Yoast SEO meta box is blank

If the meta box is missing entirely, please see this article.

Screenshot showing a blank Yoast SEO meta box — Blank Yoast SEO meta box

If the Yoast SEO meta box looks like this on your posts, pages or custom post types, you know there’s something wrong.

Possible causes

JavaScript is disabled

The Yoast SEO meta box relies on JavaScript to perform all its tasks. If JavaScript is disabled, Yoast SEO cannot function properly. Please follow the tutorial on enable-javascript.com to enable JavaScript in your browser. This should solve the problem.

There is a JavaScript error

Browsers are pretty sensitive to JavaScript errors. If any plugin is throwing a JavaScript error, your browser will stop executing JavaScript altogether. This means that other plugins can stop Yoast SEO from working properly. Luckily your browser is very good at locating those problems. To learn how to check for JavaScript errors, read this article in our Help Center.

Avast is blocking Yoast SEO

The antivirus software ‘Avast Antivirus’ has a feature called ‘Script scanning’. It is supposed to block malicious scripts, but has been reported to block important Yoast SEO files as well.

To prevent this feature from blocking Yoast SEO, you can add your own URL to the ‘Script exclusions’. For more information, please refer to Avast’s FAQ at avast.com/faq.php.