500 Internal Server Error is a very common Error that you might face if you’re a webmaster. Before we go ahead and explain you the reasons why you may get an 500 Internal Server Error and how to fix it? let’s first understand what this error is all about.
What is 500 Internal Server Error ?
The 500 Internal Server Error is an HTTP status message that means something is wrong on the server side but there is no specific information is available about the issue.
It becomes really tricky to find out the root cause of an 500 error. Since a website owner can customize the message that should show up to users when there is an 500 Internal Server Error, you should also know what are the common messages that may show up when there is an 500 error.
Here are some commonly used messages for this error.
- 500 Internal Server Error
- 500. That’s an error
- HTTP 500 – Internal Server Error
- 500 Error
- Temporary Error (500)
- HTTP Error 500
- HTTP 500 Internal Error
- Internal Server Error
Sometimes you see a message like the below.
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.
If you have seen this error on your website, the first thing you should do it “Don’t Panic”. I have seen most webmasters get panic when they see error on their website and sometimes made a mistake without knowing the root cause of the error.
In this article, we will tell you some ways to fix 500 internal server error.
What Cause a HTTP 500 Internal Server Error?
As we mentioned earlier in this article that knowing the root cause of an HTTP Internal Error is tricky. Since these error are general in nature and don’t provide any information about the root cause, we can only assume some reasons why that happened.
There could be a problem in the website coding or may be there is a problem with the page you’re trying to load.
Precisely, we can say that there is a problem with the server but server don’t have much information to provide about the issue.
How to Fix an 500 Internal Server Error?
As we have mentioned multiple times earlier that an 500 error is a server side error and it nothing to do with your computer or internet connection. That means, if you have seen this error on your website, you need to fix something on the server where your site is hosted.
Here are some common causes of a 500 error and possible fixes.
Many Visitors Are Trying To Access Your Website At A Same Time:
This is one of the most common reason why you see an 500 error. When there is a lot of traffic on your website and your server can’t handle the load, a 500 error happens. Usually, it is a temporary problem and fixes automatically as soon the load on your site reduces.
A corrupt .htaccess File
If you’re using WordPress to run your website, a corrupt .htaccess file can also cause this error. To confirm, if that is the cause of the error, just login to your web hosting account using FTP or Web FTP, and rename your .htaccess file, if your site comes back to normal, you have solved the problem. Now go to Settings ยป Permalinks and click the save button, this will create a new .htaccess file for your website.
PHP Memory Size Limit
All web hosts preset your PHP memory size limit, if you’re performing an operation on your site that required more PHP memory, you need to increase the size of your PHP memory.
There are two ways to do this,
- You can use the control panel provided by your web host and increase the limit. Web host like Godaddy has that option in their web hosting control panel.
- Ask your web hosting provider to do the needful for you.
Permission Error
Incorrect permission on one or more files or folder can also result an 500 internal error. If you’ve given the wrong permission to someone of your website’s files and folders, visitors can see an 500 error when they will try to access them. We have seen that an incorrect permission on a PHP and CGI script is usually the cause of an error.
Final Thoughts
Internal Server Errors are common and sometimes takes time to find out the root cause of the problem. If you’re getting an 500 error, don’t panic and don’t make any big change to your website without any proper research. Take your time and find out the root cause. That is the only way to fix an 500 internal server error.