Emergency Fix
WordPress white screen of death — fixed.
Step-by-step DIY fix, plus emergency same-day recovery if you'd rather it just got sorted.
The white screen of death (WSOD) is WordPress's least helpful error — a blank page, or the new "There has been a critical error on this website" message, with no clue what caused it. The good news: 95% of the time, your data is fine. It's a PHP fatal error stopping pages from rendering, almost always from a plugin or theme conflict.
Below is the exact diagnostic order I work through. If you'd rather skip it and have it fixed in the next hour, emergency recovery is at the bottom.
What you get
1. Enable debug mode
Set WP_DEBUG=true and WP_DEBUG_LOG=true in wp-config.php — see the actual error.
2. Disable all plugins
Rename /wp-content/plugins via FTP. Site returns? Re-enable one by one to find the culprit.
3. Switch to default theme
Rename your theme folder. WP falls back to Twenty Twenty-Four. Confirms theme vs plugin.
4. Increase memory limit
Add define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '512M') to wp-config.php. Fixes WSOD caused by memory exhaustion.
5. Check file permissions
Folders 755, files 644. Wrong permissions can cause WSOD after a migration.
6. Restore from backup
If above fails, restore the last known-good backup. (You have one, right?)
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