How to Fix the HTTP 500 Internal Server Errors in WordPress?

by buzzblogger · Published May 17, 2016 · Updated May 17, 2016

The HTTP 500 Internal Server Error is one of the most crucial WordPress errors that can put you in an annoying situation. The internal server error usually runs on each and every page of a WordPress site when there is a problem with the server or file system. Most of the site owners, especially WordPress beginners those find difficulties in discovering the actual server error within their WordPress site.

In order to fix this issue, you need to read this blog post. We bring you some of the essential tips that can help you fix the HTTP 500 internal server.

WordPress undoubtedly is the best platform for creating and modifying highly professional websites. But when it comes to errors, HTTP 500 Internal Server Error is one of the complicated errors that can leave you in the woeful situation. Therefore, we have collected some of the effective tricks that can help you fix the internal server error, without any hassle.
Let’s get started!

Table of Contents

Internal Server Error in WordPress website

Internal Server Error in WordPress websites is a serious issue. It often mustered due to plugin or theme functions. Other viable causes of HTTP 500 internal server error are PHP memory limit and corrupted .htaccess file. In order to solve this error, we need to fix these issues and find out the possible causes of internal server error in WordPress.

1. Check for corrupt .htaccess file

The very first thing you need to do while correcting the internal server error in WordPress is to cross-check the corrupted .htaccess file. All you have to do is to rename your main .htaccess file to something similar to .htaccess_old. To rename this, you need to first login to your site by making the use of FTP. Once you logged in, the .htaccess file will be positioned in the directory where you have already stored folders like wp_admin, wp_includes, and wp_content.

After renaming the .htaccess file, you can load your site to check whether your problem is solved or not. If yes, then you can relax for now because you fixed the internal server error. But before you do anything else, please make sure that you go to the Settings > Permalinks and click the save button. It will create a new .htaccess file with accurate rewrite rules to confirm that your post pages don’t rebound a 404 error page.

If this procedure didn’t work for you, then you should read the following tricks.

2. Boost the PHP Memory Limit

An internal server error can occur if you are crossing your PHP memory limit.
If you see that the internal server error occurs only when you try to login to your WP admin or uploading an image in your wp- admin, you should increase the PHP memory limit of your WordPress site. Follow these steps to increase the memory limit:

Craft a blank text file called php.ini
Paste this code in: memory = 64MB
Save the file
Uploaded it to your /w-admin/ folder by making the use of FTP

By increasing the memory limit, you can solve the internal server error in WordPress – but this is a temporary solution. It is because there has to be something that is draining your memory limit. It could be a badly coded plugin or a theme function. If you want to fix this problem permanently, ask your WordPress web hosting service provider to examine the server logs to help you find the exact problem.

3. Deactivate all installed plugins

If you are still suffering from the internal server error, then this could be caused due to a poorly coded plugin or due to a combination of installed plugins that are not playing effectively with each other. Unfortunately, there is not a simple way to find out this problem. For that, you need to deactivate all of your WordPress plugins at once.
If this trick fixed the error, then you need to find that particular plugin that is causing the error. For that, you need to reactive the plugin one by one until you find the culprit one. You can detect and remove that plugin from your site and also report the error to the plugin author. Isn’t it simple?

4. Re-upload core files

If the plugin trick didn’t solve the internal server error, you need to re-upload the wp-admin and wp-includes folder from a brand new WordPress install. Well, this will not delete any sort of information, but can help you if you detect any corrupted file.

5. Contact your WordPress web hosting company

If all the above tricks didn’t fix the issue, you need to immediately contact your hosting provider. You can share your problem and they will try to find out the solution by examining the server logs of your WordPress site.

Endnote

These are the top solutions that can help you fix the HTTP 500 internal server error in WordPress. Don’t hesitate in following these tips as it can help you run an error-free WordPress site.

Author Maggie is a WordPress Developer by profession and writer by hobby. She works for Markuphq Ltd., which is an expert in convert psd to wordpress responsive services to global clients. Connect with her on Google+ and Twitter.