The dreaded 500 internal server error. It always seems to come at the most inopportune fourth dimension and y'all're all of a sudden left scrambling to figure out how to go your WordPress site back online. Trust us, nosotros've all been there. Other errors that carry similarly that yous might take besides seen include the frightening error establishing a database connection and the dreaded white screen of death. But from the moment your site goes downwards, y'all're losing visitors and customers. Non to mention it simply looks bad for your brand.

Today we're going to swoop into the 500 internal server error and walk yous through some means to become your site back online quickly. Read more below virtually what causes this mistake and what you tin do to prevent it in the future.

  • What is a 500 internal server mistake?
  • How to fix the 500 internal server error

Bank check Out Our Ultimate Guide to Fixing the 500 Internal Server Mistake

What is a 500 Internal Server Fault?

The Internet Applied science Chore Force (IETF) defines the 500 Internal Server Error every bit:

The 500 (Internal Server Error) status lawmaking indicates that the server encountered an unexpected condition that prevented information technology from fulfilling the request.

When you visit a website your browser sends a request over to the server where the site is hosted. The server takes this request, processes it, and sends back the requested resources (PHP, HTML, CSS, etc.) along with an HTTP header. The HTTP also includes what they phone call an HTTP condition code. A status code is a mode to notify you about the status of the request. It could be a 200 condition code which means "Everything is OK" or a 500 status code which ways something has gone wrong.

There are a lot of different types of 500 condition error codes (500, 501, 502, 503, 504, etc.) and they all mean something different. In this case, a 500 internal server error indicates that the server encountered an unexpected condition that prevented it from fulfilling the request(RFC 7231, department half dozen.six.1).

500 internal server error in WordPress
500 internal server error in WordPress

500 Internal Server Mistake Variations

Due to the various spider web servers, operating systems, and browsers, a 500 internal server error can present itself in a number of dissimilar means. But they are all communicating the same thing. Below are just a couple of the many different variations yous might see on the spider web:

    • "500 Internal Server Error"
    • "HTTP 500"
    • "Internal Server Error"
    • "HTTP 500 – Internal Server Fault"
    • "500 Error"
    • "HTTP Error 500"
    • "500 – Internal Server Mistake"
    • "500 Internal Server Mistake. Sorry something went wrong."
    • "500. That's an error. At that place was an error. Please effort over again later. That's all we know."
    • "The website cannot brandish the page – HTTP 500."
    • "Is currently unable to handle this asking. HTTP Mistake 500."

You might as well see this message accompanying it:

The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request. Please contact the server ambassador, [email protected] and inform them of the time the fault occurred, and anything you lot might have done that may have caused the error. More information about this error may exist available in the server mistake log.

Internal Server Error
Internal Server Error

Other times, y'all might only come across a blank white screen. When dealing with 500 internal server errors, this is actually quite mutual in browsers similar Firefox and Safari.

500 internal server error in Firefox
500 internal server error in Firefox

Bigger brands might even accept their ain custom 500 internal server error messages, such as this one from Airbnb.

Airbnb 500 internal server error
Airbnb 500 internal server fault

Here is another creative 500 server fault example from the folks over at readme.

readme 500 internal server error
readme 500 internal server error

Even the mighty YouTube isn't safe from 500 internal server errors.

500 internal server error on YouTube
500 internal server error on YouTube

If it's an IIS 7.0 (Windows) or higher server, they accept additional HTTP condition codes to more closely indicate the cause of the 500 fault:

  • 500.0 – Module or ISAPI mistake occurred.
  • 500.11 – Application is shutting down on the web server.
  • 500.12 – Awarding is busy restarting on the web server.
  • 500.13 – Web server is also busy.
  • 500.15 – Direct requests for global.asax are not allowed.
  • 500.19 – Configuration data is invalid.
  • 500.21 – Module not recognized.
  • 500.22 – An ASP.NET httpModules configuration does not apply in Managed Pipeline mode.
  • 500.23 – An ASP.Cyberspace httpHandlers configuration does not apply in Managed Pipeline mode.
  • 500.24 – An ASP.NET impersonation configuration does non apply in Managed Pipeline mode.
  • 500.50 – A rewrite fault occurred during RQ_BEGIN_REQUEST notification handling. A configuration or inbound dominion execution error occurred.
  • 500.51 – A rewrite error occurred during GL_PRE_BEGIN_REQUEST notification handling. A global configuration or global rule execution fault occurred.
  • 500.52 – A rewrite error occurred during RQ_SEND_RESPONSE notification handling. An outbound rule execution occurred.
  • 500.53 – A rewrite mistake occurred during RQ_RELEASE_REQUEST_STATE notification handling. An outbound rule execution error occurred. The rule is configured to be executed before the output user cache gets updated.
    500.100 – Internal ASP error.

500 Errors Impact on SEO

Different 503 errors, which are used for WordPress maintenance mode and tell Google to check back at a later on fourth dimension, a 500 mistake tin have a negative bear upon on SEO if not fixed right away. If your site is just down for say 10 minutes and it's being crawled consistently a lot of times the crawler will simply get the page delivered from enshroud. Or Google might non even have a chance to re-crawl it earlier it's back up. In this scenario, you're completely fine.

Yet, if the site is down for an extended period of time, say half dozen+ hours, then Google might encounter the 500 mistake as a site level consequence that needs to be addressed. This could impact your rankings. If you're worried about repeat 500 errors you should figure out why they are happening to brainstorm with. Some of the solutions below can help.

How to Fix the 500 Internal Server Error

Where should you lot start troubleshooting when you run into a 500 internal server fault on your WordPress site? Sometimes you might not even know where to begin. Typically 500 errors are on the server itself, merely from our experience, these errors originate from two things, the start isuser mistake (customer-side result), and the 2d is that there is a problem with the server. So we'll dive into a fiddling of both.

Bank check out these common causes and means to fix the 500 internal server fault and get back up and running in no fourth dimension.

1. Endeavor Reloading the Page

This might seem a little obvious to some, but ane of the easiest and first things y'all should try when encountering a 500 internal server fault is to but wait a minute or so and reload the page (F5 or Ctrl + F5). It could exist that the host or server is merely overloaded and the site will come up right back. While you lot're waiting, yous could likewise quickly attempt a dissimilar browser to rule that out as an event.

Another thing you can do is to paste the website into downforeveryoneorjustme.com. This website will tell you if the site is downwardly or if it's a trouble on your side. A tool similar this checks the HTTP status code that is returned from the server. If it's anything other than a 200 "Everything is OK" then it will return a downwards indication.

downforeveryoneorjustme
downforeveryoneorjustme

We've besides noticed that sometimes this can occur immediately subsequently y'all update a plugin or theme on your WordPress site. Typically this is on hosts that aren't prepare properly. What happens is they experience a temporary timeout correct afterwards. Nevertheless, things commonly resolve themselves in a couple of seconds and therefore refreshing is all you lot demand to do.

2. Articulate Your Browser Enshroud

Clearing your browser enshroud is e'er another proficient troubleshooting step earlier diving into deeper debugging on your site. Beneath are instructions on how to clear cache in the various browsers:

  • How to Strength Refresh a Unmarried Folio for All Browsers
  • How to Clear Browser Enshroud for Google Chrome
  • How to Clear Browser Cache for Mozilla Firefox
  • How to Articulate Browser Cache for Safari
  • How to Articulate Browser Enshroud for Internet Explorer
  • How to Clear Browser Cache for Microsoft Edge
  • How to Clear Browser Cache for Opera

3. Check Your Server Logs

You lot should besides take advantage of your mistake logs. If y'all're a Kinsta client, you lot can easily see errors in the log viewer in the MyKinsta dashboard. This can assistance you quickly narrow down the effect, especially if it's resulting from a plugin on your site.

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Check error logs for 500 internal server errors
Cheque error logs for 500 internal server errors

If your host doesn't have a logging tool, yous can also enable WordPress debugging style by adding the following code to your wp-config.php file to enable logging:

          ascertain( 'WP_DEBUG', true ); ascertain( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true ); define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', fake );

The logs are typically located in the /wp-content directory. Others, like hither at Kinsta might have a dedicated folder called "logs".

WordPress error logs folder (SFTP)
WordPress error logs binder (SFTP)

You lot tin can besides bank check the log files in Apache and Nginx, which are commonly located here:

  • Apache: /var/log/apache2/error.log
  • Nginx: /var/log/nginx/mistake.log

If y'all're a Kinsta client you lot tin can also take advantage of our analytics tool to get a breakdown of the total number of 500 errors and see how oftentimes and when they are occurring. This can help you troubleshoot if this is an ongoing issue, or perhaps something that has resolved itself.

Response analysis 500 error breakdown
Response analysis 500 error breakdown

If the 500 mistake is displaying because of a fatal PHP fault, you tin also endeavor enabling PHP error reporting. Just add the following code to the file throwing the error. Typically y'all tin narrow down the file in the console tab of Google Chrome DevTools.

          ini_set('display_errors', 1); ini_set('display_startup_errors', one); error_reporting(E_ALL);

And you lot might demand to likewise modify your php.ini file with the post-obit:

          display_errors = on

4. Error Establishing a Database Connection

500 internal server errors tin also occur from a database connectedness error. Depending upon your browser yous might run across different errors. But both volition generate a 500 HTTP status lawmaking regardless in your server logs.

Below is an example of what an "error establishing a database connectedness" message looks like your browser. The entire page is blank considering no information can be retrieved to render the page, equally the connexion is not working properly. Not simply does this break the forepart-cease of your site, merely information technology will also prevent you from accessing your WordPress dashboard.

Example of error establishing a database connection
Example of error establishing a database connexion

So why exactly does this happen? Well, here are a few common reasons below.

  • The most common issue is that yourdatabase login credentials are incorrect. Your WordPress site uses separate login data to connect to its MySQL database.
  • Your WordPress database is corrupted. With so many moving parts with themes, plugins, and users constantly deleting and installing them, sometimes databases get corrupted. This can be due to a missing or individually corrupted tabular array, or perhaps some information was deleted past accident.
  • You may accept corrupt files in your WordPress installation. This can even happen sometimes due to hackers.
  • Issues with your database server. A number of things could be wrong on the web hosts end, such equally the database existence overloaded from a traffic spike or unresponsive from too many concurrent connections. This is actually quite common with shared hosts as they are utilizing the same resources for a lot of users on the same servers.

Check out our in-depth mail service on how to fix the error establishing a database connection in WordPress.

5. Bank check Your Plugins and Themes

Tertiary-party plugins and themes can hands crusade 500 internal server errors. We've seen all types cause them here at Kinsta, from slider plugins to advertizing rotator plugins. A lot of times you should see the error immediately after installing something new or running an update. This is ane reason why we ever recommend utilizing a staging environment for updates or at least running updates ane by one. Otherwise, if you come across a 500 internal server error you're of a sudden scrambling to figure out which one caused it.

A few means yous tin troubleshoot this is by deactivating all your plugins. Remember, you won't lose any information if you simply conciliate a plugin. If you tin all the same access your admin, a quick style to do this is to browse to "Plugins" and select "Conciliate" from the bulk deportment menu. This will disable all of your plugins.

Deactivate all plugins
Deactivate all plugins

If this fixes the issue you'll need to detect the culprit. Commencement activating them 1 by one, reloading the site after each activation. When you encounter the 500 internal server error return, y'all've found the misbehaving plugin. Y'all can and then achieve out to the plugin developer for help or post a support ticket in the WordPress repository.

If you tin can't login to WordPress admin you can FTP into your server and rename your plugins folder to something like plugins_old. And then check your site once again. If information technology works, so you will need to test each plugin one past i. Rename your plugin folder back to "plugins" and then rename each plugin folder inside of if information technology, ane by 1, until you find it. You could also endeavour to replicate this on a staging site first.

Rename plugin folder
Rename plugin folder

E'er makes certain your plugins, themes, and WordPress core are up to engagement. And cheque to ensure you are running a supported version of PHP. If it turns out to be a conflict with bad code in a plugin, you might need to bring in a WordPress developer to fix the issue.

6. Reinstall WordPress Core

Sometimes WordPress core files can get corrupted, especially on older sites. It'southward actually quite easy to re-upload just the core of WordPress without impacting your plugins or themes. We have an in-depth guide with v different means to reinstall WordPress. And of course, brand certain to take a backup before proceeding. Skip to one of the sections beneath:

  • How to reinstall WordPress from the WordPress dashboard while preserving existing content
  • How to manually reinstall WordPress via FTP while preserving existing content
  • How to manually reinstall WordPress via WP-CLI while preserving existing content

7. Permissions Error

A permissions mistake with a file or folder on your server tin can too cause a 500 internal server error to occur. Here are some typical recommendations for permissions when it comes to file and folder permissions in WordPress:

  • All files should be 644 (-rw-r–r–) or 640.
  • All directories should be 755 (drwxr-xr-x) or 750.
  • No directories should e'er be given 777, even upload directories.
  • Hardening: wp-config.php could besides be ready to 440 or 400 to prevent other users on the server from reading information technology.

Come across the WordPress Codex article on changing file permissions for a more than in-depth explanation.

You lot can easily come across your file permissions with an FTP client (as seen beneath). Yous could also accomplish out to your WordPress host support squad and ask them to chop-chop GREP file permissions on your folders and files to ensure they're setup properly.

File permissions SFTP
File permissions SFTP

viii. PHP Retentivity Limit

A 500 internal server error could also be caused by exhausting the PHP memory limit on your server. Yous could try increasing the limit. Follow the instructions beneath on how to change this limit in cPanel, Apache, your php.ini file, and wp-config.php file.

Increase PHP Memory Limit in cPanel

If you're running on a host that uses cPanel, you tin can easily change this from the UI. Under Software click on "Select PHP Version."

Select PHP version
Select PHP version

Click on "Switch to PHP Options."

Switch to PHP options
Switch to PHP options

You tin then click on the memory_limit attribute and change its value. Then click on "Save."

Increase PHP memory limit in cPanel
Increment PHP memory limit in cPanel

Increment PHP Retention Limit in Apache

The .htaccess file is a special subconscious file that contains diverse settings you can use to modify the server behavior, right down to a directory specific level. First login to your site via FTP or SSH, take a expect at your root directory and see if in that location is a .htaccess file at that place.

.htaccess file
.htaccess file

If there is you can edit that file to add the necessary code for increasing the PHP retentivity limit. Most probable it is set at 64M or below, you can endeavor increasing this value.

          php_value memory_limit 128M

Increment PHP Retentivity Limit in php.ini File

If the in a higher place doesn't work for you might attempt editing your php.ini file. Log in to your site via FTP or SSH, get to your site's root directory and open or create a php.ini file.

php.ini file
php.ini file

If the file was already there, search for the three settings and modify them if necessary. If you just created the file, or the settings are nowhere to be establish yous tin paste the code beneath. You lot tin modify of course the values to run into your needs.

          memory_limit = 128M

Some shared hosts might likewise require that you add the suPHP directive in your .htaccess file for the above php.ini file settings to piece of work. To do this, edit your .htaccess file, as well located at the root of your site, and add the post-obit code towards the peak of the file:

          <IfModule mod_suphp.c>  suPHP_ConfigPath /home/yourusername/public_html </IfModule>

If the higher up didn't work for you, it could be that your host has the global settings locked down and instead have information technology configured to employ .user.ini files. To edit your .user.ini file, login to your site via FTP or SSH, get to your site's root directory and open or create a .user.ini file. You can and then paste in the following code:

          memory_limit = 128M

Increase PHP Memory Limit in wp-config.php

The concluding option is non one we are fans of, but if all else fails you tin give it a go. First, log in to your site via FTP or SSH, and locate your wp-config.php file, which is typically in the root of your site.

wp-config.php file
wp-config.php file

Add the following code to the top of your wp-config.php file:

          define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '128M');

You can also ask your host if y'all're running into memory limit issues. We utilize the Kinsta APM tool and other troubleshooting methods here at Kinsta to assistance clients narrow downward what plugin, query, or script might exist exhausting the limit. Y'all tin can also utilize your own custom New Relic key from your own license.

Debugging with New Relic
Debugging with New Relic

9. Trouble With Your .htaccess File

Kinsta only uses Nginx, but if you're using a WordPress host that is running Apache, it could very well be that your .htaccess file has a problem or has get corrupted. Follow the steps below to recreate a new one from scratch.

Beginning, log in to your site via FTP or SSH, and rename your .htaccess file to .htaccess_old.

Rename .htaccess file
Rename .htaccess file

Normally to recreate this file you can simply re-salvage your permalinks in WordPress. Even so, if y'all're in the eye of a 500 internal server fault y'all virtually likely can't admission your WordPress admin, so this isn't an option. Therefore you tin create a new .htaccess file and input the following contents. So upload it to your server.

          # Begin WordPress <IfModule mod_rewrite.c> RewriteEngine On RewriteBase / RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [Fifty] RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d RewriteRule . /index.php [L] </IfModule> # END WordPress

Encounter the WordPress Codex for more examples, such equally a default .htaccess file for multisite.

10. Coding or Syntax Errors in Your CGI/Perl Script

500 errors being caused by errors in CGI and Perl is a lot less mutual than it used to be. Although it's still worth mentioning, particularly for those using cPanel where at that place are a lot of one-click CGI scripts all the same being used. As AEM on Stack Overflow says:

CGI has been replaced by a vast diversity of web programming technologies, including PHP, various Apache extensions like mod_perl, Java of diverse flavors and frameworks including Coffee EE, Struts, Bound, etc, Python-based frameworks similar Django, Scarlet on Rail and many other Ruby frameworks, and various Microsoft technologies.

Here are a few tips when working with CGI scripts:

  • When editing, always used a plain text editor, such as Atom, Sublime, or Notepad++. This ensures they remain in ASCII format.
  • Ensure correct permissions of chmod 755 are used on CGI scripts and directories.
  • Upload your CGI scripts in ASCII mode (which you can select in your FTP editor) into the cgi-bin directory on your server.
  • Confirm that the Perl modules you require for your script are installed and supported.

xi. Server Issue (Check With Your Host)

Finally, considering 500 internal server errors tin can as well occur from PHP timing out or fatal PHP errors with third-political party plugins, you tin e'er check with your WordPress host. Sometimes these errors can be difficult to troubleshoot without an expert. Here are just a few common examples of some errors that trigger 500 HTTP status codes on the server that might have you scratching your caput.

          PHP message: PHP Fatal fault: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function mysql_error()...        
          PHP message: PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Cannot use object of type WP_Error as array in /www/binder/web/shared/content/plugins/plugin/functions.php:525

We monitor all customer's sites here at Kinsta and are automatically notified when these types of errors occur. This allows us to be pro-active and outset fixing the outcome right abroad. We also apply LXD managed hosts and orchestrated LXC software containers for each site. This means that every WordPress site is housed in its ain isolated container, which has all of the software resources required to run it (Linux, Nginx, PHP, MySQL). The resources are 100% individual and are not shared with anyone else or even your ain sites.

PHP timeouts could also occur from the lack of PHP workers, although typically these cause 504 errors, not 500 errors. These decide how many simultaneous requests your site can handle at a given time. To put it simply, each uncached request for your website is handled by a PHP Worker.

When PHP workers are already busy on a site, they start to build up a queue. Once you've reached your limit of PHP workers, the queue starts to push out older requests which could issue in 500 errors or incomplete requests. Read our in-depth article almost PHP workers.

Monitor Your Site

If you lot're worried about these types of errors happening on your site in the future, you tin likewise utilize a tool similar updown.io to monitor and notify you immediately if they occur. It periodically sends an HTTP Head request to the URL of your choice. You lot can simply utilize your homepage. The tool allows y'all to ready check frequencies of:

  • 15 seconds
  • 30 seconds
  • ane infinitesimal
  • 2 minutes
  • v minutes
  • 10 minutes

It will send you an email if and when your site goes downwardly. Hither is an instance below.

Email notification of 500 error
Email notification of 500 error

This can exist particularly useful if y'all're trying to debug a faulty plugin or are on a shared host, who tend to overcrowd their servers. This tin give you proof of how often your site might really be doing downward (even during the middle of the night). That'southward why we always recommend going with a managed WordPress host. Make sure to check out our postal service that explores the summit 9 reasons to cull managed WordPress hosting.

Summary

500 internal server errors are e'er frustrating, simply hopefully, now you know a few additional ways to troubleshoot them to quickly become your site back up and running. Call back, typically these types of errors are caused by third-party plugins, fatal PHP errors, database connectedness issues, problems with your .htaccess file or PHP retentiveness limits, and sometimes PHP timeouts.

Was in that location anything we missed? Perhaps you take some other tip on troubleshooting 500 internal server errors. If and so, allow us know below in the comments.

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