HTTP Error 500 WordPress[FIXED] : Step By Step Guides

You can’t expect any service without errors. Similarly, WordPress is not an exception. You can expect errors anytime whenever you surf on WordPress. One of the most frequently occurring errors is the HTTP error 500 on WordPress. 

This error is also known as 500 Internal server error on WordPress. As you can understand from the name of the error that the error takes place when there is any fault with the server. Once this error occurs, you can’t see the page you requested or surfed. This belongs to the application side error category on your web browser. 

Causes of HTTP Error 500 on WordPress:

Basically, the internal server error is the main culprit for this HTTP error 500 on WordPress. You can deal with this error on any web browser. The error is not specific to any one web browser. 

This can happen due to improper plug-in options, corrupted .htaccess files, and PHP memory limit on your browser. 

Learn How to Fix HTTP 500 Error in WordPress:

We have investigated a lot on the errors in WordPress and finally find out numerous solutions to get rid of this error. Users use the first two solutions more frequently than other solutions. Let’s continue to the fixes.

Fix 1: Create a New .htaccess File

This is the first and foremost fix that you should apply whenever you notice an HTTP 500 error on WordPress. Most users got benefitted from this fix. Consider the following steps to continue.

1. Open the WordPress directory on your favored FTP client. 
2. You might notice wp-admin and wp-content in this file location. If you can’t see, then you are most probably in the wrong folder or the items are hidden. 
3. Make the items not hidden by selecting Server and choosing ‘Force Showing Hidden Files’. 
4. When you get your htaccess file, right-click on it. Choose the Rename option. Rename the file from “.htaccess” to “.htaccess.bak”. This erases your htaccess file. Hence, you need to create a new one.
5. Head towards your WordPress Admin area. Go to Settings and choose Permalinks.
6. Click on the ‘Save changes’ button.

Check if the error persists. If you can’t see the error anymore, then it suggests that you are facing the error due to corrupted .htaccess file. If the HTTP error 500 on WordPress still appears, then try out the next solutions.

Fix 2: Extend PHP Memory Limit 

PHP memory limit is set by WordPress and the host of your server. You can extend the limit to some extent that is controlled by WordPress. You can’t interfere with the limit set by the host. Here’s how you can do it.

1. Open the WordPress root directory. Look for ‘wp-config.php’ file. Right-click on the php file and select the Download option to get access to the file on your computer.  
2. Open the file with a preferable text-editor on your computer. Add the following line just after the opening tag of php: “define(‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ’64M’ );”. Don’t paste the double quotes in the code.
3. Save the changes and re-upload this php file to the WordPress root directory. You have to replace the older one with this new one. 
4. Check if it fixes the error. If not, then delete the changes you did by using the same procedure mentioned above. 

The last step can also eradicate the error. If it does, then you have to go for the next fixes as well because the error can come back within minutes without these below fixes.

Fix 3: Deactivate Plug-ins

If you are capable to enter the WordPress admin area, then you can check if the plug-ins are performing prominently. 

1. Deactivate all the plug-ins one by one and refresh every time you deactivate a plug-in. If you can’t see the error anymore, then the recently deleted plug-in was troubling you. You can delete that particular plug-in. But if it’s important for your site, then you need to find a replacement for this plug-in. 
2. You can contact the developer if you don’t feel confident about doing so. You can get help from the support forum of WordPress.org.

If you can’t enter the admin area of WordPress, then open the FTP client. Expand the root directory of WordPress. Open the folder named ‘wp-content. This folder consists of plug-ins, themes, and other necessary folders. 

You have to rename the Plugins folder with the name “plugins.test”. This will disable all the plug-ins contained in the folder. 

Check if you can enter to the WordPress site. If yes, then the error occurred due to faulty plug-ins. Disable all the plug-ins one by one from the admin area and refresh the WordPress. 

It will help you to understand which plug-in is causing the problem. Please rename the plugins folder again to its original name.

Fix 4: Check File Permission

This may not affect WordPress but we still consider if this minor issue troubles you. Go to the root directory of WordPress on the preferable FTP client. You can find the permission folders named as 755 or 644. But just make sure that permissions are set to nothing other than these files. 

Fix 5: Upload Fresh Versions of Certain Files

This is our last try to recover from the error if the above fixes went in vain. You need to upload fresh versions of wp-admin and wp-includes to the site of WordPress. Firstly, take a back-up of the site and then download a new version of WordPress. 

Next, you have to extract the files from the ZIP package of the downloaded WordPress. Expand the root directory through an FTP client. Then overwrite the files of wp-admin and wp-includes from the new version to the older one. Refresh both the site and client.

If it works, then the fault was occurring due to corrupt files. If you are unable to get rid of the error, then you need to contact the host. This HTTP error 500 on WordPress is one of the annoying problems. It doesn’t clarify any cause or any error furthermore, hence it becomes quite tricky to handle the error. 

Hopefully, the fixes have helped you. You can reach us through the comments section if you are facing any problem regarding this error. We will try to help you as soon as possible.