The dreaded 500 internal server fault. It always seems to come at the most inopportune fourth dimension and you lot're suddenly left scrambling to effigy out how to go your WordPress site dorsum online. Trust us, we've all been there. Other errors that behave similarly that you might take too seen include the frightening mistake establishing a database connexion and the dreaded white screen of death. Simply from the moment your site goes downwards, you're losing visitors and customers. Not to mention it just looks bad for your brand.

Today we're going to swoop into the 500 internal server error and walk you through some ways to become your site dorsum online quickly. Read more below about what causes this error and what you tin can do to preclude information technology in the future.

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

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

What is a 500 Internal Server Error?

The Internet Engineering Chore 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 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 call an HTTP status lawmaking. A condition code is a way to notify you about the status of the request. Information technology could exist a 200 status lawmaking which means "Everything is OK" or a 500 condition code which means something has gone wrong.

In that location are a lot of unlike types of 500 status error codes (500, 501, 502, 503, 504, etc.) and they all mean something dissimilar. In this case, a 500 internal server error indicates that the server encountered an unexpected condition that prevented it from fulfilling the request(RFC 7231, section 6.6.ane).

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

500 Internal Server Error Variations

Due to the various web servers, operating systems, and browsers, a 500 internal server mistake can nowadays itself in a number of different means. Just they are all communicating the aforementioned thing. Beneath are just 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 Fault"
    • "500 Error"
    • "HTTP Error 500"
    • "500 – Internal Server Error"
    • "500 Internal Server Mistake. Sorry something went wrong."
    • "500. That'due south an fault. There was an error. Delight try again subsequently. That'due south all we know."
    • "The website cannot display the page – HTTP 500."
    • "Is currently unable to handle this request. HTTP Fault 500."

Yous might also see this message accompanying it:

The server encountered an internal fault or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request. Delight contact the server administrator, [email protected] and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error. More than data well-nigh this error may be available in the server error log.

Internal Server Error
Internal Server Error

Other times, you might simply encounter 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 take their ain custom 500 internal server fault letters, such as this one from Airbnb.

Airbnb 500 internal server error
Airbnb 500 internal server error

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

readme 500 internal server error
readme 500 internal server error

Fifty-fifty the mighty YouTube isn't prophylactic from 500 internal server errors.

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

If it'south an IIS 7.0 (Windows) or higher server, they have boosted HTTP condition codes to more closely point the cause of the 500 error:

  • 500.0 – Module or ISAPI error occurred.
  • 500.11 – Awarding is shutting downwardly on the spider web server.
  • 500.12 – Application is busy restarting on the spider web server.
  • 500.xiii – Spider web server is likewise decorated.
  • 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.Cyberspace httpHandlers configuration does not apply in Managed Pipeline mode.
  • 500.24 – An ASP.NET impersonation configuration does not utilise in Managed Pipeline mode.
  • 500.50 – A rewrite error occurred during RQ_BEGIN_REQUEST notification treatment. A configuration or entering rule execution mistake occurred.
  • 500.51 – A rewrite error occurred during GL_PRE_BEGIN_REQUEST notification handling. A global configuration or global dominion execution error occurred.
  • 500.52 – A rewrite error occurred during RQ_SEND_RESPONSE notification treatment. 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 earlier the output user cache gets updated.
    500.100 – Internal ASP fault.

500 Errors Impact on SEO

Unlike 503 errors, which are used for WordPress maintenance mode and tell Google to bank check dorsum at a later fourth dimension, a 500 error can accept a negative impact on SEO if not fixed correct away. If your site is simply down for say 10 minutes and information technology'southward beingness crawled consistently a lot of times the crawler will just get the page delivered from cache. Or Google might not even take a chance to re-clamber it before information technology's support. In this scenario, you're completely fine.

Withal, if the site is downwards for an extended menses of time, say 6+ hours, and then Google might see the 500 mistake as a site level upshot that needs to be addressed. This could impact your rankings. If you're worried about repeat 500 errors you should figure out why they are happening to begin with. Some of the solutions below can help.

How to Set the 500 Internal Server Error

Where should you beginning troubleshooting when you see a 500 internal server error on your WordPress site? Sometimes y'all might not fifty-fifty know where to brainstorm. Typically 500 errors are on the server itself, merely from our experience, these errors originate from 2 things, the showtime isuser fault (client-side issue), and the second is that there is a trouble with the server. Then nosotros'll dive into a little of both.

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

ane. Try Reloading the Folio

This might seem a little obvious to some, simply ane of the easiest and first things you lot should try when encountering a 500 internal server error is to simply wait a infinitesimal or so and reload the page (F5 or Ctrl + F5). It could be that the host or server is but overloaded and the site volition come correct back. While you're waiting, you could also quickly endeavour a different browser to rule that out every bit an issue.

Some other thing you lot can do is to paste the website into downforeveryoneorjustme.com. This website will tell yous if the site is down or if information technology'southward a trouble on your side. A tool similar this checks the HTTP status code that is returned from the server. If information technology's annihilation other than a 200 "Everything is OK" then information technology will return a downward indication.

downforeveryoneorjustme
downforeveryoneorjustme

Nosotros've also noticed that sometimes this tin can occur immediately after y'all update a plugin or theme on your WordPress site. Typically this is on hosts that aren't set up properly. What happens is they experience a temporary timeout correct afterward. However, things unremarkably resolve themselves in a couple of seconds and therefore refreshing is all y'all need to practise.

2. Clear Your Browser Cache

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

  • How to Force Refresh a Single Page 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 Internet Explorer
  • How to Clear Browser Cache for Microsoft Edge
  • How to Clear Browser Enshroud for Opera

3. Bank check Your Server Logs

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

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

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

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

The logs are typically located in the /wp-content directory. Others, like hither at Kinsta might take a defended folder chosen "logs".

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

You tin can as well 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 y'all're a Kinsta client you can likewise take reward of our analytics tool to become a breakup of the total number of 500 errors and encounter how often and when they are occurring. This can help you troubleshoot if this is an ongoing upshot, or perhaps 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, y'all can also attempt enabling PHP error reporting. Simply add the following code to the file throwing the mistake. Typically you lot tin 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 might need to besides modify your php.ini file with the following:

          display_errors = on

four. Fault Establishing a Database Connectedness

500 internal server errors can likewise occur from a database connection error. Depending upon your browser you might see different errors. But both will generate a 500 HTTP status code regardless in your server logs.

Beneath is an case of what an "mistake establishing a database connection" message looks similar your browser. The unabridged page is blank because no information can be retrieved to render the page, as the connection is not working properly. Non only does this suspension the front-finish of your site, but it will also prevent yous from accessing your WordPress dashboard.

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

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

  • The about mutual 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 and so many moving parts with themes, plugins, and users constantly deleting and installing them, sometimes databases become corrupted. This tin be due to a missing or individually corrupted tabular array, or perhaps some information was deleted by accident.
  • You may have decadent files in your WordPress installation. This can even happen sometimes due to hackers.
  • Problems with your database server. A number of things could be incorrect on the web hosts stop, such as the database beingness overloaded from a traffic fasten 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. Bank check Your Plugins and Themes

3rd-political party plugins and themes can easily crusade 500 internal server errors. We've seen all types cause them here at Kinsta, from slider plugins to advertisement rotator plugins. A lot of times y'all should come across the fault immediately after installing something new or running an update. This is 1 reason why we e'er recommend utilizing a staging environs for updates or at least running updates one by i. Otherwise, if you encounter a 500 internal server mistake you're suddenly scrambling to figure out which one acquired it.

A few ways you lot tin troubleshoot this is by deactivating all your plugins. Remember, you won't lose any data if you only deactivate a plugin. If yous can still admission your admin, a quick way to do this is to browse to "Plugins" and select "Conciliate" from the majority actions menu. This will disable all of your plugins.

Deactivate all plugins
Deactivate all plugins

If this fixes the event you'll need to discover the culprit. Start activating them 1 by one, reloading the site after each activation. When you come across the 500 internal server mistake return, y'all've found the misbehaving plugin. You can so accomplish out to the plugin developer for assist or post a back up ticket in the WordPress repository.

If you can't login to WordPress admin you lot can FTP into your server and rename your plugins binder to something like plugins_old. Then cheque your site over again. If it works, so you will need to test each plugin one by i. Rename your plugin binder back to "plugins" then rename each plugin binder inside of if it, i past one, until you discover it. You could also endeavour to replicate this on a staging site first.

Rename plugin folder
Rename plugin folder

E'er 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 need to bring in a WordPress developer to ready the upshot.

6. Reinstall WordPress Core

Sometimes WordPress core files tin get corrupted, especially on older sites. It'due south actually quite easy to re-upload but the cadre of WordPress without impacting your plugins or themes. We take an in-depth guide with 5 unlike ways to reinstall WordPress. And of course, brand sure to have a fill-in 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

7. Permissions Error

A permissions mistake with a file or folder on your server tin also 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 exist 644 (-rw-r–r–) or 640.
  • All directories should exist 755 (drwxr-xr-x) or 750.
  • No directories should ever be given 777, even upload directories.
  • Hardening: wp-config.php could also exist set to 440 or 400 to prevent other users on the server from reading it.

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

You can easily see your file permissions with an FTP client (as seen below). You could also reach out to your WordPress host back up squad and inquire them to speedily 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 fault could also be acquired by exhausting the PHP retention limit on your server. Yous could effort 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 can hands 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

Yous can so click on the memory_limit attribute and change its value. And then click on "Relieve."

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

Increase PHP Retention Limit in Apache

The .htaccess file is a special hidden file that contains various settings you lot tin use to alter the server behavior, right down 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 at that place.

.htaccess file
.htaccess file

If there is you can edit that file to add the necessary code for increasing the PHP retentivity limit. Most 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, 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 there, search for the 3 settings and alter them if necessary. If you but created the file, or the settings are nowhere to be found you tin can paste the code below. Y'all can modify of class the values to run across your needs.

          memory_limit = 128M

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

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

If the in a higher place didn't work for you, information technology could be that your host has the global settings locked downwardly and instead accept it configured to utilize .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. Y'all tin then paste in the post-obit code:

          memory_limit = 128M

Increase PHP Memory Limit in wp-config.php

The last option is non one we are fans of, merely if all else fails you can give it a become. Offset, 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 following code to the peak of your wp-config.php file:

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

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

Debugging with New Relic
Debugging with New Relic

9. Problem With Your .htaccess File

Kinsta only uses Nginx, but 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 below to recreate a new one from scratch.

Start, 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 tin simply re-salve your permalinks in WordPress. However, if you lot're in the eye of a 500 internal server error you lot nearly likely can't access your WordPress admin, so this isn't an choice. Therefore y'all can create a new .htaccess file and input the following contents. So upload it to your server.

          # BEGIN WordPress <IfModule mod_rewrite.c> RewriteEngine On RewriteBase / RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L] RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d RewriteRule . /index.php [50] </IfModule> # Finish WordPress

Meet 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 caused past errors in CGI and Perl is a lot less common than it used to be. Although information technology's still worth mentioning, specially for those using cPanel where there are a lot of one-click CGI scripts all the same being used. As AEM on Stack Overflow says:

CGI has been replaced by a vast variety of spider web programming technologies, including PHP, various Apache extensions like mod_perl, Java of various flavors and frameworks including Java EE, Struts, Spring, etc, Python-based frameworks like Django, Ruby 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 plain text editor, such as Cantlet, 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 manner (which you can select in your FTP editor) into the cgi-bin directory on your server.
  • Confirm that the Perl modules you require for your script are installed and supported.

11. Server Upshot (Bank check With Your Host)

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

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

We monitor all customer's sites here at Kinsta and are automatically notified when these types of errors occur. This allows usa to be pro-active and commencement fixing the upshot right away. We as well utilize 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% individual and are not shared with anyone else or even your own sites.

PHP timeouts could also occur from the lack of PHP workers, although typically these cause 504 errors, non 500 errors. These make up one's mind how many simultaneous requests your site can handle at a given time. To put information technology simply, each uncached request for your website is handled by a PHP Worker.

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

Monitor Your Site

If you're worried about these types of errors happening on your site in the future, you tin can likewise utilize a tool like updown.io to monitor and notify you immediately if they occur. It periodically sends an HTTP HEAD request to the URL of your choice. Y'all tin can just use your homepage. The tool allows you to set bank check frequencies of:

  • fifteen seconds
  • 30 seconds
  • one minute
  • two minutes
  • five minutes
  • 10 minutes

Information technology volition send you an electronic mail if and when your site goes down. Here is an example below.

Email notification of 500 error
Email notification of 500 error

This tin be particularly useful if you're trying to debug a faulty plugin or are on a shared host, who tend to overcrowd their servers. This tin can give you proof of how often your site might actually be doing downwards (even during the middle 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 9 reasons to choose managed WordPress hosting.

Summary

500 internal server errors are always frustrating, only hopefully, at present you know a few boosted ways to troubleshoot them to quickly get your site support and running. Remember, typically these types of errors are caused past 3rd-party plugins, fatal PHP errors, database connection issues, issues with your .htaccess file or PHP retentivity limits, and sometimes PHP timeouts.

Was there anything we missed? Mayhap you accept some other tip on troubleshooting 500 internal server errors. If so, allow united states of america know beneath in the comments.

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