will deactivate the current theme; rename the folder back to themes and now the Twenty Ten or Twenty Eleven default theme will be activated.  If the issue is resolved, you know it was your previously active theme.  Either see if an upgrade for your theme is available, or switch to a different permanent theme.

Hope you found this helpful!

Did any of the steps above fix your blank white screen of death WordPress problem?