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Fixing the white screen or "critical error"

Find the plugin or theme that broke the site and switch it off.

A blank page, or "There has been a critical error on this website", almost always means a plugin or theme has a PHP error.

  1. Check your email. WordPress often emails the admin a recovery mode link that names the plugin at fault. Use it to log in and deactivate that plugin.
  2. No email? In cPanel File Manager, open wp-content/plugins and rename the plugins folder to plugins-off. If the site comes back, rename it back, then rename plugin folders one by one to find the culprit.
  3. Still broken? Rename your active theme's folder in wp-content/themes; WordPress falls back to a default theme.
  4. Read the error log for the exact cause. See Finding errors.

It started right after changing the PHP version? Switch back. See Changing the PHP version.