Website not loading just white screen: causes

Many sites send a nearly empty page, then a script that builds the content in the browser. If that script fails, the page stays exactly as it arrived: a header tag, a blank container and nothing visible. A deploy can cause this when the page still asks for script files the new release renamed. The server may answer that request with the site's home page instead of a script, and the browser refuses to run it. The owner reloads in their own browser, which may hold the new files, so the fault never shows for them.

• View the page source. Does the raw HTML contain your headings and text, or only an empty container?
• Open the Console on load. Is there a red error that names a file that did not load?
• Check each script's status in the Network tab. A 404, or a script that returns a web page, means the path is wrong.
• Open a deeper page directly, such as /pricing. Does it go blank while the homepage works?
• Check the status of the page itself. A 500, or an empty 200, means the server returned nothing usable.

The first test is what the server sent, before any script runs. Open the page source, which shows the HTML as the server returned it. The Elements panel shows the page after scripts have changed it, so it can hide the problem. If the source has your headings and text, the server did its job and the browser is failing later. If the source is empty, or holds only a bare container, the server sent no content, or the content depends on a script that never arrived. Note whether the status is a normal success or a server error.

Most blank pages after a change have this shape. The new release renames its script files, but the page still served points to the old names. The browser asks for the old script, the server has no such file, and some hosts answer with the home page instead of a not-found response. The browser expects code, receives a web page and refuses to run it. The Console then shows a message about a MIME type or a script that could not load, and the page never draws. In the Network tab, a 404, or a script that comes back as a web page, is the fault.

Some sites load the homepage and go blank on any other address. A single-page app serves one page and builds each address in the browser. A visitor who opens /pricing directly, or refreshes it, asks the server for a file at that address. If the server has none, it returns a not-found response or an empty page. Open the homepage, click to another page, then reload it. If the reload goes blank, the server needs a rule that sends unknown addresses to the app's main page, so the browser can build the right screen.

Test website before launch

A script in the head that never finishes keeps a blank page blank. Some apps wait on a third-party script, such as a tag manager or a chat widget, before they draw anything, so a request that hangs leaves the container empty until it times out. In the Network tab the stuck request shows as pending for a long time, with the requests after it waiting behind it. Remove the script, or load it after the content draws, then check that the headings appear with that script blocked. A simulated visitor on a phone records slow requests on the step where they happened, so the same wait shows in its report.

A cache, an old open tab or a rollback can serve the old page with the old script names after a new deploy. The white screen returns for anyone holding that page. Rerun the same simulated visitor after each release, on a laptop and a phone. If the site sits behind a login, test with a test account, and check each preview deploy before the change goes live.