What is White Screen of Death (WSOD) in WordPress?

 

The White Screen of Death (WSOD) in WordPress is a frustrating error that shows a completely blank screen instead of your website. It usually occurs due to PHP errors, exhausted memory limits, or faulty plugins/themes. Here’s how to fix it — including how to use the memory limit code you mentioned.

How to Fix the White Screen of Death in WordPress

1. Increase PHP Memory Limit

This is one of the most effective first steps.

Open the wp-config.php file in the root of your WordPress installation.

Add this line above the line that says 

php
    define(‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘256M’);

This increases the memory WordPress can use and may resolve the issue if it’s caused by scripts running out of memory.

2. Disable All Plugins

If you can access the dashboard:
Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and deactivate all.

If you can’t access the dashboard:

Use FTP or File Manager.

Rename the wp-content/plugins folder to plugins_old.

If the site loads, you’ll know a plugin caused the issue.

Rename the folder back and reactivate plugins one by one.

3. Switch to a Default Theme

Use FIle manager or FTP to go to /wp-content/themes/.

Rename your active theme folder (e.g., from my-theme to my-theme_old).

WordPress will fall back to a default theme like Twenty Twenty-Four.

If this resolves the issue, your theme was likely the cause.

4. Enable WordPress Debug Mode

To get more information about the error:

In wp-config.php, add:

php
  define(‘WP_DEBUG’, true);
 define(‘WP_DEBUG_LOG’, true);

  define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false);

This will log errors to wp-content/debug.log, which you can view via FTP or File Manager

5. Clear Cache

Clear your browser cache.

Clear any server-side caching (like through a caching plugin or your host).

If you’re using a CDN (like Cloudflare), clear that cache too.

6. Reinstall Core Files

Download a fresh copy of WordPress from wordpress.org.

Upload and replace the wp-admin and wp-includes folders via FTP or File manager

This won’t affect your content or plugins.

7. Check for Fatal Errors

If debug mode is on, check /wp-content/debug.log for PHP errors.

This can tell you exactly which file or plugin is failing.

What Causes the White Screen of Death?

Plugin or theme conflicts

Exhausted memory limits

Broken code in functions.php

Server misconfiguration