The dreaded 500 internal server error. It always seems to come up at the near inopportune time and you lot're of a sudden left scrambling to figure out how to get your WordPress site back online. Trust us, nosotros've all been there. Other errors that behave similarly that you might accept also seen include the frightening error establishing a database connectedness and the dreaded white screen of decease. Only from the moment your site goes downward, you're losing visitors and customers. Not to mention it simply looks bad for your brand.

Today nosotros're going to dive into the 500 internal server fault and walk you lot through some ways to go your site dorsum online quickly. Read more below most what causes this fault and what you tin do to forbid it in the future.

  • What is a 500 internal server error?
  • How to fix 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 Engineering Job Force (IETF) defines the 500 Internal Server Error as:

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

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

In that location are a lot of unlike types of 500 status fault codes (500, 501, 502, 503, 504, etc.) and they all hateful something different. In this instance, a 500 internal server error indicates that the server encountered an unexpected condition that prevented it from fulfilling the request(RFC 7231, section 6.six.1).

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

500 Internal Server Mistake Variations

Due to the various web servers, operating systems, and browsers, a 500 internal server error can present itself in a number of different ways. Merely they are all communicating the same affair. Below are only a couple of the many different variations you might see on the web:

    • "500 Internal Server Error"
    • "HTTP 500"
    • "Internal Server Mistake"
    • "HTTP 500 – Internal Server Error"
    • "500 Error"
    • "HTTP Error 500"
    • "500 – Internal Server Mistake"
    • "500 Internal Server Error. Distressing something went incorrect."
    • "500. That's an mistake. In that location was an error. Delight endeavor again later on. That's all nosotros know."
    • "The website cannot display the page – HTTP 500."
    • "Is currently unable to handle this request. HTTP Fault 500."

You might also come across this message accompanying it:

The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your asking. Please contact the server administrator, [e-mail protected] and inform them of the time the error occurred, and annihilation you lot might have done that may have caused the mistake. More information almost this error may exist available in the server error log.

Internal Server Error
Internal Server Error

Other times, you might simply see a blank white screen. When dealing with 500 internal server errors, this is actually quite common in browsers similar Firefox and Safari.

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

Bigger brands might even accept their own custom 500 internal server fault messages, such every bit this one from Airbnb.

Airbnb 500 internal server error
Airbnb 500 internal server mistake

Here is another creative 500 server error 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'southward an IIS 7.0 (Windows) or higher server, they accept boosted HTTP status codes to more than closely indicate the cause of the 500 error:

  • 500.0 – Module or ISAPI mistake occurred.
  • 500.xi – Application is shutting downwards on the web server.
  • 500.12 – Application is decorated restarting on the web server.
  • 500.13 – Web server is as well busy.
  • 500.15 – Direct requests for global.asax are not allowed.
  • 500.19 – Configuration information is invalid.
  • 500.21 – Module not recognized.
  • 500.22 – An ASP.Cyberspace httpModules configuration does not utilize in Managed Pipeline mode.
  • 500.23 – An ASP.Net httpHandlers configuration does not apply in Managed Pipeline mode.
  • 500.24 – An ASP.NET impersonation configuration does not apply in Managed Pipeline mode.
  • 500.50 – A rewrite mistake occurred during RQ_BEGIN_REQUEST notification handling. A configuration or inbound rule execution mistake occurred.
  • 500.51 – A rewrite error occurred during GL_PRE_BEGIN_REQUEST notification handling. 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 fault occurred during RQ_RELEASE_REQUEST_STATE notification handling. An outbound rule execution mistake 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 manner and tell Google to check back at a later fourth dimension, a 500 error can have a negative impact on SEO if not fixed correct away. If your site is only down for say 10 minutes and it's beingness crawled consistently a lot of times the crawler will simply get the page delivered from cache. Or Google might not even have a chance to re-clamber information technology before it's dorsum up. In this scenario, you're completely fine.

Even so, if the site is downwardly for an extended catamenia of time, say 6+ hours, then Google might see the 500 error as a site level issue that needs to be addressed. This could bear upon your rankings. If yous're worried about repeat 500 errors you should effigy out why they are happening to begin with. Some of the solutions below tin can help.

How to Fix the 500 Internal Server Error

Where should y'all start troubleshooting when y'all see a 500 internal server mistake on your WordPress site? Sometimes you lot might not even know where to brainstorm. Typically 500 errors are on the server itself, but from our experience, these errors originate from ii things, the showtime isuser fault (client-side event), and the 2nd is that there is a problem with the server. So we'll dive into a niggling of both.

Check out these common causes and ways to fix the 500 internal server error and get support and running in no fourth dimension.

ane. Attempt Reloading the Folio

This might seem a little obvious to some, but one of the easiest and beginning things you should try when encountering a 500 internal server error is to simply await a infinitesimal 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 correct dorsum. While you're waiting, you could besides quickly try a unlike browser to rule that out as an upshot.

Another matter you can do is to paste the website into downforeveryoneorjustme.com. This website will tell you if the site is down or if it'southward a problem on your side. A tool like this checks the HTTP status code that is returned from the server. If it's anything other than a 200 "Everything is OK" and so it volition return a down indication.

downforeveryoneorjustme
downforeveryoneorjustme

We've likewise noticed that sometimes this can occur immediately after you update a plugin or theme on your WordPress site. Typically this is on hosts that aren't set properly. What happens is they experience a temporary timeout correct afterward. All the same, things usually resolve themselves in a couple of seconds and therefore refreshing is all yous need to do.

2. Clear Your Browser Cache

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

  • How to Force Refresh a Single 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 Net Explorer
  • How to Clear Browser Enshroud for Microsoft Edge
  • How to Articulate Browser Enshroud for Opera

3. Cheque Your Server Logs

Yous should also take advantage of your error logs. If y'all're a Kinsta client, yous tin can easily run across errors in the log viewer in the MyKinsta dashboard. This can help you lot quickly narrow downwards the issue, peculiarly if information technology'south resulting from a plugin on your site.

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

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

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

The logs are typically located in the /wp-content directory. Others, like here at Kinsta might take a defended binder called "logs".

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

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

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

If you're a Kinsta client you can also have reward of our analytics tool to get a breakdown of the full number of 500 errors and run across how ofttimes and when they are occurring. This can assistance you troubleshoot if this is an ongoing effect, or mayhap something that has resolved itself.

Response analysis 500 error breakdown
Response analysis 500 mistake breakup

If the 500 fault is displaying considering of a fatal PHP error, you lot can as well try enabling PHP mistake reporting. Simply add the following code to the file throwing the error. Typically yous can narrow downward the file in the console tab of Google Chrome DevTools.

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

And you might need to also modify your php.ini file with the following:

          display_errors = on

4. Fault Establishing a Database Connectedness

500 internal server errors tin can also occur from a database connexion error. Depending upon your browser you might see different errors. Simply both volition generate a 500 HTTP status code regardless in your server logs.

Below is an example of what an "error establishing a database connection" bulletin looks like your browser. The entire folio is blank because no data can exist retrieved to render the folio, as the connection is not working properly. Non only does this interruption the front-end of your site, merely it will also prevent you lot from accessing your WordPress dashboard.

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

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

  • The most common issue is that yourdatabase login credentials are wrong. 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 get corrupted. This tin can be due to a missing or individually corrupted table, or mayhap some information was deleted by accident.
  • You may have 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 incorrect on the web hosts terminate, such as the database being 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 post on how to set up the error establishing a database connexion in WordPress.

5. Check Your Plugins and Themes

Third-party plugins and themes can easily cause 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 you should see the fault immediately afterwards installing something new or running an update. This is one reason why we always recommend utilizing a staging surround for updates or at to the lowest degree running updates one by ane. Otherwise, if yous meet a 500 internal server error you're suddenly scrambling to figure out which ane caused information technology.

A few ways y'all can troubleshoot this is by deactivating all your plugins. Recall, you won't lose whatsoever data if you merely deactivate a plugin. If you tin still access your admin, a quick way to do this is to scan 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 event you'll demand to find the culprit. Start activating them one by 1, reloading the site afterwards each activation. When you come across the 500 internal server mistake return, you've institute the misbehaving plugin. You can and so achieve out to the plugin programmer for assist or mail a support ticket in the WordPress repository.

If you can't login to WordPress admin yous can FTP into your server and rename your plugins folder to something similar plugins_old. Then bank check your site again. If information technology works, then you volition need to test each plugin one past 1. Rename your plugin binder dorsum to "plugins" so rename each plugin folder inside of if it, one by ane, until you find it. Y'all could likewise attempt to replicate this on a staging site get-go.

Rename plugin folder
Rename plugin folder

Always makes sure your plugins, themes, and WordPress core are upwards to engagement. And check to ensure you are running a supported version of PHP. If it turns out to exist a conflict with bad code in a plugin, you might demand to bring in a WordPress developer to set the consequence.

six. Reinstall WordPress Core

Sometimes WordPress cadre files tin can get corrupted, especially on older sites. Information technology'due south really quite like shooting fish in a barrel to re-upload merely the core of WordPress without impacting your plugins or themes. We accept an in-depth guide with 5 unlike ways to reinstall WordPress. And of form, make certain to take a fill-in earlier proceeding. Skip to one of the sections below:

  • 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

vii. Permissions Error

A permissions error with a file or folder on your server can also 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-ten) or 750.
  • No directories should e'er exist given 777, even upload directories.
  • Hardening: wp-config.php could also be gear up 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 tin can easily see your file permissions with an FTP client (equally seen below). You lot could also achieve out to your WordPress host support team and inquire 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 Memory Limit

A 500 internal server error could also exist 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 lot can easily change this from the UI. Nether 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 and then click on the memory_limit attribute and change its value. And so click on "Save."

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

Increase PHP Retentivity Limit in Apache

The .htaccess file is a special hidden file that contains various settings you tin can apply to modify the server beliefs, correct downwardly to a directory specific level. First login to your site via FTP or SSH, have 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 tin edit that file to add the necessary code for increasing the PHP memory limit. Nearly probable it is set at 64M or below, you lot 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, 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 in that location, search for the three settings and modify them if necessary. If you just created the file, or the settings are nowhere to exist constitute you tin paste the code below. Yous can alter of course the values to meet your needs.

          memory_limit = 128M

Some shared hosts might besides 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, also 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 /home/yourusername/public_html </IfModule>

If the above didn't work for you lot, it could be that your host has the global settings locked down and instead accept 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'due south root directory and open or create a .user.ini file. You can so paste in the following code:

          memory_limit = 128M

Increase PHP Memory Limit in wp-config.php

The last option is not i we are fans of, merely if all else fails you tin can give it a go. Kickoff, 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 tiptop of your wp-config.php file:

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

You lot can also inquire your host if you're running into retentivity limit problems. We use the Kinsta APM tool and other troubleshooting methods here at Kinsta to help clients narrow downwardly what plugin, query, or script might be exhausting the limit. You can as well utilize 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, merely if y'all're using a WordPress host that is running Apache, it could very well be that your .htaccess file has a problem or has become corrupted. Follow the steps beneath to recreate a new one 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 lot can simply re-save your permalinks in WordPress. However, if you lot're in the heart of a 500 internal server error you lot most likely tin can't access your WordPress admin, and so this isn't an option. Therefore you lot tin can create a new .htaccess file and input the following contents. Then upload it to your server.

          # BEGIN 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> # 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 being caused by errors in CGI and Perl is a lot less mutual than information technology used to exist. Although it's nonetheless worth mentioning, specially 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 by a vast variety of web programming technologies, including PHP, various Apache extensions similar mod_perl, Java of various flavors and frameworks including Java EE, Struts, Spring, etc, Python-based frameworks like Django, Red on Track and many other Ruby frameworks, and various Microsoft technologies.

Here are a few tips when working with CGI scripts:

  • When editing, e'er used a patently text editor, such as Atom, 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 mode (which you tin select in your FTP editor) into the cgi-bin directory on your server.
  • Confirm that the Perl modules y'all require for your script are installed and supported.

11. Server Upshot (Check With Your Host)

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

          PHP bulletin: PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Phone call to undefined role mysql_error()...        
          PHP message: PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Cannot use object of blazon WP_Error equally array in /www/binder/spider web/shared/content/plugins/plugin/functions.php:525

We monitor all client's sites hither at Kinsta and are automatically notified when these types of errors occur. This allows us to be pro-active and start fixing the issue right away. We also employ LXD managed hosts and orchestrated LXC software containers for each site. This means 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 cause 504 errors, non 500 errors. These decide how many simultaneous requests your site can handle at a given fourth dimension. 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. In one case you'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're worried about these types of errors happening on your site in the future, yous can likewise utilize a tool like updown.io to monitor and notify yous immediately if they occur. It periodically sends an HTTP Head request to the URL of your choice. You tin simply use your homepage. The tool allows you to set cheque frequencies of:

  • fifteen seconds
  • 30 seconds
  • ane minute
  • two minutes
  • 5 minutes
  • 10 minutes

It will send you lot an electronic mail if and when your site goes down. Here is an example beneath.

Email notification of 500 error
Electronic mail notification of 500 error

This tin be specially useful if you're trying to debug a faulty plugin or are on a shared host, who tend to overcrowd their servers. This can requite you proof of how oft your site might actually be doing down (even during the middle of the night). That's why nosotros ever recommend going with a managed WordPress host. Make sure to check out our mail service that explores the top ix reasons to choose managed WordPress hosting.

Summary

500 internal server errors are always frustrating, only hopefully, at present you know a few additional ways to troubleshoot them to quickly get your site back up and running. Remember, typically these types of errors are acquired past third-political party plugins, fatal PHP errors, database connexion bug, problems with your .htaccess file or PHP retentiveness limits, and sometimes PHP timeouts.

Was there annihilation we missed? Possibly you have another tip on troubleshooting 500 internal server errors. If so, permit us know below in the comments.

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