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A white page means PHP hit a fatal error and is set not to show it. That is the right setting for a public site, which is why the error exists but you do not see it. The answer is not to make the error appear to everybody: it is to go and read it where it is recorded.
Reading the error, in order of effort
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display_errors = On
error_reporting = E_ALL
If you have a command line (see the cPanel Terminal), php -l file.php checks a file for syntax errors without running it.
What is usually behind it
| The last line of the log says… | Cause | Go to |
| Allowed memory size … exhausted | The request used more memory than the limit. | Memory exhausted |
| Maximum execution time … exceeded | The script took too long. | Execution time |
| Call to undefined function | An extension is missing on this PHP version. | The missing extension |
| Parse error / syntax error | A typo in the code: a bracket, a semicolon. | Fix the line it names, or restore the file’s previous copy. |
| Cannot redeclare / Uncaught Error | Two plugins or files defining the same thing, or code that does not fit this PHP version. | Changing the PHP version |
If the white screen is a WordPress one, it has its own route: switch on debug mode in wp-config.php with define('WP_DEBUG', true);, define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true); and define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false);, and read the wp-content/debug.log file. See also common WordPress errors.
A detail that misleads: there is one error_log per folder where PHP failed. The error from an admin page may sit in a different file from the site root’s, so look inside the subfolders too, such as the administration area’s.
| Never leave display_errors on for a public site. The messages show file paths and sometimes database connection details. Switch it on to read the error, and switch it off the next minute. |
| Did you change something just before the page went white? A new plugin, a PHP version, an edited file: undo that single change first. Often the problem disappears and reading the log can wait. |
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Seen the log and cannot make sense of the message? Send us the last line of the error_log and the page’s address. Open a support ticket |
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SEE ALSO Where the PHP error log is, how to read it, and the errors you will see most Common WordPress errors: white screen, critical error and how to find the cause |
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