---
title: "White screen of death on WordPress: cause and fix"
description: "WordPress suppresses PHP fatals in production, so a plugin conflict after an auto-update produces a blank admin and front end with nothing written to the…"
canonical: "https://lemwatch.com/errors/white-screen-of-death/in-wordpress"
source: "https://lemwatch.com"
---

# White screen of death on WordPress

> WordPress suppresses PHP fatals in production, so a plugin conflict after an auto-update produces a blank admin and front end with nothing written to the browser at all.

## Why it happens on WordPress

 WordPress suppresses PHP fatals in production, so a plugin conflict after an auto-update produces a blank admin and front end with nothing written to the browser at all.

## The fix on WordPress

 Set WP_DEBUG and WP_DEBUG_LOG to true with WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY false in wp-config.php, reload the page, then read wp-content/debug.log for the fatal and the file that raised it. Recovery Mode emails also contain the plugin name when fatal-error protection triggers.

## If that didn't fix it

 WordPress has its own failure mode, but White screen of death has a wider set of causes. The most common one overall is: A PHP fatal error in a plugin or theme after an update.

 Read the PHP error log for the fatal at that timestamp, then deactivate the named plugin by renaming its folder over SFTP.

## Check your own domain

 The probe records both the status code and the response size. A 200 with a near-empty body is the exact signature of this failure and is invisible to status-only checks.

## Frequently asked questions

### Why does White screen of death happen on WordPress?

 WordPress suppresses PHP fatals in production, so a plugin conflict after an auto-update produces a blank admin and front end with nothing written to the browser at all.

### How do I fix White screen of death on WordPress?

 Set WP_DEBUG and WP_DEBUG_LOG to true with WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY false in wp-config.php, reload the page, then read wp-content/debug.log for the fatal and the file that raised it. Recovery Mode emails also contain the plugin name when fatal-error protection triggers.

### What does White screen of death mean?

 PHP hit a fatal error with display_errors off, so the page rendered as blank white with an HTTP 200 or 500. Nothing is visibly broken to a status-only monitor, which is what makes it dangerous.


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