WordPress Dashboard or Editor Shows a White Screen (Site Still Works)

Sometimes the public site loads fine, but wp-admin, the post editor or a WooCommerce screen is completely white. This is a white screen of death that only hits the admin side, and it has different causes from a site-wide one. Here is how to find which one you have. If the whole site is blank, start with our white screen of death guide instead.

Find out what kind of white screen it is

• The whole dashboard is white (also after login): a PHP fatal error that only runs in the admin. Usually a plugin or the memory limit.
• The dashboard works, but "Edit Post" is white: the block editor (Gutenberg) is a JavaScript app. A white editor almost always means a script failed to load or crashed.
• Only WooCommerce pages are white (Orders, Products, Settings): a WooCommerce extension or a memory limit on large stores.
• White screen and no errors anywhere: errors are hidden. Turn on logging (next step) before changing anything.

1. See the real error

A white screen hides an error, it doesn't mean there is none. In wp-config.php replace define( 'WP_DEBUG', false ); with:

define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );
define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true );
define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false );

Open the white page once, then read /wp-content/debug.log. The last PHP Fatal error line names the file and line, and the folder in its path (/plugins/name/) names the plugin. For the editor, also press F12 in the browser and look at the Console tab: a red error there names the script that failed.

2. Raise the admin memory limit

The admin uses more memory than the front end, and large WooCommerce stores, page builders and SEO plugins can run it out. If the log says "Allowed memory size of ... bytes exhausted", add above "That's all, stop editing!":

define( 'WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M' );
define( 'WP_MAX_MEMORY_LIMIT', '512M' );

WP_MAX_MEMORY_LIMIT is the one the admin uses. If nothing changes, your host caps PHP memory lower: raise memory_limit in cPanel's MultiPHP INI Editor or ask the host.

3. Disable the plugin that crashes

You can't reach the Plugins screen, so do it with File Manager or FTP: in /wp-content/plugins/ rename the plugin's folder (for example wordfence to wordfence-off). WordPress deactivates it and keeps its settings. If the log didn't name one, rename the whole plugins folder to plugins-off, check the admin loads, rename it back, and then turn plugins back on one at a time from the dashboard until the white screen returns.

4. Fixing a white post editor

• Caching or minify plugins that combine admin scripts break the editor. Exclude /wp-admin/ from minification, or turn the option off and clear the cache.
• A CDN or Cloudflare Rocket Loader rewriting scripts: disable Rocket Loader for the admin, or add a page rule that bypasses /wp-admin/*.
• Browser extensions (ad blockers, script blockers): test in a private window with extensions off.
• A plugin that adds editor blocks after an update: the console error names it; update or deactivate it.
• Add define( 'CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS', false ); to wp-config.php: if that fixes it, the server is cutting off the combined script file.

5. WooCommerce admin pages are white

Check the log for the extension named in the fatal error (payment, shipping and subscription add-ons are the usual ones) and update or disable it. On big stores the Orders screen can also time out: raise max_execution_time to 120 and the memory limit as above, and enable WooCommerce's High-Performance Order Storage if your extensions support it.

When you are done

Set WP_DEBUG back to false and delete debug.log: it can contain file paths and should not stay public.

If the log is full of errors you don't recognise, or you can't get into the admin at all, we fix admin and editor white screens at a fixed price: free diagnosis, a backup first, and you pay only after you have checked that everything works.