# Emergency WordPress repair

> Same-day triage for WordPress sites that are down, white-screening, or broken at checkout, not malware cleanup. Calm diagnosis and a realistic fix path.

Source: https://larsik.com/emergency-wordpress-repair/

Urgent ops

# Emergency WordPress repair

When the site is down, the checkout fails, or the white screen of death appears, you need triage, not a monthly maintenance checklist and not a malware engagement unless that is actually the cause. This page covers acute WordPress repair: diagnose, stabilize, and hand you a clear next step.

[Tell me what is broken](/contact/)[Ongoing maintenance instead](/maintenance/)[Suspect a hack?](/wordpress-hack-cleanup/)

## What this is not

-   Not malware cleanup or Safe Browsing recovery (that is the hack cleanup / security service)
-   Not a substitute for monthly WordPress maintenance (backups, updates, monitoring)
-   Not a redesign or feature build (those are separate projects)

## Typical emergencies I handle

-   Site down or intermittent 5xx / host suspension for non-malware reasons
-   White screen of death after an update or deploy
-   Checkout, cart, or payment gateway suddenly failing
-   Forms or transactional email stopped sending
-   Login / admin locked out after a plugin conflict
-   Critical plugin or theme update broke a money page

## How urgent repair usually goes

1.  1
    
    ## Triage
    
    What changed, what is broken for customers, and whether this looks like ops failure vs compromise. If it is malware, we switch to hack cleanup.
    
2.  2
    
    ## Stabilize
    
    Roll back the bad update, restore from a known-good backup when appropriate, or disable the conflicting plugin, enough to stop the bleeding.
    
3.  3
    
    ## Verify
    
    Confirm the money path works: homepage, checkout, forms, mail. Document what broke and what to watch.
    
4.  4
    
    ## Prevent the repeat
    
    Often that means staging for updates, clearer ownership, or moving onto maintenance so the next update is not another 2am emergency.
    

## What to send when you contact me

-   The site URL and what customers see right now
-   Hosting / SFTP / WordPress admin access if you have it
-   What changed recently (update, deploy, host ticket)
-   Whether you have a backup from before the failure

## Common questions

Is this the same as WordPress maintenance?+

No. Maintenance is ongoing care so surprises are rare. Emergency repair is when something is already on fire. Many clients use both over time.

What if the site is hacked?+

Then you want the WordPress hack cleanup service / security cleanup path, contain, clean, harden, verify, not a generic “fix the white screen” pass.

How fast can you start?+

Same-day triage is often possible. Timeline for a full fix depends on access, backups, and how deep the break is. Share the URL and symptoms for a realistic window.