A blank white page, a "500 Internal Server Error" or a message saying "There has been a critical error on this website" usually means something on your website has broken. It's most often caused by a recent change, such as a plugin or theme update.

Start here: check your email

When WordPress hits a critical error, it emails your site's admin email address a special recovery link. Click it to log in. WordPress then tells you which plugin or theme caused the problem so you can deactivate it.

If you didn't get the email, work through the steps below. Check your website after each one.

1. Find the error

Check your website's error log or turn on WordPress's debug log to see the exact error. See Viewing error and access logs.

2. Turn off your plugins

1. In File Manager, go to your website's wp-content folder.
2. Rename the plugins folder to plugins-off.
3. If your website now works, a plugin is the cause. Rename the folder back to plugins.
4. Open the plugins folder and rename each plugin's folder in turn, for example plugin-name-off, until you find the one causing the problem.
5. Leave that plugin off and look for an update or an alternative.

3. Switch to a default theme

In wp-content/themes, rename your active theme's folder. WordPress switches to a default theme, such as Twenty Twenty-Five, if one is installed. If your website then works, the problem is in your theme.

4. Reset your .htaccess file

1. In your website's public_html folder, rename .htaccess to .htaccess-old.
2. If your website now works, log in to WordPress and go to Settings > Permalinks.
3. Click Save Changes without changing anything. WordPress creates a fresh .htaccess file.

If you added redirects or other custom rules, copy them back from .htaccess-old one at a time.

5. Check your PHP version and memory

• If you recently changed your PHP version, switch back. See Changing your PHP version and settings.
• If the error mentions memory, see Fixing upload size and memory limit errors.

6. Restore a backup

If nothing else works, restore your most recent working backup. See Restoring from a backup.

Need help? Open a Technical Support ticket and tell us what you changed before the error started.

We'll do our best to help troubleshoot WordPress, plugins, themes and other third-party software, but for in-depth help, please contact the software's developer or its official support forum.