HTTP 500 Internal Server Error: What It Means & How to Fix It

What is the 500 Internal Server Error

The HTTP 500 internal server error is a generic error code that means the server had an unexpected problem and could not fulfill the request.

Being an internal server error means the problem is not due to the website, the Internet, or the device used.

When the server returns the HTTP 500 error, it means that no other error code was applicable, therefore, error 500 could mean any number of issues.

Internal server error 500 can occur in two scenarios.

It is possible to encounter this error when trying to access a website, or the website that you own can return this error code.

Let’s see how we can deal with each scenario.

Check this article out: Most Common WordPress Errors & Issues (And How to Fix Them)

If it’s not your website

If you are trying to access a webpage and get the 500 internal server error then everything on your end is working fine and the issue lies with the website itself. There are a number of things you can do here.

Hard refresh

Try doing a hard refresh on the page. Press the Ctrl and F5 keys on your keyboard together and see what happens.

The website admins might have already been aware of this issue and had fixed it. Therefore a hard refresh will load the page.

Try again later

As HTTP error 500 isn’t related to you, you can wait a while and try again. Chances are the page would have been fixed by the second time.

You can also try to contact website admins and let them know about the error 500 so that they can fix it sooner.

Delete your browser’s cookies

Sometimes the problem is solved by your browser having saved the cookies from the broken page.

The Server Administrator and trekking experts from Bookatrekking specializing in Eagle Walk say that in this situation, you might want to delete your browsing Google Activity history and your browser cookies to see if you can access the page.

See if others have the issue

Paste the URL you cannot access into Down for Everyone or Just Me and see if this is only a problem for you or if others are experiencing an internal server error as well.

If It Is Your Website

What about you have an HTTP 500 Internal Server error on your own website. Well, there are several potential causes for that. And now we will turn to those and offer you a fix for each.

Corrupted or broken .htaccess file

.htaccess is an important file in your website that contains instructions on how the software functions. There are several causes that can do this, such as installing new plugins, during configuration or when you are working on the server.

Permission error

If this is the reason for 500 Internal Server error then it might be the case that the user doesn’t have permission to access that specific page.

Faulty theme or plugin

Plugins and themes are essential for your WordPress website to expand its functionalities and features. Sometimes they can cause conflicts and break a page by producing an internal server error.

Exceeding the PHP memory limit

PHP manages the content, database, session tracking, etc. on your website. Each of these processes uses your website memory. If you go over this limit, then you will get the 500 internal server error.

How to Fix the HTTP 500 Error

Now that we have seen what could be the causes, let’s turn to how we can fix them. There are several solutions you can try, which are explained below.

Deactivate your theme or plugins

As was mentioned before, installing new software can cause this error due to causing issues with important configuration files.

Naturally, it is the first step to try after the error occurs when you’ve just installed something new. Try this one by one for every plugin until you find out the culprit.

If none of them solved the 500 error, then you must try one of the other solutions.

Use a debugging plugin

One of the benefits of running a WordPress website is that there is a quick solution for everything. 

One of the best plugins for debugging WordPress is WP Debugging. You can install that and run it to see what is the issue exactly and get to a fix quicker.

Check your PHP settings

If the server error 500 is related to PHP timeouts, then you can check those and set timeout rules. You can look for php.ini directives on google and see which one can help you.

Check your .htaccess file

Similar to the previous solution, this one is also a bit complicated and must be done only if you know what you are doing.

You can go to your server folder and find the .htaccess file (you can use cPanel or FTP), then check its code to see if there is something wrong in it.

Last resort

Not everybody is well versed in the arts of coding, thus, we recommend hiring a professional to take care of the HTTP 500 error. 

If you’ve already tried all these fixes before and to no avail, then you can ask a professional to look into the issue and solve it. 

It might cost money but it will be faster and easier than if you were to do it yourself.

Conclusion

We hope that this article was enough to help you learn about HTTP 500 Internal Server error and how to fix it. Keep in mind that this is not a clear cut process and will take some time to address. 

If you are facing this error on some other website, then you don’t need to do anything special because the error is not on your side. 

But if it is on your own website, then you need to follow the steps described above and see which works for you.

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