Your WordPress site was working perfectly yesterday. Today, it shows a blank white screen. Or a database error. Or every page returns a 404. Don't panic โ WordPress errors are almost always fixable, and most have straightforward solutions you can apply in minutes. This guide covers the 10 most common WordPress errors, what causes them, and exactly how to fix each one.
1. White Screen of Death (WSoD)
Symptoms: Your site displays a completely blank white page with no error message โ not even in the admin area. This is the single most common WordPress error.
Common causes: plugin conflicts (most likely), theme incompatibility, or exhausted PHP memory limit.
Step-by-step fix: First, enable WordPress debug mode by adding define('WP_DEBUG', true); to your wp-config.php file โ this should reveal the actual error. If no error appears, rename the /wp-content/plugins/ folder via FTP to /plugins-disabled/ โ this deactivates all plugins. If your site returns, reactivate plugins one by one to find the culprit. If plugins aren't the issue, switch to a default theme (Twenty Twenty-Four) by renaming your active theme's folder. If memory is the problem, add define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M'); to wp-config.php.
2. Error Establishing Database Connection
Symptoms: "Error establishing a database connection" message on every page. Your site cannot communicate with its MySQL database.
Common causes: incorrect database credentials in wp-config.php, database server is down or overloaded, corrupted database.
Step-by-step fix: Check your wp-config.php file โ verify DB_NAME, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD, and DB_HOST match your hosting account's database settings. If credentials are correct, contact your host to check if the MySQL server is running. For database corruption, access phpMyAdmin, select your database, and run "Repair Table" on all tables. If the database is severely corrupted, restore from your most recent backup.
3. 404 Errors on All Pages Except Homepage
Symptoms: Homepage loads correctly but every other page returns "404 Not Found."
Common cause: Corrupted or missing .htaccess file, which controls WordPress permalink structure.
Step-by-step fix: Go to Settings > Permalinks in your WordPress admin and simply click "Save Changes" โ this regenerates the .htaccess file. If you cannot access the admin area, connect via FTP and create a new .htaccess file in your WordPress root directory with the default WordPress rewrite rules.
4. 500 Internal Server Error
Symptoms: "500 Internal Server Error" or "HTTP Error 500" โ a generic server-side error with no specific information.
Common causes: corrupted .htaccess, exhausted PHP memory limit, incompatible plugin or theme code.
Step-by-step fix: Rename your .htaccess file to .htaccess-old and try loading your site. If it works, go to Settings > Permalinks and save to generate a fresh file. Increase PHP memory limit as described in the WSoD fix above. If neither works, deactivate all plugins and switch to a default theme using FTP (rename plugin and theme folders).
5. Mixed Content Warnings (SSL Issues)
Symptoms: After installing an SSL certificate, your browser shows a "Not Secure" warning or broken padlock icon because some resources still load over HTTP.
Step-by-step fix: Install the Really Simple SSL plugin โ it automatically detects and fixes mixed content by rewriting HTTP URLs to HTTPS. For manual fixes, use a search-and-replace tool like Better Search Replace to update all http://yoursite.com URLs to https://yoursite.com in the database.
6. Briefly Unavailable for Scheduled Maintenance
Symptoms: "Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute." โ stuck even after an update finished.
Step-by-step fix: Connect via FTP and delete the .maintenance file from your WordPress root directory. This file is created automatically during updates and should be removed when updates complete, but sometimes gets left behind.
7. Image Upload Issues
Symptoms: "HTTP error" when uploading images, or uploaded images appear broken.
Common causes: incorrect file permissions, insufficient PHP memory for image processing, file size exceeding server limits.
Step-by-step fix: Set the /wp-content/uploads/ folder permissions to 755. Increase PHP memory limit. Add define('WP_MAX_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M'); to wp-config.php. If uploading large images, increase upload_max_filesize and post_max_size in your php.ini file.
8. Connection Timed Out
Symptoms: "ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT" โ your site won't load at all.
Common causes: a plugin consuming excessive server resources, or your server genuinely being overloaded.
Step-by-step fix: Deactivate all plugins via FTP (rename the plugins folder). If the site loads, reactivate plugins one by one โ a resource-heavy plugin is usually the culprit. Common offenders include poorly coded backup plugins running continuous processes. Also check with your host whether your account has hit resource limits.
9. Email Delivery Issues
Symptoms: Contact form submissions, password resets, and other WordPress-generated emails are not being delivered or go to spam.
Common cause: WordPress uses PHP mail by default, which many hosts block or mark as spam.
Step-by-step fix: Install an SMTP plugin like WP Mail SMTP or Post SMTP. Configure it to send through a proper email service (Gmail/G Suite, SendGrid, Mailgun, or your host's SMTP server). This dramatically improves deliverability.
10. Sidebar Below Content (Layout Break)
Symptoms: Your sidebar appears below the main content instead of next to it โ a CSS layout issue.
Common cause: A theme or content element with incorrect CSS width, float, or flexbox settings, often triggered by a plugin that injects content with conflicting styles.
Step-by-step fix: Check if you recently added wide content (large images, tables, or embedded iframes) that might overflow the main content area. Use your browser's inspect tool to check the computed width of the content and sidebar elements. Adding overflow: hidden; to the content container often resolves it. If the issue appeared after installing a plugin, that plugin is likely adding HTML that breaks your theme's layout โ deactivate it as a test.
Most WordPress errors follow a simple debugging pattern: check for plugin conflicts first, then theme issues, then server configuration. Systematically working through these three layers solves 95% of problems without needing a developer.
If you run into an error you cannot fix, our WordPress support team can diagnose and resolve it โ often within hours. We also offer maintenance plans that prevent most of these issues from occurring in the first place.