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How to Fix White Text and Missing Buttons in WordPress Visual Editor

Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on WPBeginner. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations. Learn more about Editorial Process.

Recently one of our users reported a very odd issue with their install. When writing a post, they could not see anything they were writing. Because the text of the post editor was white. More importantly, all of the visual editor buttons were missing, and the ability to switch from Visual to HTML was not working. In this article, we will show you how to fix the white text and missing buttons issue in WordPress visual editor.

Note for Beginners: If you are looking for hidden buttons that you might see in screenshots of other sites, then you are probably looking for the Kitchen sink. You would have to click on the Kitchen sink icon to see these other options such as Underline, copy from word etc.

Kitchen Sink

Some sites also use TinyMCE Advanced plugin to add various other buttons that are not there by default.

For the rest of you who are actually really having a problem with missing buttons or white text in visual editor, then continue on with this tutorial.

Clear the Browser Cache

Upon our search, we found users suggesting that clearing the browser cache worked for them. The first thing you should try to do is clear the browser cache or use another browser. This could very well be an issue with your computer.

If this does not fix your issue, maybe the issue is with your install?

Replacing TinyMCE Scripts

Maybe this issue happened after you updated? Well, its not likely, but maybe something went wrong in the update process. Try replacing /wp-includes/js/tinymce/ folder with a fresh copy.

Fix with wp-config

If none of the above tricks worked for you, then open your wp-config.php file and add the following line at the very top after the php opening tag.

define('CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS', false);

This trick fixed the issue for our user who reported this issue. We hope that one of the solutions listed in this article will fix your white text and missing buttons in WordPress visual editor problem. If you found another fix that worked for you, then please share it in the comments.

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Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff at WPBeginner is a team of WordPress experts led by Syed Balkhi with over 16 years of experience in WordPress, Web Hosting, eCommerce, SEO, and Marketing. Started in 2009, WPBeginner is now the largest free WordPress resource site in the industry and is often referred to as the Wikipedia for WordPress.

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Reader Interactions

248 CommentsLeave a Reply

  1. Syed Balkhi says

    Hey WPBeginner readers,
    Did you know you can win exciting prizes by commenting on WPBeginner?
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  2. Raj says

    define(‘CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS’, false);

    not working for me

    When i am trying to update any post it is showing this error

    This page isn’t working

    example.com didn’t send any data.
    ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE

    Please help me i am waiting for your response.

  3. Vishal says

    Hi I Need Some Urgent Help Regarding My WordPress Post Editing . When I published Post and after that i come again in editor. the post heading and photo not show in post editor menu but photo and heading show in published post .Please Tell Me How I Can Solve This Problem.I want To Edit Photo But I can’t Remove Because In Post Editor Photo Not Show. Photo & Heading Show Only Published Post.

  4. Kevlin Brown says

    Nothing worked since I upgraded to the latest WordPress! Visual Editor Button shows but not responding when clicked.
    Disabling all plugins, Not change;

    Including the define ( ‘CONCATENATE_SCrIPTS’, false ); No change

    Change themes to WordPress default, nothing

    I am tired.

  5. Haran says

    Hi
    I used the plain HTML option in GetResponse to create a simple form containing email field and signup command button. GetResponse preview form is good. Next I pasted the code in my WordPress.org V4.8 text editor. Noticed there is are a 4-5 lines gap between the fields and the command button in the visual editor. Tried deleting the spaces in WordPress page using the visual editor but somehow the HTML code got deleted too. Would appreciate if anyone could inform me how to delete the spaces between the email field and form command button

  6. Tripti says

    Hey
    I am not able to access the HTML Text Editor. I can see the button but if I press it, nothing happens. The Visual Editor is visible but is completely blank and in some pages has just some random text in it.
    I tried all of the solutions listed here but nothing has helped. If anybody could help me? Please?

  7. Matt Clark says

    SOLVED! This solution worked for me.

    Adding… define(‘CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS’, false); to your wp-config.php file just below the…. define(‘DB_HOST’ line.

    You have to do so by accessing your FTP (or a file manager in your hosting account’s control panel). You can edit the file with a plain text editor or TextWrangler!

    All the best,
    -M@tt

  8. Sushmita says

    I have tried everything listed up there and I am still getting tinymce error on console and editor not working.
    Can anyone help??

  9. Marek says

    I’m facing similar issue. After the latest update (Version 58.0.3029.81 (64-bit), it appears that WordPress image edit button is missing when editing a post in chrome. I know that it’s NOT a WP issue because it works fine in Firefox. See attached screenshot. Does anyone know how to fix it?

  10. Deborah says

    Thanks so much – I put
    1 <?php
    2 define(‘CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS’, false);

    It worked PERFECT!

  11. Jack Walrad says

    Having a weird version of this issue. If I log in to my wordpress editor (on godaddy server) from my office machine I have no problem with Visual Editor. However, logging in from home PC the Editor does not appear. Same logon details, same acct, just different machines (both using same version of Chrome). Would love to solve this.

  12. Jack Walrad says

    I have a very challenging version of this problem. If I log in to my wordpress site (hosted by godaddy) from my office I have no problem with Visual Editor. However, when I log in from home, using exact same acct, same username/PW, Visual Editor exhibits the problems spoken to here: no text, no editor toolbars and no ability to switch from Visual to Text. I haven’t a clue. Any advice on this would be very appreciated.

  13. Sami says

    Thank you for such a helpful and wonderful blog!

    This might sound like a silly question but where is the “wp-config.php” located? I expected to find that file under “Appearances”–>”Editor” where other .php files are but I cannot find this one. Am I missing something? Thank you for your help!

  14. Steven says

    What kind of social sharing buttons are you guys using for your site?

    Those are exactly what I am looking for!!

    Thanks

  15. Kaan Karadeniz says

    Hello there, I faced with the same problem with my two installation. I switched different themes but it didn’t work… Lastly I found AdBlock blocking something and checked it, let AdBlock ignore my sites and it worked fine.

    If you use AdBlock, check it first before you implement something or making any change. I highly suggest this.

  16. Syed Muntazir Mehdi says

    Hello Guys ,
    i am facing problem when i click on page edit option then “Use Fusion Builder “Button is not working and i am unable to edit my page :(
    Any Solution of this problem ???
    Thanks in Advance

    • Mark says

      This question does not pertain to this particular thread, you might try searching fusion builder and unable to edit page. This is a different problem. Are others still experiencing?

  17. Michael Bach says

    Hi,

    Thank you for the help. To all those that had no luck like myself I found that if you use cloudflare your servers firewall may block some of their IP’s deniying you access. If you go to development mode and inspect the element and get a 522 error then go to cloudflare, copy their IP ranges and whitelist them on your server. This worked for me!

  18. Eleina says

    Just wanted to say thank you; I added the code you suggested to the WP-Config file and it solved my problem – after a lot of searching, thanks so much!!!

  19. Daniel S says

    I replaced TinyMCE and it didn’t help. Then finally I edited wp-config.php and added

    define(‘CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS’, false);

    as suggested and it did the trick! It works fine just as before! Thanks a lot for the tip!

  20. Vicki Kessel says

    I can not get any of these fixes to work, is there anyone that can help? I am sick about this.

  21. Ghio Coste says

    if does not work the above – define(‘CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS’, false); – you should look if some other malicious code in your website and if you use any cachein program disable and clear the cache.

    kindest regards to all.

  22. Chris Alphen says

    I tried this solution as well as many others suggested elsewhere. My problem is not the white on white but the fact that visual editor is blank even though there is plenty of content. Editor opens in text where content is visible but when I toggle to visual it’s blank. Then text is also blank when toggling back and then another toggle removes the compose window entirely.
    After the upgrade to 4.6.1 I started to see minor indications of this problem but a refresh usually allowed me to continue. Upgrade to 4.7 made the problem worse so i reverted back to 4.6 but still in limbo.
    I’d appreciate any suggestions

    Thanks

  23. OctoFreddy says

    thank !
    same probleme and with update wp-config with ( ‘CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS’, false);

    What are the consequences for the future updates, is this DIY?

  24. Theron Rawls says

    Having this same issue but it’s only when someone using another user role other than administrator attempts to post to a post. I attempted all of the above with no luck.

    Any other ideas?

  25. Mark says

    Ok – this is very frustrating!

    Thank you by the way! I have applied the define(‘CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS’, false); to several sites and had it work, then, I have on another two sites and it does not!! I cant edit any pages or do anything in the back-end of these sites!

    What is the cause of this has anyone determined it? and the permanent fix?

    Thank you!

  26. Steve says

    If none of the above works for you, here’s another couple of things to try:

    Log into PHPMyAdmin, click on your database’s ‘wp_options’ table and look for the record called ‘can_compress_scripts’. If this has a value of “1” for the ‘option_value’, change it to ‘0’ then save the change. (If you can’t locate this record in your table, it’s possible that it doesn’t exist, in which case you’ll need to create it.) Now try logging into WordPress and see if you can create a new page or post.

    If not, the other thing that sometimes does the trick – and this is mainly for those who have a relatively new install – is going into FTP and just plain wiping everything and re-uploading a fresh WordPress install. Stick your details in wp-config.php as normal but leave the database as it is. Try logging into the dashboard and creating a new page or post. Within a few seconds, the toolbar and black text should hopefully reappear. You could then try adding things one by one – your previous theme folder, your plugins, and so on.

  27. Ajmal Shah says

    Guys i have the same problem with my WP and i tried all the above solutions but really not anyone worked for me???? PLZ HELP me
    Will be appreciated…!

  28. Nicolas DEPOILLY says

    Hi,

    I updated my wordpress to last 4.6.1, and it wasnt working also on previous versions.
    Browser cache is cleared, wp-includes/js/tinymce removed and reinserted from scratch 4.6.1 wordpress, plugin tinyMce updated to last version ( as well all removed and reinserted from scratch to version 4.4.1).
    I have in my config file :
    file : wp-config.php

    <?php

    define('CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS', false );
    …..

    I just tried all solutions above, none of them worked, any idea?

    Thanks

  29. KP says

    Thank you! ~ from another one for whom it took the “define(‘CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS’, false);” addition to work.

    It went white-on-white midway during some set-up editing, possibly with some plugin updates.

  30. Dave Newman says

    I just tried all of these things with no success. Then I deleted my .htaccess file at the site’s root and it came back. It’s been missing for months!

  31. Neal Ghoshal says

    Thank you for the post – much appreciated …

    Adding

    define(‘CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS’, false);

    to my wp-config file finally did the trick. After 4 hours of struggling with the issue … but glad to find a solution!

    have a great day

  32. Dennis Brown says

    Sorry I don’t understand you instructions above… define(‘CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS’, false); How do i find the location to post this please?

    • Carolina Llanos says

      Open your config.php file in the root folder of your site and add this line after “<?php"
      ADD THIS: define('CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS', false);

      Save and upload again. It worked for me ;)

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