How to Fix White Screen on Form Submission and Admin Actions in WordPress

Encountering a blank white screen (also known as the “White Screen of Death”) when submitting a form, accessing the WordPress admin panel, publishing a post, or logging out is a common but frustrating issue for many WordPress users. This guide walks you through the causes and solutions to fix the WordPress white screen on form submission and other actions.

Common Situations Where You May See a White Screen:

• Submitting a form (e.g., contact forms or login forms)
• Accessing /wp-admin/ or trying to log out
• Publishing a new post or page
• Clicking “Trash” or performing other admin actions

Step-by-Step Solutions to Fix White Screen Errors in WordPress

1. Switch to a Default Theme

Temporarily activate a default WordPress theme (like Twenty Twenty-Four) to check if your current theme is causing the issue.

You may need to disable the WordPress theme if you aren’t able to access admin panel so the WordPress can start working.

2. Review the functions.php File

If the theme is the issue, open your theme’s functions.php file:

• Remove any unnecessary line breaks.
• Check for custom filter functions, especially ones like excerpt_more or functions calling global $post.
• Comment out or remove suspicious code and re-upload the file.

How to make changes to functions.php file in WordPress theme.

3. Deactivate Plugins One by One

A faulty or incompatible plugin can cause white screen errors. Deactivate plugins one at a time from the Plugins menu or rename the plugin folders via FTP to identify the culprit.

For detailed instructions how to deactivate all plugins at once in WordPress.

4. Replace the .htaccess File

Corrupted .htaccess files can break backend functions:

• Backup the existing .htaccess file.
• Replace it with the default WordPress .htaccess content (especially if you’re using pretty permalinks).

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress

Still Seeing the White Screen in WordPress?

If you’ve tried all the above and still face the white screen issue, it may require deeper debugging involving error logs, server configurations, or PHP memory limits.

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