2. Switch To Other Network

3. Flush the Browser Cache

Your browser saves cookies and cache data, including the passwords, websites you visited, files and downloads etc., to provide a better user experience in your next browsing. Moreover, this also protects you from the hassle of entering the complete URLs or remembering the passwords.

However, this browser cache also causes glitches while browsing, or sometimes outdated or incorrect cache information may be causing connection errors that prevent browsing. And one of those frustrating errors is a 500 internal server error.

So, one possible solution to fix the error is to flush the browser cache and history.

Chrome

1. To clear the cache in Chrome, simply click on the three dots at the top right corner of the homepage and select More tools > Clear browsing data.
2. From there, select the time range and checkmark all relevant boxes.
3. Then, click Clear data.

You can also use a shortcut by entering “chrome://settings/clearBrowserData” in the address bar.

Safari

1. For Safari, click on Safari at the top left corner of the homepage and select Preferences > Advanced.
2. Now checkmark the Show Develop menu in the menu bar.
3. Then, go to the main page of Safari, click Develop, and select Empty Caches.

If clearing the cache doesn't fix the error, another cause may be at play, and you should try other troubleshooting methods. Always ensure the website is not undergoing maintenance or experiencing downtime.

Fix 500 Internal Error as a Website Owner

Let’s now discuss how to fix HTTP 500 error if you own a site.

Clearing the cache in WordPress can sometimes help resolve a 500 internal server error.

You can follow the given below steps to clear your WordPress cache.

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard and click WP Super Cache or W3 Total Cache under plugins tab, depending on which caching plugin you use.
2. Look for an option to clear the cache. In WP Super Cache, you can find this under the Delete Cache tab. In W3 Total Cache, you can find it under the Performance tab > Dashboard > empty the page cache.
3. Wait for the cache to clear completely. This may take a few minutes.

Refresh your website and check if the 500 internal server error is resolved. If clearing the cache doesn't work, other issues may be causing the error, so apply another fix.

2. Check for Any Malware

Malicious software infections can wreak havoc on your site's code, leading to server timeouts, slow performance, and 500 errors.

Certain types of malware, such as cryptominers, can consume significant server resources, resulting in degraded performance and errors. Meanwhile, black hat SEO infections can generate thousands of spam pages, which can continue to be crawled by search engines long after they have been removed. This can also contribute to a reduction in site performance and 500 errors.

Nevertheless, by staying vigilant and employing effective troubleshooting techniques, you can help ensure your website stays up and running smoothly. Moreover, you can contact us to clean up your website with infected malware. 

3. Check for Other Software

One common cause of the 500 internal error is a recent installation or upgrade of the software on your website that failed to install correctly.

● To fix the error, it's important to investigate any recently installed or upgraded software on your website, what it is, how long it has been installed on your site, and whether or not it is legitimate.

●      It's best to immediately remove the software or any component, whether a plugin or reinstall, to fix the error.

4. Check Large Files

Large files on your website may also cause 500 internal server error. When hosting on shared servers like SiteGround, there's a limit of 8GB for files that can be opened via the web. To determine if this is the issue, check your website's files via SSH, FTP, or File Manager to locate the problematic file. You'll often find that these are logs with PHP errors.

On SiteGround servers, PHP error logs are automatically created if your site's PHP scripts produce non-critical errors or warnings during execution. The log file is named php_errorlog and is located in the same directory as the script that generated the errors. Typically, this is your website's root folder.

● If you identify a large file as the culprit, you can try to reduce its size or split it into smaller files.

●      Alternatively, you can contact your hosting provider for assistance in increasing the size limit for files on their server.

If large files are not the culprit, then check the file permissions.

Incorrect files and folder permissions may cause 500 internal server errors. Ensuring the correct permissions for files and folders is crucial for WordPress sites.

●      Typically, all files should be set to 644 (-rw-r–r–) or 640, and all directories should be 755 (drwxr-xr-x) or 750. However, it's important to note that no directories should ever be given 777, even upload directories.

● To further strengthen the security of your site, you could also harden your wp-config.php file by setting it to 440 or 400, preventing other users on the server from accessing it.

If the error is not gone, you can try another method.

Error logs can provide valuable information about misconfigured files, scripts, or exceptions that occur during operations of sever causing issues, which can help you detect and fix the problem more easily. It provides important information, such as details about which folder or file may be causing the problem, a description, and the date and time.

You can check the error logs om cPanel by logging in to your hosting account and click Errors under Metrics. This will display the latest web server error messages.

If you are still unable to access the website, then hop on to the next fix.

7. Check the .Htaccess file

One common type of error that can be identified in the error log is related to the .htaccess file. This file is located in the root folder of your website and can cause issues if there are syntax errors.

Reviewing the error log and identifying the issue with the .htaccess file allows you to navigate to the folder in question and correct the problem. If not, then you need to regenerate it. 

An incorrect database login credentials, a corrupted WordPress database due to missing or individually corrupted tables, corrupt files in your WordPress installation, or issues with your database server, such as overloading due to a traffic spike or unresponsiveness from too many concurrent connections may cause 500 internal server error. This will generate a 500 HTTP status code in your server logs, which may appear differently depending on your browser.

You can fix HTTP 500 error by restoring the database from a backup or repairing it with these general steps.

1. Login to your hosting account and go to File Manager.
2. Open wp-config.php file and double-check that the database credentials are correct, including the database name, username, and password. You can also create a new user with full privileges and update the wp-config.php file to use these new credentials.
3. Click edit and add the following line to your wp-config.php file: define('WP_ALLOW_REPAIR', true).
4. Navigate to http://yourwebsite.com/wp-admin/maint/repair.php in your browser and click “Repair Database” to begin the repair process.

Before making any changes to your database, creating a backup is crucial in case anything goes wrong. If you cannot fix the error, try another method.

9. Alter the PHP Version  

PHP version plays a crucial role in running your website smoothly. If you encounter the 500 Internal Server Error, it could be because of an incompatible PHP version.

● Firstly, check the minimum and maximum required PHP version for your website’s CMS, whether WordPress, Drupal, or any other. Ensure that your server has a compatible version installed.

●      If your website is already running on the minimum required PHP version and still facing the error, try upgrading to a higher version. SiteGround users can change the PHP version directly from their cPanel, without contacting the support team.

Go to cPanel, search for the “Select PHP version” icon, and choose the best version for your website. After changing the PHP version, test your website to check if the error persists. The issue is related to the PHP version if the error is gone.

If the error still exists, it could be because of some other reason, and you should try other solutions.

PHP libraries are essential to PHP scripts, requiring a sufficient memory limit for optimal performance. If you encounter a 500 Internal Server error, your script may consume all the available PHP memory limit or PHP workers.

● In that case, increasing the available PHP memory limit from the Server and Packages tab may resolve the HTTP 500 error, enhancing the website's performance and smooth execution of PHP scripts.

● Moreover, you can also avoid the dreaded “Allowed memory size” error, which can be frustrating and time-consuming to troubleshoot.

● Alternatively, if you have defined a memory limit in the application configuration files, you can simply increase the value in these files.

1. Login to your site account using SSH or FTH.
2. Then, search the wp-config.php file in the main folder of your WordPress website and download it as a backup and right-click on the file and click Edit.
3. Edit it by adding the following code.

define( 'WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', 512 M)

4. It will then read, That's all, stop editing! Happy Publishing.

Increase Memory Limit in php.ini File

If you're only experiencing the internal server error when logging in to your WordPress admin or uploading an image, follow the steps below.

1. Login to your site using SSH or FTH and create a blank text file on your server named php.ini.
2. Add this code, memory=256MB.
3. Save the file, and upload it into your root directory domain.com/php.ini.

Increase PHP Memory in cPanel

If you are using a host that offers cPanel, you can modify memory limit from the UI with these steps.

1. Login to your cPanel account and click Select PHP Version under Software.
2. Then, click Options under PHP Selector.

3. Change the memory_limit attribute value to new required value.

Increase PHP Memory in Apache

You can modify the server behavior from your .htaccess file for those using Apache.

1. Locate your .htaccess file via SSH orFTH.
2. Add the following line:

php_value memory_limit xxx (replace "xxx" with your desired memory limit value in megabytes).

3. Save the changes and create a PHP test file to verify that the new setting is active by passing the following code in the same directory.

<?php

phpinfo();

?>

Increasing the memory limit is just a temporary fix. You must still identify the root cause of exhausting your memory limit, which could be a poorly coded plugin or theme function.

If increasing the PHP memory limit doesn't resolve the issue, don't panic. You may need to troubleshoot more, but you'll eventually fix the problem with patience and perseverance.

11. Change the WordPress Theme 

If you're experiencing a 500 internal server error on your WordPress site, it could be caused by a problem with your current theme. In some cases, a faulty theme or a theme that's not compatible with your WordPress version can trigger this error.

Apply the following steps to fix the internal 500 server error.

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard and go to Appearance > Themes.
2. Hover over the active theme you want to deactivate and click Theme Details.
3. Click Delete on the theme details screen to remove the theme from your site.
4. If you have another theme installed that you want to use, hover over that theme and click Activate. If you don't have another theme installed, click the Add New button to browse and install a new theme.

5. Once you've activated a new theme, reload your site to see if the error has been fixed.

If changing the theme doesn't fix the issue, another problem may be causing the error. You can try disabling your plugins, reinstalling the WordPress core or restoring your site from a backup to troubleshoot the issue further.

12. Disable the WordPress Plugins

One potential culprit that can cause the dreaded internal 500 Error is a misconfigured WordPress plugin. To troubleshoot this issue, it is recommended to disable the plugins one by one until the problem is identified.

Follow these steps to disable WordPress plugins.

1. Go to the WordPress dashboard and click Plugins > Installed Plugins.
2. From the drop-down Bulk actions menu, choose Deactivate.
3. Check the box next to Plugin and click Apply to disable all plugins.

After disabling the plugins, reload the website and see the error is fixed. If not, try another fix.

If the above steps don’t work, restoring a backup of your website might be the solution. This method can bring your website back to its previous state before the error occurred. To restore a backup of your website, you'll need a backup available. If you don't have a backup, you may need to contact your hosting provider or use a backup plugin to create one.

Follow these general steps to restore your website backup.

1. Log in to your cPanel account and click Backup.
2. Locate the backup file and Download the backup file to your local computer and extract the backup file if it's in a compressed format like .zip.
3. Open the file manager in your hosting account and navigate to the root directory of your website.
4. Delete all the files and folders in the root directory and Upload all the files and folders from the backup to the root directory of your website, including the WordPress core files, themes, plugins, and uploads folder.

The process may vary slightly depending on your hosting provider and setup. Check if your website is functioning properly by visiting the site in a new browser window or tab.

The core files of WordPress may have become corrupted, which is causing the 500 internal server error. To fix the error, you can reinstall the WordPress core files without affecting your themes or plugins. Before proceeding, it's always best to take a backup of your site, including the database and all files. This is important in case something goes wrong during the reinstallation process.

Here are the general steps to reinstall the WordPress core files.

1. First, fully back up your WordPress site, download the latest version of WordPress from the official website or cpanel account and extract the WordPress ZIP file on your local computer.
2. In the root directory of your WordPress installation, rename the wp-admin and wp-includes folders to something like wp-admin-old and wp-includes-old.
3. Next, upload the new wp-admin and wp-includes folders from the extracted WordPress files to your website's root directory.
4. Finally, copy all files from the new WordPress folder except the wp-config.php file and the wp-content folder, and upload them to the root directory of your WordPress site.
5. Once the upload is complete, log in to your WordPress dashboard to check if everything works properly.

The process may vary slightly depending on your hosting provider and setup. Always refer to the official WordPress documentation or seek help from a professional if you're unsure about any step of the process.

If the above solutions do not work for you, it’s time for you to contact the web hosting provider company. They would analyze the server logs and identify the exact diagnostics. Regardingly, they would propose pr apply the fix to troubleshoot the 500 internal server error, allowing you to do error-free smooth web browsing.

To prevent this from happening, it's crucial to identify the root cause of the 500 error and take steps to rectify them. Doing so will help mitigate the risks to your website's SEO and ensure your site remains accessible and visible to users. The fixes listed above can be helpful for your troubleshooting process.