The dreaded 500 internal server error. Information technology always seems to come at the well-nigh inopportune time and you're suddenly left scrambling to figure out how to get your WordPress site back online. Trust us, we've all been there. Other errors that behave similarly that yous might have also seen include the frightening error establishing a database connection and the dreaded white screen of death. But from the moment your site goes downward, you're losing visitors and customers. Not to mention it simply looks bad for your brand.

Today we're going to dive into the 500 internal server mistake and walk you through some means to go your site back online apace. Read more below about what causes this error and what y'all tin do to preclude it in the future.

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

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

What is a 500 Internal Server Mistake?

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

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

When y'all visit a website your browser sends a request 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 also includes what they phone call an HTTP condition code. A status code is a way to notify y'all about the status of the request. It could be a 200 status code which ways "Everything is OK" or a 500 status code which means something has gone incorrect.

There are a lot of dissimilar types of 500 status 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 information technology from fulfilling the asking(RFC 7231, department six.6.one).

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

500 Internal Server Error Variations

Due to the diverse web servers, operating systems, and browsers, a 500 internal server fault tin present itself in a number of unlike ways. But they are all communicating the same thing. Below are only a couple of the many different variations yous might encounter on the web:

    • "500 Internal Server Error"
    • "HTTP 500"
    • "Internal Server Mistake"
    • "HTTP 500 – Internal Server Mistake"
    • "500 Error"
    • "HTTP Mistake 500"
    • "500 – Internal Server Fault"
    • "500 Internal Server Error. Sorry something went wrong."
    • "500. That's an error. There was an error. Please effort again after. That'south all we know."
    • "The website cannot display the page – 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 complete your request. Please contact the server administrator, [email protected] and inform them of the time the fault occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error. More information about this error may be available in the server mistake log.

Internal Server Error
Internal Server Fault

Other times, you might only run into 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 fault in Firefox

Bigger brands might even have their ain custom 500 internal server error messages, such every bit this one from Airbnb.

Airbnb 500 internal server error
Airbnb 500 internal server error

Here is some other creative 500 server mistake 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 information technology's an IIS 7.0 (Windows) or college server, they take additional HTTP status codes to more than closely indicate the cause of the 500 error:

  • 500.0 – Module or ISAPI mistake occurred.
  • 500.eleven – Application is shutting down on the web server.
  • 500.12 – Awarding is decorated restarting on the web server.
  • 500.thirteen – Web server is too busy.
  • 500.fifteen – Direct requests for global.asax are non allowed.
  • 500.19 – Configuration data is invalid.
  • 500.21 – Module non recognized.
  • 500.22 – An ASP.Cyberspace httpModules configuration does not apply in Managed Pipeline manner.
  • 500.23 – An ASP.Net httpHandlers configuration does non employ in Managed Pipeline manner.
  • 500.24 – An ASP.Cyberspace impersonation configuration does not apply in Managed Pipeline style.
  • 500.50 – A rewrite error 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 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 cache gets updated.
    500.100 – Internal ASP mistake.

500 Errors Impact on SEO

Dissimilar 503 errors, which are used for WordPress maintenance mode and tell Google to cheque back at a afterward time, a 500 mistake can have a negative impact on SEO if non fixed correct away. If your site is only down for say 10 minutes and it's being crawled consistently a lot of times the crawler will only get the folio delivered from cache. Or Google might not even have a risk to re-crawl information technology before it's dorsum up. In this scenario, you're completely fine.

Nonetheless, if the site is down for an extended period of time, say 6+ hours, and then Google might come across the 500 fault as a site level consequence that needs to exist addressed. This could touch your rankings. If you lot're worried well-nigh repeat 500 errors yous should figure 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 you get-go 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 2 things, the first isuser fault (client-side outcome), and the second is that at that place is a problem with the server. Then we'll swoop into a piffling of both.

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

1. Attempt Reloading the Page

This might seem a little obvious to some, but ane of the easiest and first things you should try when encountering a 500 internal server error is to but wait a minute or so and reload the folio (F5 or Ctrl + F5). Information technology could be that the host or server is simply overloaded and the site will come right back. While you're waiting, you could too speedily endeavour a dissimilar browser to rule that out as an issue.

Another thing you tin practice is to paste the website into downforeveryoneorjustme.com. This website will tell you if the site is down or if information technology'due south a problem on your side. A tool like this checks the HTTP condition lawmaking that is returned from the server. If information technology's annihilation other than a 200 "Everything is OK" then information technology volition return a downward indication.

downforeveryoneorjustme
downforeveryoneorjustme

We've also noticed that sometimes this tin can occur immediately later on you update a plugin or theme on your WordPress site. Typically this is on hosts that aren't set up properly. What happens is they feel a temporary timeout right after. However, things ordinarily resolve themselves in a couple of seconds and therefore refreshing is all you demand to exercise.

2. Articulate Your Browser Cache

Clearing your browser cache is always another skilful troubleshooting stride before diving into deeper debugging on your site. Beneath are instructions on how to clear cache in the various browsers:

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

3. Check Your Server Logs

You should also take advantage of your error logs. If you lot're a Kinsta client, you tin can easily see errors in the log viewer in the MyKinsta dashboard. This can help you rapidly narrow down the issue, especially if it's resulting from a plugin on your site.

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

If your host doesn't accept a logging tool, you can as well enable WordPress debugging manner past 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', fake );

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

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

Yous tin can also bank check the log files in Apache and Nginx, which are commonly located hither:

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

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

Response analysis 500 error breakdown
Response analysis 500 error breakup

If the 500 error is displaying because of a fatal PHP error, you lot can also try enabling PHP mistake reporting. Just add the following code to the file throwing the mistake. Typically you lot 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 y'all might need to also modify your php.ini file with the post-obit:

          display_errors = on

4. Error Establishing a Database Connection

500 internal server errors can also occur from a database connection fault. Depending upon your browser you might see unlike errors. But both volition generate a 500 HTTP condition lawmaking regardless in your server logs.

Below is an example of what an "error establishing a database connection" message looks similar your browser. The unabridged page is blank because no data can be retrieved to return the page, as the connection is not working properly. Not but does this break the front-terminate of your site, only it will also preclude you from accessing your WordPress dashboard.

Example of error establishing a database connection
Case of error establishing a database connection

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

  • The virtually common 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 get corrupted. This can exist due to a missing or individually corrupted table, or perhaps some data was deleted by accident.
  • Y'all may have decadent files in your WordPress installation. This can even happen sometimes due to hackers.
  • Bug with your database server. A number of things could be incorrect on the spider web hosts stop, such as the database being overloaded from a traffic spike or unresponsive from likewise many concurrent connections. This is actually quite common with shared hosts equally they are utilizing the same resources for a lot of users on the same servers.

Check out our in-depth post on how to gear up the error establishing a database connexion in WordPress.

v. Check Your Plugins and Themes

Third-party plugins and themes can easily cause 500 internal server errors. Nosotros've seen all types crusade them hither at Kinsta, from slider plugins to ad rotator plugins. A lot of times you should see the error immediately after installing something new or running an update. This is one reason why nosotros always recommend utilizing a staging environment for updates or at least running updates one by one. Otherwise, if you lot run into a 500 internal server error y'all're suddenly scrambling to figure out which 1 acquired it.

A few ways you can troubleshoot this is by deactivating all your plugins. Recall, you won't lose whatever data if you simply deactivate a plugin. If you can all the same access your admin, a quick way to practise this is to browse to "Plugins" and select "Deactivate" from the bulk actions menu. This will disable all of your plugins.

Deactivate all plugins
Deactivate all plugins

If this fixes the outcome you'll need to find the culprit. Offset activating them 1 by one, reloading the site afterward each activation. When you see the 500 internal server fault render, you've found the misbehaving plugin. Y'all can then achieve out to the plugin developer for assist or post a support ticket in the WordPress repository.

If you can't login to WordPress admin y'all can FTP into your server and rename your plugins binder to something similar plugins_old. Then check your site again. If it works, then you lot volition need to examination each plugin one past one. Rename your plugin folder back to "plugins" and and then rename each plugin folder inside of if information technology, one by one, until you lot find it. You could also try to replicate this on a staging site beginning.

Rename plugin folder
Rename plugin folder

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

half-dozen. Reinstall WordPress Core

Sometimes WordPress cadre files can get corrupted, especially on older sites. It's actually quite piece of cake to re-upload only the core of WordPress without impacting your plugins or themes. Nosotros have an in-depth guide with 5 unlike ways to reinstall WordPress. And of grade, brand sure to have a backup before 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 fault to occur. Hither are some typical recommendations for permissions when it comes to file and binder permissions in WordPress:

  • All files should be 644 (-rw-r–r–) or 640.
  • All directories should be 755 (drwxr-xr-10) or 750.
  • No directories should ever 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 information technology.

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

You tin can easily see your file permissions with an FTP client (as seen below). You 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

viii. PHP Retentivity Limit

A 500 internal server error could also be caused past exhausting the PHP retention limit on your server. You could try increasing the limit. Follow the instructions below on how to modify this limit in cPanel, Apache, your php.ini file, and wp-config.php file.

Increment PHP Retention 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 tin can then click on the memory_limit aspect and change its value. Then click on "Save."

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

Increase PHP Memory Limit in Apache

The .htaccess file is a special hidden file that contains diverse settings you can use to modify the server beliefs, right downward to a directory specific level. Showtime login to your site via FTP or SSH, take a look at your root directory and encounter if there is a .htaccess file there.

.htaccess file
.htaccess file

If there is you tin edit that file to add the necessary code for increasing the PHP memory limit. Near likely information technology is set at 64M or below, you can try increasing this value.

          php_value memory_limit 128M

Increase PHP Retention Limit in php.ini File

If the above doesn't work for you might endeavour editing your php.ini file. Log in to your site via FTP or SSH, go 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 at that place, search for the iii settings and modify them if necessary. If you simply created the file, or the settings are nowhere to be constitute yous tin paste the code below. You tin modify 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 practise this, edit your .htaccess file, also located at the root of your site, and add together the following code towards the elevation of the file:

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

If the above didn't work for y'all, information technology could be that your host has the global settings locked down and instead take it configured to utilise .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 up or create a .user.ini file. You can then paste in the post-obit code:

          memory_limit = 128M

Increase PHP Retentivity Limit in wp-config.php

The terminal option is non one we are fans of, just if all else fails you tin can give it a get. 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 lawmaking to the top of your wp-config.php file:

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

Yous tin can also enquire your host if you lot're running into memory limit problems. Nosotros utilize New Relic and other troubleshooting methods here at Kinsta to help clients narrow downwards what plugin, query, or script might be exhausting the limit. Yous can also use your ain custom New Relic primal.

Debugging with New Relic
Debugging with New Relic

9. Problem With Your .htaccess File

Kinsta only uses Nginx, but if you lot're using a WordPress host that is running Apache, information technology could very well be that your .htaccess file has a problem or has become corrupted. Follow the steps below to recreate a new ane 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

Normally to recreate this file you can merely re-salve your permalinks in WordPress. Withal, if yous're in the middle of a 500 internal server fault y'all most probable tin can't access your WordPress admin, so this isn't an option. Therefore you 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 ^alphabetize\.php$ - [50] RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d RewriteRule . /index.php [L] </IfModule> # Terminate WordPress

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

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

500 errors being acquired past errors in CGI and Perl is a lot less common than it used to be. Although it's still worth mentioning, particularly for those using cPanel where there are a lot of one-click CGI scripts nonetheless existence used. As AEM on Stack Overflow says:

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

Here are a few tips when working with CGI scripts:

  • When editing, ever 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 y'all tin 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 also occur from PHP timing out or fatal PHP errors with third-party plugins, you tin can always check with your WordPress host. Sometimes these errors can be difficult to troubleshoot without an expert. Here are merely a few common examples of some errors that trigger 500 HTTP status codes on the server that might have y'all scratching your head.

          PHP message: PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function mysql_error()...        
          PHP message: PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Cannot apply object of type WP_Error every bit array 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 exist pro-active and start fixing the event right away. Nosotros too apply 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 resource 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, not 500 errors. These determine how many simultaneous requests your site tin 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 offset to build up a queue. One time you've reached your limit of PHP workers, the queue starts to push out older requests which could event in 500 errors or incomplete requests. Read our in-depth article about PHP workers.

Monitor Your Site

If you're worried nearly these types of errors happening on your site in the hereafter, you can also utilize a tool like updown.io to monitor and notify yous immediately if they occur. Information technology periodically sends an HTTP Head request to the URL of your selection. You tin can merely apply your homepage. The tool allows you to set check frequencies of:

  • 15 seconds
  • 30 seconds
  • one minute
  • two minutes
  • v minutes
  • x minutes

It will send you an e-mail if and when your site goes down. Here is an case beneath.

Email notification of 500 error
Email notification of 500 error

This can be especially useful if you're trying to debug a faulty plugin or are on a shared host, who tend to overcrowd their servers. This can give y'all proof of how ofttimes your site might actually be doing down (even during the middle of the dark). That'south why we always recommend going with a managed WordPress host. Make certain to check out our post that explores the top 9 reasons to choose managed WordPress hosting.

Summary

500 internal server errors are ever frustrating, but hopefully, now you know a few additional means to troubleshoot them to quickly get your site back upward and running. Remember, typically these types of errors are caused by tertiary-party plugins, fatal PHP errors, database connexion issues, problems with your .htaccess file or PHP retentivity limits, and sometimes PHP timeouts.

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

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