The dreaded 500 internal server error. It always seems to come at the most inopportune time and yous're all of a sudden left scrambling to effigy out how to get your WordPress site back online. Trust u.s.a., we've all been in that location. Other errors that behave similarly that you lot might have too seen include the frightening fault establishing a database connection and the dreaded white screen of death. Simply from the moment your site goes down, you're losing visitors and customers. Not to mention it just looks bad for your brand.

Today nosotros're going to dive into the 500 internal server error and walk you through some means to become your site dorsum online chop-chop. Read more below virtually what causes this fault and what yous tin can practise to prevent it in the future.

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

Check Out Our Ultimate Guide to Fixing the 500 Internal Server Error

What is a 500 Internal Server Error?

The Internet Engineering Job Force (IETF) defines the 500 Internal Server Error as:

The 500 (Internal Server Error) status code 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 as well includes what they call an HTTP status code. A condition lawmaking is a style to notify you virtually the condition of the request. It could be a 200 status code which means "Everything is OK" or a 500 condition code which means something has gone wrong.

In that location are a lot of different types of 500 status error codes (500, 501, 502, 503, 504, etc.) and they all hateful something different. In this case, a 500 internal server error indicates that the server encountered an unexpected condition that prevented information technology from fulfilling the request(RFC 7231, section half dozen.6.1).

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

500 Internal Server Error Variations

Due to the various web servers, operating systems, and browsers, a 500 internal server error tin nowadays itself in a number of different means. But they are all communicating the same thing. Beneath are but a couple of the many different variations you might run into on the web:

    • "500 Internal Server Error"
    • "HTTP 500"
    • "Internal Server Fault"
    • "HTTP 500 – Internal Server Error"
    • "500 Fault"
    • "HTTP Error 500"
    • "500 – Internal Server Mistake"
    • "500 Internal Server Fault. Sorry something went wrong."
    • "500. That's an fault. In that location was an error. Please try again later. That's all we know."
    • "The website cannot display the folio – HTTP 500."
    • "Is currently unable to handle this asking. HTTP ERROR 500."

You might likewise see this message accompanying it:

The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your asking. Please contact the server administrator, [email protected] and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you lot might have done that may have caused the error. More data near this error may be bachelor in the server fault log.

Internal Server Error
Internal Server Error

Other times, you lot might just see a bare white screen. When dealing with 500 internal server errors, this is actually quite common in browsers like Firefox and Safari.

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

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

Airbnb 500 internal server error
Airbnb 500 internal server mistake

Hither is another creative 500 server error instance 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'southward an IIS vii.0 (Windows) or higher server, they have boosted HTTP condition codes to more closely indicate the cause of the 500 error:

  • 500.0 – Module or ISAPI error occurred.
  • 500.11 – Application is shutting down on the web server.
  • 500.12 – Application is decorated restarting on the web server.
  • 500.13 – Web server is likewise decorated.
  • 500.xv – Direct requests for global.asax are not allowed.
  • 500.nineteen – Configuration data is invalid.
  • 500.21 – Module non recognized.
  • 500.22 – An ASP.Net httpModules configuration does not apply in Managed Pipeline way.
  • 500.23 – An ASP.NET httpHandlers configuration does not apply in Managed Pipeline fashion.
  • 500.24 – An ASP.Cyberspace impersonation configuration does not apply in Managed Pipeline mode.
  • 500.50 – A rewrite fault occurred during RQ_BEGIN_REQUEST notification treatment. A configuration or inbound rule execution error occurred.
  • 500.51 – A rewrite error occurred during GL_PRE_BEGIN_REQUEST notification treatment. A global configuration or global rule execution error occurred.
  • 500.52 – A rewrite error occurred during RQ_SEND_RESPONSE notification handling. An outbound rule execution occurred.
  • 500.53 – A rewrite error occurred during RQ_RELEASE_REQUEST_STATE notification handling. An outbound rule execution fault occurred. The dominion is configured to be executed earlier 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 fourth dimension, a 500 error can take a negative touch on SEO if not fixed right away. If your site is only downward for say 10 minutes and it's beingness crawled consistently a lot of times the crawler will simply get the folio delivered from enshroud. Or Google might not even have a adventure to re-crawl it before it's support. In this scenario, yous're completely fine.

Withal, if the site is downward for an extended menses of time, say vi+ hours, then Google might come across the 500 mistake as a site level issue that needs to be addressed. This could affect your rankings. If y'all're worried nigh repeat 500 errors yous should effigy out why they are happening to begin with. Some of the solutions below can help.

How to Fix the 500 Internal Server Error

Where should you lot start troubleshooting when you see a 500 internal server error on your WordPress site? Sometimes you might not even know where to begin. Typically 500 errors are on the server itself, simply from our feel, these errors originate from two things, the outset isuser error (customer-side issue), and the second is that there is a problem with the server. So we'll dive into a little of both.

Check out these mutual causes and ways to fix the 500 internal server error and get back up and running in no time.

1. Try Reloading the Page

This might seem a picayune obvious to some, just one of the easiest and first things y'all should endeavour when encountering a 500 internal server mistake is to simply wait a minute or so and reload the page (F5 or Ctrl + F5). It could be that the host or server is simply overloaded and the site will come right back. While you lot're waiting, you could also chop-chop endeavour a different browser to rule that out as an effect.

Another thing y'all tin can exercise is to paste the website into downforeveryoneorjustme.com. This website volition tell yous if the site is down or if it's a trouble on your side. A tool like this checks the HTTP condition code that is returned from the server. If it's anything other than a 200 "Everything is OK" so it will return a down indication.

downforeveryoneorjustme
downforeveryoneorjustme

We've also noticed that sometimes this tin occur immediately after you 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. However, things usually resolve themselves in a couple of seconds and therefore refreshing is all you need to do.

2. Clear Your Browser Cache

Clearing your browser cache is ever another proficient troubleshooting pace earlier diving into deeper debugging on your site. Beneath are instructions on how to clear cache in the various browsers:

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

iii. Check Your Server Logs

Yous should besides take advantage of your mistake logs. If you lot're a Kinsta client, you can easily see errors in the log viewer in the MyKinsta dashboard. This tin can assist y'all quickly narrow downward the result, particularly if it'southward 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, you can as well enable WordPress debugging way by adding the following code to your wp-config.php file to enable logging:

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

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

WordPress error logs folder (SFTP)
WordPress fault logs folder (SFTP)

You tin can also cheque the log files in Apache and Nginx, which are commonly located here:

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

If you're a Kinsta client you can likewise have advantage of our analytics tool to get a breakdown of the total number of 500 errors and encounter how often and when they are occurring. This can aid you troubleshoot if this is an ongoing issue, or perhaps something that has resolved itself.

Response analysis 500 error breakdown
Response analysis 500 mistake breakdown

If the 500 error is displaying considering of a fatal PHP error, you can likewise try enabling PHP error reporting. Only add the following code to the file throwing the error. Typically yous can narrow down the file in the console tab of Google Chrome DevTools.

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

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

          display_errors = on

4. Fault Establishing a Database Connection

500 internal server errors can also occur from a database connection error. Depending upon your browser you might come across different errors. Merely both volition generate a 500 HTTP condition lawmaking regardless in your server logs.

Below is an example of what an "error establishing a database connexion" message looks like your browser. The entire page is bare because no data can be retrieved to render the folio, as the connectedness is not working properly. Not only does this break the forepart-end of your site, but it will too prevent you from accessing your WordPress dashboard.

Example of error establishing a database connection
Instance of error establishing a database connectedness

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

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

Cheque out our in-depth postal service on how to set up the error establishing a database connection in WordPress.

v. Check Your Plugins and Themes

Tertiary-party plugins and themes tin can easily crusade 500 internal server errors. We've seen all types crusade them here at Kinsta, from slider plugins to ad rotator plugins. A lot of times y'all should see the fault immediately after installing something new or running an update. This is i reason why we always recommend utilizing a staging surround for updates or at least running updates one by i. Otherwise, if y'all meet a 500 internal server error you're suddenly scrambling to effigy out which one acquired information technology.

A few ways y'all can troubleshoot this is by deactivating all your plugins. Remember, you won't lose any data if you simply deactivate a plugin. If yous tin still access your admin, a quick way to do this is to browse to "Plugins" and select "Deactivate" from the bulk actions bill of fare. This will disable all of your plugins.

Deactivate all plugins
Deactivate all plugins

If this fixes the consequence you'll need to discover the culprit. Start activating them one past one, reloading the site later each activation. When you lot run across the 500 internal server mistake return, yous've plant the misbehaving plugin. You can then reach out to the plugin developer for help or post a back up ticket in the WordPress repository.

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

Rename plugin folder
Rename plugin binder

Always makes sure your plugins, themes, and WordPress core are upward to date. 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's really quite like shooting fish in a barrel to re-upload just the core of WordPress without impacting your plugins or themes. Nosotros have an in-depth guide with 5 unlike means to reinstall WordPress. And of grade, make sure to have 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 Fault

A permissions mistake with a file or folder on your server tin also cause a 500 internal server error to occur. Hither are some typical recommendations for permissions when information technology 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 ever be given 777, even upload directories.
  • Hardening: wp-config.php could also be prepare to 440 or 400 to prevent other users on the server from reading it.

See the WordPress Codex article on changing file permissions for a more in-depth caption.

You can hands see your file permissions with an FTP client (equally seen below). You could also achieve out to your WordPress host back up squad and enquire them to quickly GREP file permissions on your folders and files to ensure they're setup properly.

File permissions SFTP
File permissions SFTP

eight. PHP Retentivity Limit

A 500 internal server mistake could likewise be acquired past exhausting the PHP memory limit on your server. You could try increasing the limit. Follow the instructions below on how to change this limit in cPanel, Apache, your php.ini file, and wp-config.php file.

Increment PHP Retentivity Limit in cPanel

If you're running on a host that uses cPanel, you 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 can then click on the memory_limit attribute and change its value. Then click on "Save."

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

Increase PHP Memory Limit in Apache

The .htaccess file is a special hidden file that contains diverse settings you lot tin can utilise to modify the server behavior, right downward to a directory specific level. First login to your site via FTP or SSH, take a look at your root directory and see if there is a .htaccess file there.

.htaccess file
.htaccess file

If at that place is you can edit that file to add the necessary code for increasing the PHP memory limit. Nigh likely it is set at 64M or below, you can try increasing this value.

          php_value memory_limit 128M

Increase PHP Memory Limit in php.ini File

If the above doesn't work for you might try editing your php.ini file. Log in to your site via FTP or SSH, become to your site'due south 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 found you can paste the lawmaking below. You can alter of course the values to run into your needs.

          memory_limit = 128M

Some shared hosts might besides require that you add the suPHP directive in your .htaccess file for the above php.ini file settings to work. To do this, edit your .htaccess file, also located at the root of your site, and add together the following code towards the pinnacle of the file:

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

If the in a higher place didn't work for you, it could be that your host has the global settings locked down and instead take it configured to utilize .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 so paste in the following code:

          memory_limit = 128M

Increase PHP Retentiveness Limit in wp-config.php

The last selection is not 1 we are fans of, merely if all else fails you lot 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 together the post-obit code to the top of your wp-config.php file:

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

You can also enquire your host if you're running into memory limit bug. We employ New Relic and other troubleshooting methods hither at Kinsta to help clients narrow down what plugin, query, or script might be exhausting the limit. You lot tin also use your own custom New Relic key.

Debugging with New Relic
Debugging with New Relic

9. Problem With Your .htaccess File

Kinsta only uses Nginx, but if you're using a WordPress host that is running Apache, it could very well exist that your .htaccess file has a problem or has become corrupted. Follow the steps below to recreate a new 1 from scratch.

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

Rename .htaccess file
Rename .htaccess file

Usually to recreate this file you can simply re-save your permalinks in WordPress. However, if you're in the centre of a 500 internal server mistake you virtually likely can't access your WordPress admin, so this isn't an option. Therefore y'all can create a new .htaccess file and input the following contents. Then upload it to your server.

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

See 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 common than it used to exist. Although it'southward still worth mentioning, especially for those using cPanel where at that place are a lot of one-click CGI scripts even so being used. As AEM on Stack Overflow says:

CGI has been replaced by a vast variety of web programming technologies, including PHP, diverse Apache extensions like mod_perl, Java of diverse flavors and frameworks including Java EE, Struts, Jump, etc, Python-based frameworks like Django, Ruby on Track and many other Reddish frameworks, and diverse Microsoft technologies.

Hither are a few tips when working with CGI scripts:

  • When editing, always used a manifestly 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 lot 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.

11. Server Issue (Check With Your Host)

Finally, because 500 internal server errors tin can likewise occur from PHP timing out or fatal PHP errors with tertiary-party plugins, you tin always check with your WordPress host. Sometimes these errors can exist hard to troubleshoot without an skillful. Here are just a few mutual examples of some errors that trigger 500 HTTP status codes on the server that might have you scratching your head.

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

We monitor all client's sites here at Kinsta and are automatically notified when these types of errors occur. This allows us to be pro-active and start fixing the event right away. Nosotros 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% private and are not shared with anyone else or even your own sites.

PHP timeouts could besides occur from the lack of PHP workers, although typically these cause 504 errors, not 500 errors. These determine how many simultaneous requests your site tin can handle at a given time. To put it simply, each uncached asking 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. One time you lot've reached your limit of PHP workers, the queue starts to button out older requests which could result in 500 errors or incomplete requests. Read our in-depth article about PHP workers.

Monitor Your Site

If you lot're worried near these types of errors happening on your site in the future, you can also 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. Yous can simply use your homepage. The tool allows you to set cheque frequencies of:

  • 15 seconds
  • 30 seconds
  • 1 minute
  • 2 minutes
  • five minutes
  • 10 minutes

It volition transport you an electronic mail if and when your site goes down. Here is an example beneath.

Email notification of 500 error
Email notification of 500 error

This tin can exist specially useful if you lot're trying to debug a faulty plugin or are on a shared host, who tend to overcrowd their servers. This can give you proof of how oftentimes your site might actually exist doing downwardly (fifty-fifty during the center of the night). That's why we ever recommend going with a managed WordPress host. Make sure to bank check out our post that explores the top ix reasons to choose managed WordPress hosting.

Summary

500 internal server errors are always frustrating, but hopefully, now you know a few additional ways to troubleshoot them to speedily become your site support and running. Call up, typically these types of errors are caused by 3rd-party plugins, fatal PHP errors, database connection issues, problems with your .htaccess file or PHP retention limits, and sometimes PHP timeouts.

Was there anything we missed? Possibly you lot have another tip on troubleshooting 500 internal server errors. If and so, let united states know beneath in the comments.

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