The dreaded 500 internal server error. It always seems to come at the most inopportune time and you're all of a sudden left scrambling to figure out how to get your WordPress site back online. Trust us, we've all been there. Other errors that bear similarly that you might accept also seen include the frightening error establishing a database connection and the dreaded white screen of expiry. Simply from the moment your site goes downwardly, you're losing visitors and customers. Non to mention it simply looks bad for your brand.

Today we're going to swoop into the 500 internal server error and walk you through some means to go your site dorsum online chop-chop. Read more below nigh what causes this error and what you can do to prevent it in the futurity.

  • 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 Fault

What is a 500 Internal Server Error?

The Cyberspace Engineering Task Strength (IETF) defines the 500 Internal Server Fault as:

The 500 (Internal Server Error) status lawmaking indicates that the server encountered an unexpected status 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 it, and sends back the requested resources (PHP, HTML, CSS, etc.) along with an HTTP header. The HTTP also includes what they 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 means "Everything is OK" or a 500 status lawmaking which means something has gone incorrect.

There are a lot of dissimilar types of 500 condition error codes (500, 501, 502, 503, 504, etc.) and they all hateful something different. In this case, a 500 internal server error indicates that the server encountered an unexpected condition that prevented it from fulfilling the request(RFC 7231, department half-dozen.vi.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 error tin can present itself in a number of different ways. But they are all communicating the same thing. Below are just a couple of the many different variations you lot might meet on the spider web:

    • "500 Internal Server Error"
    • "HTTP 500"
    • "Internal Server Error"
    • "HTTP 500 – Internal Server Error"
    • "500 Error"
    • "HTTP Fault 500"
    • "500 – Internal Server Fault"
    • "500 Internal Server Error. Sorry something went incorrect."
    • "500. That's an mistake. There was an error. Please try again afterwards. That's all we know."
    • "The website cannot display the folio – HTTP 500."
    • "Is currently unable to handle this request. HTTP Mistake 500."

You might also see this message accompanying it:

The server encountered an internal mistake or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request. Please contact the server ambassador, [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 well-nigh this error may exist available in the server error log.

Internal Server Error
Internal Server Fault

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

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

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

Airbnb 500 internal server error
Airbnb 500 internal server error

Hither is another creative 500 server error instance from the folks over at readme.

readme 500 internal server error
readme 500 internal server error

Even the mighty YouTube isn't rubber from 500 internal server errors.

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

If information technology'south an IIS 7.0 (Windows) or higher server, they have additional HTTP status codes to more closely point the cause of the 500 error:

  • 500.0 – Module or ISAPI error occurred.
  • 500.xi – Awarding is shutting downwardly on the web server.
  • 500.12 – Application is decorated restarting on the web server.
  • 500.13 – Web server is too busy.
  • 500.fifteen – Direct requests for global.asax are not allowed.
  • 500.xix – Configuration data is invalid.
  • 500.21 – Module not recognized.
  • 500.22 – An ASP.Net httpModules configuration does not apply in Managed Pipeline style.
  • 500.23 – An ASP.NET httpHandlers configuration does non employ in Managed Pipeline mode.
  • 500.24 – An ASP.NET impersonation configuration does not use in Managed Pipeline mode.
  • 500.50 – A rewrite error occurred during RQ_BEGIN_REQUEST notification treatment. A configuration or inbound rule execution error occurred.
  • 500.51 – A rewrite error occurred during GL_PRE_BEGIN_REQUEST notification handling. A global configuration or global rule execution error occurred.
  • 500.52 – A rewrite mistake occurred during RQ_SEND_RESPONSE notification handling. An outbound rule execution occurred.
  • 500.53 – A rewrite mistake 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

Unlike 503 errors, which are used for WordPress maintenance mode and tell Google to cheque back at a later fourth dimension, a 500 fault tin have a negative impact on SEO if not fixed right away. If your site is only down for say x minutes and it's existence crawled consistently a lot of times the crawler will simply become the folio delivered from cache. Or Google might not even have a adventure to re-crawl it earlier it'due south dorsum up. In this scenario, you're completely fine.

Even so, if the site is down for an extended period of time, say 6+ hours, so Google might see the 500 error every bit a site level issue that needs to be addressed. This could bear on your rankings. If you're worried about repeat 500 errors you lot should figure out why they are happening to begin with. Some of the solutions below tin help.

How to Fix the 500 Internal Server Error

Where should you lot start troubleshooting when you see a 500 internal server error on your WordPress site? Sometimes you might non fifty-fifty know where to brainstorm. Typically 500 errors are on the server itself, but from our experience, these errors originate from two things, the first isuser error (customer-side consequence), and the second is that in that location is a trouble with the server. And so we'll swoop into a little of both.

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

1. Endeavour Reloading the Page

This might seem a little obvious to some, just one of the easiest and first things you lot should effort when encountering a 500 internal server fault is to simply await a infinitesimal or then and reload the page (F5 or Ctrl + F5). It could be that the host or server is only overloaded and the site will come right back. While y'all're waiting, you could likewise quickly try a dissimilar browser to rule that out as an issue.

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

downforeveryoneorjustme
downforeveryoneorjustme

We've also 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 up properly. What happens is they experience a temporary timeout right subsequently. However, things usually resolve themselves in a couple of seconds and therefore refreshing is all you need to do.

ii. Clear Your Browser Cache

Clearing your browser cache is always another good troubleshooting step earlier diving into deeper debugging on your site. Below are instructions on how to articulate 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 Articulate Browser Enshroud for Mozilla Firefox
  • How to Clear Browser Cache for Safari
  • How to Clear Browser Enshroud for Cyberspace Explorer
  • How to Clear Browser Enshroud for Microsoft Edge
  • How to Clear Browser Enshroud for Opera

3. Check Your Server Logs

You should besides accept reward of your error logs. If yous're a Kinsta client, you lot can easily run into errors in the log viewer in the MyKinsta dashboard. This can assistance you chop-chop narrow down the event, especially if information technology's resulting from a plugin on your site.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

If you're a Kinsta client you tin as well take advantage of our analytics tool to become a breakdown of the total number of 500 errors and run into how oftentimes and when they are occurring. This tin can help y'all troubleshoot if this is an ongoing issue, or maybe something that has resolved itself.

Response analysis 500 error breakdown
Response analysis 500 error breakdown

If the 500 fault is displaying considering of a fatal PHP error, you lot can also try enabling PHP error reporting. Simply add together the following code to the file throwing the error. Typically you tin can narrow down 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 alter your php.ini file with the post-obit:

          display_errors = on

four. Mistake Establishing a Database Connectedness

500 internal server errors can also occur from a database connection error. Depending upon your browser you might encounter dissimilar errors. Simply both will generate a 500 HTTP status lawmaking regardless in your server logs.

Below is an example of what an "mistake establishing a database connection" message looks like your browser. The entire folio is bare because no data can be retrieved to return the page, as the connectedness is not working properly. Not only does this break the front-cease of your site, but information technology volition also prevent y'all from accessing your WordPress dashboard.

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

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

  • The most mutual result 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 then many moving parts with themes, plugins, and users constantly deleting and installing them, sometimes databases get corrupted. This tin can exist due to a missing or individually corrupted tabular array, or mayhap some information was deleted by accident.
  • Yous may take 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 wrong on the web hosts stop, 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 every bit they are utilizing the same resources for a lot of users on the same servers.

Check out our in-depth postal service on how to fix the error establishing a database connection in WordPress.

5. Check Your Plugins and Themes

Tertiary-political party plugins and themes can easily cause 500 internal server errors. Nosotros've seen all types crusade them here at Kinsta, from slider plugins to advertizement rotator plugins. A lot of times you should meet the error immediately after 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 one. Otherwise, if you run across a 500 internal server mistake you're suddenly scrambling to figure out which 1 caused it.

A few ways you tin troubleshoot this is by deactivating all your plugins. Call back, you lot won't lose any data if you merely deactivate a plugin. If you can nevertheless access your admin, a quick way to do this is to browse to "Plugins" and select "Conciliate" from the bulk actions menu. This will disable all of your plugins.

Deactivate all plugins
Conciliate all plugins

If this fixes the issue y'all'll need to find the culprit. Start activating them i by one, reloading the site afterward each activation. When you see the 500 internal server error render, yous've plant the misbehaving plugin. You tin can then reach 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 can FTP into your server and rename your plugins folder to something like plugins_old. So check your site over again. If information technology works, so yous volition need to test each plugin one by one. Rename your plugin folder back to "plugins" and and so rename each plugin folder inside of if information technology, one by one, until you find it. You lot could also attempt to replicate this on a staging site offset.

Rename plugin folder
Rename plugin binder

E'er makes sure your plugins, themes, and WordPress core are up to date. And check to ensure y'all are running a supported version of PHP. If it turns out to be a conflict with bad lawmaking in a plugin, you might need to bring in a WordPress developer to fix the issue.

6. Reinstall WordPress Core

Sometimes WordPress core files can get corrupted, especially on older sites. Information technology's actually quite easy to re-upload just the core of WordPress without impacting your plugins or themes. We have an in-depth guide with five different ways to reinstall WordPress. And of course, brand certain 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 error with a file or folder on your server can besides cause a 500 internal server error to occur. Hither are some typical recommendations for permissions when it comes to file and binder permissions in WordPress:

  • All files should exist 644 (-rw-r–r–) or 640.
  • All directories should exist 755 (drwxr-xr-ten) or 750.
  • No directories should ever exist given 777, even upload directories.
  • Hardening: wp-config.php could also be ready to 440 or 400 to foreclose other users on the server from reading it.

Encounter the WordPress Codex article on changing file permissions for a more in-depth explanation.

You tin hands run into your file permissions with an FTP customer (as seen below). You could also accomplish out to your WordPress host support team and ask them to apace GREP file permissions on your folders and files to ensure they're setup properly.

File permissions SFTP
File permissions SFTP

viii. PHP Memory Limit

A 500 internal server fault could likewise be caused by exhausting the PHP retentivity 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 Retentiveness Limit in cPanel

If you lot're running on a host that uses cPanel, y'all tin 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

Yous tin so click on the memory_limit attribute and change its value. So click on "Save."

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

Increase PHP Memory Limit in Apache

The .htaccess file is a special hidden file that contains various settings you tin apply to modify the server beliefs, right down to a directory specific level. First login to your site via FTP or SSH, take a look at your root directory and run across if there is a .htaccess file there.

.htaccess file
.htaccess file

If there is you can edit that file to add together the necessary lawmaking for increasing the PHP retentiveness limit. Most likely it is set at 64M or below, you tin can endeavor increasing this value.

          php_value memory_limit 128M

Increase PHP Memory Limit in php.ini File

If the in a higher place doesn't work for you lot 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 up 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 change them if necessary. If you only created the file, or the settings are nowhere to be found you tin paste the lawmaking below. Yous can change 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 to a higher place php.ini file settings to work. To do 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 above didn't work for you, it could be that your host has the global settings locked downward and instead have 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'due south root directory and open up or create a .user.ini file. Y'all can and so paste in the following code:

          memory_limit = 128M

Increment PHP Memory Limit in wp-config.php

The last pick is not one nosotros are fans of, but 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 post-obit code to the top of your wp-config.php file:

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

Yous can as well ask your host if you're running into retentivity limit problems. We utilize the Kinsta APM tool and other troubleshooting methods hither at Kinsta to assist clients narrow down what plugin, query, or script might be exhausting the limit. You can besides use your ain custom New Relic cardinal from your own license.

Debugging with New Relic
Debugging with New Relic

9. Problem With Your .htaccess File

Kinsta only uses Nginx, but if yous're using a WordPress host that is running Apache, it could very well be that your .htaccess file has a trouble or has go corrupted. Follow the steps below 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

Normally to recreate this file you can just re-save your permalinks in WordPress. Even so, if you lot're in the heart of a 500 internal server error you nearly likely can't access your WordPress admin, and then this isn't an option. Therefore yous tin create a new .htaccess file and input the following contents. And so upload information technology 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 . /alphabetize.php [Fifty] </IfModule> # END WordPress

Come across the WordPress Codex for more examples, such equally a default .htaccess file for multisite.

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

500 errors being caused by errors in CGI and Perl is a lot less common than information technology used to be. Although information technology's still worth mentioning, peculiarly for those using cPanel where in that location are a lot of i-click CGI scripts still existence used. Every bit 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, Jump, etc, Python-based frameworks like Django, Ruby on Rail 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 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 style (which you tin can select in your FTP editor) into the cgi-bin directory on your server.
  • Ostend that the Perl modules you require for your script are installed and supported.

xi. Server Consequence (Check With Your Host)

Finally, because 500 internal server errors can also occur from PHP timing out or fatal PHP errors with 3rd-party plugins, you tin always check with your WordPress host. Sometimes these errors can be difficult to troubleshoot without an practiced. Here are just a few common examples of some errors that trigger 500 HTTP status codes on the server that might have you scratching your caput.

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

Nosotros monitor all client'due south sites here at Kinsta and are automatically notified when these types of errors occur. This allows united states of america to be pro-active and start fixing the outcome right away. Nosotros also 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 resource required to run it (Linux, Nginx, PHP, MySQL). The resources 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, not 500 errors. These determine how many simultaneous requests your site tin can handle at a given time. To put it but, 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. Once yous'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 commodity about PHP workers.

Monitor Your Site

If you're worried well-nigh these types of errors happening on your site in the future, y'all can as well utilize a tool like updown.io to monitor and notify you immediately if they occur. It periodically sends an HTTP Caput request to the URL of your choice. Yous tin can but employ your homepage. The tool allows you to set check frequencies of:

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

Information technology volition transport you an email if and when your site goes downwardly. Hither is an example beneath.

Email notification of 500 error
Email notification of 500 error

This tin be especially useful if you lot're trying to debug a faulty plugin or are on a shared host, who tend to overcrowd their servers. This can give you proof of how oft your site might really be doing downwardly (even during the middle of the night). That's why we always recommend going with a managed WordPress host. Make sure to cheque out our post that explores the top 9 reasons to cull managed WordPress hosting.

Summary

500 internal server errors are always frustrating, but hopefully, now you know a few boosted ways to troubleshoot them to chop-chop get your site back up and running. Think, typically these types of errors are acquired by third-party plugins, fatal PHP errors, database connection problems, problems with your .htaccess file or PHP memory limits, and sometimes PHP timeouts.

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

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