500 Internal server error or Internal server error is one of the most frustrating error faced by WordPress users.If you are a WordPress user then you probably must have seen this error on your website!
500 Internal Server Error occurs when the web server is trying to load your website but something goes wrong at the server’s end. And because the server encountered something wrong it is unable to fulfill your request & fails to load the web page.
This Error is mostly faced by the CMS users who create their own websites using the CMS like WordPress, Joomla and Abenta cart etc.
Causes of 500 Internal Server Error:
There are a number of reasons this error can occur. But 2 major reasons for this error to likely occur are:
-High resource usage of plugins, themes or scripts etc
-A corrupt file in the root directory where you have placed your WordPress files.
But you need not worry as 500 Internal Server Error is fixable.In this article we will show you some easy steps you can follow to resolve this error.
How Internal Server Error Appears?
The 500 Internal server errors can appear to you in the following ways:
Internal server error
Internal 500 server error
Server error
Error 500 server
Internal server
500 error server
How to fix 500 Internal server error?
So, How you can resolve this error? Well! There are many ways to fix this error but here I will show you top 4 troubleshooting techniques that will help you resolve this issue.
1. Modify the Corrupt .htaccess file
3. Increase memory size in PHP
For resolving the internal server error you need to follow the below given procedure:
Method 1. Modify the Corrupt .htaccess file
One of the major cause of this error can be corrupted/infected code in the .htaccess file. If you are wondering who has changed the coding of the .htaccess files, it can be the themes or the plugins you have used. There are some infected plugins and themes which are non-compatible with your installed WordPress & thus lead to the malfunctioning of your website.
Please follow the below steps to check & fix the corrupted .htaccess file:
Step 1. Login in to cPanel.
Step 2. Find and click on the File manager under Files Sections.
Step 3. Then check the cheack box that says “Show hidden files” as, by default the hidden files are not shown in the directory. Then click on the ‘Go’ button.
Step 4. Find the .htaccess file in the Directory public_html and rename it to .htaccessold or .htaccess123 and then access your website. If your website starts working fine after changing the file name then it is sure that the saved code in .htaccess file is infected. Now replace the code saved in your .htaccess file with the code given in the Step 5.
Step 5. Replace the code saved in your .htaccess file with the below given code.
Step 6. Before accessing your website we recommend you to clear the cookies and cache of your browser.
Step 7. Now open your website in the browser and if you have already opened it then hit the F5 button to refresh it or you can also click the refresh button which is already given in the browser. If the Above steps didn’t work, then don’t worry! There are other methods that you can use to fix this error.
Method 2. Deactivate all plugins
Sometimes a specific plugin can also lead to 500 Internal server error. So you need to deactivate the plugins in order to fix this error. This solution can sometimes be a little annoying to you because nobody likes to deactivate their active plugins as it can effect the functionality of your website.
The plugins perform multiple tasks and the desynchronization between the plugins can be one of the causes for this issue. I have already mentioned above the reason for this error occurrence is due to high resource usage by the plugins or theme or desynchronism between the plugins.
So you need to check the weather the resource usage by plugins is the cause of this issue or not. Following are the steps to check whether this issue is caused due to plugins.
Step 1. Login in the cPanel.
Step 2. Open the File Manager under the Files sections.
Step 3. Then locate the ‘plugins’ folder in the wp-content folder and rename the ‘plugin’ folder to ‘pluginsold’ or any another name.
Step 4. Now access your website after clearing the cookies of your browser and if it’s already open then hit the F5 button to refresh it or click the refresh button which is already given in the browser. If your error gets fixed after disabling the active plugins then it is cleared that due to one of your installed plugins your website was not functioning properly.
So how to check which one of the plugins is giving you the headache? Let me tell you! Simply rename the plugins old folder to same as the previous name (plugins) and login in the WordPress. After login in the WordPress go to the plugins and activate each plugin one by one & simultaneously check your website by refreshing the browser. The moment you get the internal server again that means the last plugin you activated is causing this error. So now you know which plugin is infected and you can delete it.
Note: You can also disable your all installed plugins from phpMyAdmin.
Method 3. Increase Memory Limit in PHP
As mentioned above this error also occurs when your plugins are consuming resources more than what you have been provided for your Web hosting plan.
In such cases you are advised to contact your hosting provider to know the details of the resources used by your website & your memory size. You might need to increase the memory size or upgrade your web hosting plan.
If your hosting provider has already provided you the memory according to your plan and the issue still persists then you need to do some more hard work to resolve this issue and follow the next steps.
Method 4. Reinstall WordPress
If the above steps (.htaccess or deactivate plugins) didn’t fix the Internal server error issue then the last option is ‘reinstalling the WordPress’. You may think that this step will delete my all data and stuff but I have a good news for you! You can easily reinstall the WordPress without affecting your data and content.
Conclusion
I hope your 500 Internal Server Error has been fixed successfully via one of the above listed solution. If the issue is still not resolved then you can contact your Hosting Provider to check this issue for you. Do let us know if this article worked for you or if you need any further help regarding this issue. We will be happy to assist you!