Your WP site is down or not loading

A WP site not loading means something between your visitor and your pages has stopped: the server, the database, a plugin, a theme or a setting.

• A plugin or theme update with a bug, or one that clashes with another plugin. You see a critical error or a blank white page.
• Wrong database details in wp-config.php, WP's main settings file, or a database server that's down. You see “Error establishing a database connection”.
• A typo in wp-config.php or in .htaccess, a settings file your server reads first. You see “500 Internal Server Error”.
• An update that stopped halfway. Every page says “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute.”
• A wrong site address, which sends visitors round in a loop. The browser says the page redirected you too many times.
• Your host: the server is down, the disk is full, or a bill went unpaid.
• Your domain or your SSL certificate ran out. The certificate is what puts the padlock and https in front of your address.

What you see

The words on screen tell you where to look. Read them before you change anything, and write them down for your host.

A blank white page, or “There has been a critical error on this website.”, points to a plugin or your theme. The critical error page covers that one step by step.

“Error establishing a database connection” means WP can't log in to its database. The database error page covers it step by step.

“500 Internal Server Error” often means a typo in wp-config.php or in .htaccess. See the 500 error page. “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance” means an update stopped halfway.

“Redirected you too many times” means your site's address is set wrong somewhere. See the redirect loop page. “This site can't be reached”, or a page from your host, usually points to your domain or your server.

How to find the cause

Ask what changed

Most sites stop loading right after something changes. Think back: a plugin or theme update, a new plugin, a code snippet, a host move or a setting you saved.

WP can update plugins on its own overnight. In your host's file manager, the dates on the folders in wp-content/plugins show which one changed last.

Read the error log

Your host's control panel usually has an error log for your site. The last lines before the break name the file that failed.

You can also ask WP to keep its own log. Open wp-config.php in your site's main folder and add these 3 lines above “That's all, stop editing!”:

define( 'WP_DEBUG', true ); define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true ); define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false );

Reload the broken page, then open wp-content/debug.log. Set WP_DEBUG back to false when you're done. Anyone who guesses the log's address can read it.

How to fix each cause by hand

A plugin or theme

Open your host's file manager, or an SFTP app with the file login your host gives you. Go to wp-content/plugins. Rename the folder of the plugin you last changed, say from contact-form to contact-form-off.

WP switches off a plugin it can't find. Still down? Rename the whole plugins folder to plugins-off. If the site loads, bring the plugins back one at a time.

For a theme, rename your active theme's folder in wp-content/themes. WP falls back to a default theme, if one is installed.

The database connection

Open wp-config.php and find DB_NAME, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD and DB_HOST. Compare them with the database details in your host's control panel, and correct any that differ.

If they match, the database server may be down or full, so ask your host. If they say it's running, WP's repair page can mend damaged tables.

To use it, add define( 'WP_ALLOW_REPAIR', true ); to wp-config.php and open yoursite.com/wp-admin/maint/repair.php. Remove the line when it's done. Anyone can open that page while it's on.

A 500 error

Rename .htaccess in your site's main folder to .htaccess-off and reload. If the site comes back, log in, open Settings › Permalinks and press Save Changes. WP writes a fresh file.

If that isn't it, look at wp-config.php for a recent edit. One missing quote or semicolon stops the whole site. Put back the copy from before the edit.

Stuck in maintenance

WP puts a file named .maintenance in your site's main folder while it updates. If the update stops halfway, the file stays, and so does the message.

Delete .maintenance with the file manager and reload. Then run the update that stopped once more, because its files may be half-copied.

Too many redirects

Clear your browser's cookies for the site first. If it still loops, add 2 lines to wp-config.php above “That's all, stop editing!”, with your own address:

define( 'WP_HOME', 'https://example.com' ); define( 'WP_SITEURL', 'https://example.com' );

These overrule the two addresses in Settings › General. A redirect plugin or a rule in .htaccess can also cause a loop, so switch those off next.

Your host, domain or SSL certificate

If the server is down, the disk is full or a bill is unpaid, only your host can fix it. Their status page or support chat is the place to start.

If your domain ran out, renew it with the company you bought it from. A warning that your connection isn't private means your SSL certificate may have run out. Ask your host to renew it.

What we saw on our test site

On Oct 14, 2026, we put a wrong database password into wp-config.php on our test site. That's a WP site we run to try every task before we write about it.

The home page, the login page and the dashboard (the screens you log in to at yoursite.com/wp-admin) all showed an error. CMSHands was already on the site. It found that WP couldn't log in to its database.

A person at CMSHands approved putting the settings file back the way it was. Then it checked the home page, login page, dashboard and a post: all loading. That's one run on our own site, and hosts differ.

How to stop it coming back

Update one plugin at a time, and open your site after each one. If it breaks, you know which update did it.

Before you edit wp-config.php or .htaccess, save a copy of the file on your computer. If the edit goes wrong, you put the copy back.

Keep your domain and hosting on auto-renew, with a card that won't run out. Ask your host how you'd put back an earlier copy of your whole site, before you need it.