The dreaded 500 internal server error. Information technology always seems to come up at the nearly inopportune fourth dimension and y'all're suddenly left scrambling to figure out how to get your WordPress site dorsum online. Trust us, we've all been there. Other errors that behave similarly that you might have as well seen include the frightening error establishing a database connection and the dreaded white screen of death. Just from the moment your site goes downward, you're losing visitors and customers. Non to mention information technology simply looks bad for your brand.

Today nosotros're going to swoop into the 500 internal server mistake and walk yous through some ways to get your site back online chop-chop. Read more below about what causes this mistake and what y'all can do to prevent it in the future.

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

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

What is a 500 Internal Server Fault?

The Internet Technology Task 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 it 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 asking, processes it, and sends back the requested resources (PHP, HTML, CSS, etc.) along with an HTTP header. The HTTP too includes what they call an HTTP status code. A condition code is a fashion to notify yous almost the status of the asking. Information technology could be a 200 status code which means "Everything is OK" or a 500 status code which means something has gone wrong.

At that place are a lot of different types of 500 status fault codes (500, 501, 502, 503, 504, etc.) and they all mean something unlike. In this case, a 500 internal server mistake indicates that the server encountered an unexpected condition that prevented it from fulfilling the asking(RFC 7231, section six.half dozen.1).

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

500 Internal Server Error Variations

Due to the various spider web servers, operating systems, and browsers, a 500 internal server fault tin can present itself in a number of different ways. But they are all communicating the aforementioned affair. Below are only a couple of the many different variations y'all might see on the spider web:

    • "500 Internal Server Error"
    • "HTTP 500"
    • "Internal Server Mistake"
    • "HTTP 500 – Internal Server Error"
    • "500 Mistake"
    • "HTTP Error 500"
    • "500 – Internal Server Fault"
    • "500 Internal Server Mistake. Sad something went wrong."
    • "500. That's an error. There was an error. Please endeavour once more later. That's all we know."
    • "The website cannot display the folio – HTTP 500."
    • "Is currently unable to handle this request. HTTP ERROR 500."

You might also see this message accompanying it:

The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to consummate your request. Delight contact the server administrator, [email protected] and inform them of the fourth dimension the error occurred, and anything yous might have done that may take caused the error. More information about this error may exist bachelor in the server error log.

Internal Server Error
Internal Server Error

Other times, yous might only run across a blank 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 have their ain custom 500 internal server error messages, such as this one from Airbnb.

Airbnb 500 internal server error
Airbnb 500 internal server error

Here is some other 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 safety 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 take additional HTTP condition codes to more than closely indicate the cause of the 500 fault:

  • 500.0 – Module or ISAPI fault occurred.
  • 500.xi – Awarding is shutting downwards on the web server.
  • 500.12 – Application is busy restarting on the web server.
  • 500.xiii – Spider web server is too busy.
  • 500.15 – Direct requests for global.asax are not allowed.
  • 500.19 – Configuration data is invalid.
  • 500.21 – Module non recognized.
  • 500.22 – An ASP.NET httpModules configuration does not apply in Managed Pipeline mode.
  • 500.23 – An ASP.Internet httpHandlers configuration does non apply in Managed Pipeline style.
  • 500.24 – An ASP.Net impersonation configuration does not apply in Managed Pipeline way.
  • 500.fifty – A rewrite mistake occurred during RQ_BEGIN_REQUEST notification handling. A configuration or entering dominion execution error occurred.
  • 500.51 – A rewrite mistake occurred during GL_PRE_BEGIN_REQUEST notification handling. A global configuration or global rule execution mistake occurred.
  • 500.52 – A rewrite error occurred during RQ_SEND_RESPONSE notification handling. An outbound dominion execution occurred.
  • 500.53 – A rewrite error 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 enshroud gets updated.
    500.100 – Internal ASP error.

500 Errors Impact on SEO

Unlike 503 errors, which are used for WordPress maintenance mode and tell Google to check back at a later on fourth dimension, a 500 error can accept a negative affect on SEO if not stock-still right away. If your site is only downwardly 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 fifty-fifty have a take a chance to re-crawl it before it's back upward. In this scenario, you're completely fine.

Notwithstanding, if the site is downwardly for an extended period of time, say 6+ hours, and so Google might see the 500 fault equally a site level result that needs to be addressed. This could impact your rankings. If you lot're worried about repeat 500 errors you should effigy out why they are happening to begin with. Some of the solutions below can help.

How to Gear up the 500 Internal Server Error

Where should you offset troubleshooting when you see 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, but from our experience, these errors originate from 2 things, the first isuser mistake (client-side consequence), and the second is that there is a problem with the server. And so we'll swoop into a little of both.

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

one. Try Reloading the Folio

This might seem a piddling obvious to some, simply 1 of the easiest and beginning things you should try when encountering a 500 internal server error is to merely wait a minute or so and reload the page (F5 or Ctrl + F5). It could be that the host or server is merely overloaded and the site volition come correct dorsum. While yous're waiting, y'all could also speedily try a different browser to rule that out as an issue.

Another thing you tin can exercise is to paste the website into downforeveryoneorjustme.com. This website volition tell you if the site is down or if it'southward a problem on your side. A tool similar this checks the HTTP status lawmaking that is returned from the server. If it'due south anything other than a 200 "Everything is OK" then it volition return a down indication.

downforeveryoneorjustme
downforeveryoneorjustme

We've too noticed that sometimes this tin occur immediately after y'all update a plugin or theme on your WordPress site. Typically this is on hosts that aren't set upward properly. What happens is they experience a temporary timeout correct later. However, things ordinarily 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 always some other good troubleshooting footstep earlier diving into deeper debugging on your site. Below are instructions on how to clear cache in the diverse browsers:

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

three. Check Your Server Logs

You should also take advantage of your error logs. If y'all're a Kinsta client, you lot tin easily encounter errors in the log viewer in the MyKinsta dashboard. This can help you quickly narrow down the consequence, 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, you tin also enable WordPress debugging mode by adding the following lawmaking to your wp-config.php file to enable logging:

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

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

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

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

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

If you're a Kinsta client you can also take advantage of our analytics tool to become a breakdown of the total number of 500 errors and see how frequently 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 assay 500 error breakdown

If the 500 error is displaying because of a fatal PHP error, yous can also endeavour enabling PHP error reporting. Only add the post-obit code to the file throwing the mistake. Typically you tin narrow down the file in the console tab of Google Chrome DevTools.

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

And you might demand to too modify your php.ini file with the following:

          display_errors = on

iv. Error Establishing a Database Connexion

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

Below is an example of what an "error establishing a database connection" message looks like your browser. The entire page is blank because no information can exist retrieved to render the folio, as the connectedness is not working properly. Non just does this break the front end-terminate of your site, but it volition also prevent you from accessing your WordPress dashboard.

Example of error establishing a database connection
Example of mistake establishing a database connection

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

  • The most common issue is that yourdatabase login credentials are wrong. Your WordPress site uses separate login information 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 exist due to a missing or individually corrupted table, or mayhap some information was deleted by accident.
  • You may accept corrupt files in your WordPress installation. This tin even happen sometimes due to hackers.
  • Issues with your database server. A number of things could exist wrong on the spider web hosts terminate, such as the database beingness overloaded from a traffic fasten or unresponsive from also many concurrent connections. This is actually quite mutual with shared hosts as they are utilizing the same resources for a lot of users on the aforementioned servers.

Check out our in-depth post on how to fix the mistake establishing a database connection in WordPress.

v. Check Your Plugins and Themes

Tertiary-party plugins and themes can easily cause 500 internal server errors. We've seen all types cause them here at Kinsta, from slider plugins to ad rotator plugins. A lot of times you should run into the error immediately after installing something new or running an update. This is 1 reason why we always recommend utilizing a staging environment for updates or at least running updates ane by one. Otherwise, if you lot meet a 500 internal server error you're suddenly scrambling to figure out which one caused information technology.

A few ways you tin can troubleshoot this is by deactivating all your plugins. Call back, y'all won't lose whatever data if you but deactivate a plugin. If you can even so access your admin, a quick way to do this is to scan to "Plugins" and select "Conciliate" from the bulk deportment bill of fare. This will disable all of your plugins.

Deactivate all plugins
Deactivate all plugins

If this fixes the issue y'all'll need to find the culprit. Kickoff activating them one by one, reloading the site subsequently each activation. When yous see the 500 internal server error return, you lot've found the misbehaving plugin. You tin then reach out to the plugin developer for aid or mail a support ticket in the WordPress repository.

If yous tin't login to WordPress admin you tin FTP into your server and rename your plugins folder to something like plugins_old. Then cheque your site again. If it works, then you will need to test each plugin one by one. Rename your plugin binder back to "plugins" and then rename each plugin folder inside of if information technology, one by i, until you observe it. You could too try to replicate this on a staging site commencement.

Rename plugin folder
Rename plugin folder

Always makes sure your plugins, themes, and WordPress core are upward to date. And check to ensure yous are running a supported version of PHP. If it turns out to be a conflict with bad lawmaking in a plugin, you might demand to bring in a WordPress developer to fix the upshot.

6. Reinstall WordPress Cadre

Sometimes WordPress core files tin get corrupted, specially on older sites. It'south actually quite easy to re-upload just the core of WordPress without impacting your plugins or themes. We have an in-depth guide with 5 different means to reinstall WordPress. And of form, make sure to have a fill-in before proceeding. Skip to 1 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 Mistake

A permissions error with a file or folder on your server can too crusade 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 always be given 777, even upload directories.
  • Hardening: wp-config.php could also be set to 440 or 400 to prevent other users on the server from reading it.

See the WordPress Codex commodity on irresolute file permissions for a more in-depth caption.

You can easily see your file permissions with an FTP client (as seen beneath). You lot could besides reach out to your WordPress host support squad and ask them to quickly GREP file permissions on your folders and files to ensure they're setup properly.

File permissions SFTP
File permissions SFTP

8. PHP Memory Limit

A 500 internal server error could also be caused by 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.

Increase PHP Memory Limit in cPanel

If you're running on a host that uses cPanel, you tin easily alter 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 lot can then click on the memory_limit aspect and change its value. And so click on "Salvage."

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

Increase PHP Retentiveness Limit in Apache

The .htaccess file is a special hidden file that contains various settings you tin utilise to modify the server behavior, right downward to a directory specific level. Starting time login to your site via FTP or SSH, have a look at your root directory and meet if there is a .htaccess file there.

.htaccess file
.htaccess file

If there is you can edit that file to add the necessary code for increasing the PHP retention limit. Most likely it is ready at 64M or below, yous can attempt 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 endeavor editing your php.ini file. Log in to your site via FTP or SSH, go 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 exist found you can paste the code below. You can alter of course the values to meet your needs.

          memory_limit = 128M

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

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

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

          memory_limit = 128M

Increment PHP Memory Limit in wp-config.php

The terminal option is not 1 we are fans of, only if all else fails you can 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:

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

You can also ask your host if y'all're running into retentiveness limit issues. We utilize the Kinsta APM tool and other troubleshooting methods hither at Kinsta to aid clients narrow downwardly what plugin, query, or script might be exhausting the limit. Yous tin likewise use your ain custom New Relic key from your own license.

Debugging with New Relic
Debugging with New Relic

nine. Problem With Your .htaccess File

Kinsta simply uses Nginx, but if y'all're using a WordPress host that is running Apache, information technology could very well exist that your .htaccess file has a problem or has become corrupted. Follow the steps beneath to recreate a new one from scratch.

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

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

See the WordPress Codex for more examples, such every bit a default .htaccess file for multisite.

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

500 errors beingness 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 there are a lot of one-click CGI scripts still being used. As AEM on Stack Overflow says:

CGI has been replaced past a vast diversity of web programming technologies, including PHP, diverse Apache extensions like mod_perl, Coffee of diverse flavors and frameworks including Java EE, Struts, Spring, etc, Python-based frameworks like Django, Blood-red on Rails and many other Ruby frameworks, and various Microsoft technologies.

Here are a few tips when working with CGI scripts:

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

xi. Server Issue (Bank check With Your Host)

Finally, considering 500 internal server errors can as well occur from PHP timing out or fatal PHP errors with tertiary-political party plugins, you lot can always cheque with your WordPress host. Sometimes these errors can be difficult to troubleshoot without an expert. Here are only a few common examples of some errors that trigger 500 HTTP status codes on the server that might take you scratching your caput.

          PHP message: PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Fault: Call to undefined part mysql_error()...        
          PHP message: PHP Fatal fault: Uncaught Mistake: Cannot utilise object of type WP_Error as array in /www/folder/web/shared/content/plugins/plugin/functions.php:525

Nosotros monitor all customer'due south sites here at Kinsta and are automatically notified when these types of errors occur. This allows u.s.a. to be pro-active and kickoff fixing the issue right abroad. We also apply LXD managed hosts and orchestrated LXC software containers for each site. This ways that every WordPress site is housed in its own 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 likewise occur from the lack of PHP workers, although typically these crusade 504 errors, not 500 errors. These determine how many simultaneous requests your site can handle at a given time. To put it only, each uncached request for your website is handled by a PHP Worker.

When PHP workers are already decorated on a site, they start to build upwards 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 about PHP workers.

Monitor Your Site

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

  • 15 seconds
  • 30 seconds
  • one minute
  • 2 minutes
  • 5 minutes
  • 10 minutes

It will send you an email if and when your site goes downward. Here is an example below.

Email notification of 500 error
E-mail notification of 500 mistake

This can be especially useful if y'all'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 often your site might actually be doing downwards (fifty-fifty during the center of the night). That'south why we always recommend going with a managed WordPress host. Make certain to check out our post that explores the top ix reasons to choose managed WordPress hosting.

Summary

500 internal server errors are e'er frustrating, simply hopefully, now y'all know a few additional ways to troubleshoot them to speedily go your site back upwardly and running. Remember, typically these types of errors are caused by third-party plugins, fatal PHP errors, database connection issues, bug with your .htaccess file or PHP retentiveness limits, and sometimes PHP timeouts.

Was there anything nosotros missed? Perhaps yous take some other tip on troubleshooting 500 internal server errors. If so, let united states of america know below in the comments.

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