WordPress problems: white screen, errors and being locked out

Nearly every WordPress problem comes from a plugin, a theme or the PHP version. Work down this list and stop when it works.

A blank white page, or "There has been a critical error"

1. Think about the last change. A plugin or theme update, or a new plugin, is the usual cause. If you can still reach the admin area, switch that plugin off.
2. Switch every plugin off at once. Open Files in the control panel, go to wp-content, and rename the plugins folder to plugins-off. Reload the site. If it comes back, a plugin was the cause: rename the folder back, then switch plugins on one at a time to find the culprit.
3. Try the default theme. In wp-content/themes, rename your active theme's folder. WordPress falls back to a default theme.
4. Check the PHP version. Under Tools, switch to the version your plugins support. Older plugins often need an older version, and newer plugins need a newer one. Always reload the site after changing it.

"Error establishing a database connection"

The website cannot reach its database. Check Databases in the control panel that the database still exists, then check the database name, username and password in wp-config.php match it. If you recently changed a database password, update wp-config.php too.

500 Internal Server Error, or a 404 on every page except the home page

• For 404s on inner pages, open WordPress Settings, then Permalinks, and just press Save.
• For a 500 error, follow the plugin steps above.

"Allowed memory size exhausted", "upload too large" or timeouts

These are PHP limits, not faults. See PHP errors: memory, uploads and timeouts.

Locked out of the admin area

• Use Lost your password? on the login page. The reset email goes to the address on the WordPress user.
• If a security plugin has blocked you, rename that plugin's folder as described above.
• If you do not recognise a user in the list of administrators, treat the website as compromised and see Malware scanning. Do not delete anything until you have read it.

Keep it healthy

Keep WordPress, themes and plugins updated, remove ones you do not use, and see Keep WordPress secure.

Still stuck? Open a support ticket with the address of the page, what you changed and when.