How do I fix the 500 internal server error on my WordPress website?
This article will show you how to identify and resolve the internal server error on WordPress.
What causes a 500 internal server error?
This error occurs when your server encounters an issue that prevents it from completing a specific action.
Sadly, there isn’t a quick way of identifying exactly what’s causing this error to occur, so it will be up to you to identify and fix it.
What can I do to fix this error?
Here are a few different actions you can take to resolve a 500 internal server error on WordPress:
Enable debugging
Debugging is an effective way of identifying any issues affecting your WordPress package. Although this process may not necessarily resolve the WordPress 500 internal server error, debugging will help point you in the right direction once it has been enabled.
To do this, simply follow the instructions below:
Start by opening FileZilla.
Right-click your wp-config.php file and select View/Edit.
This will open a Notepad file. From here, find the value define ( ‘WP_DEBUG’, false ); and set it to true
Once done, save and close your wp-config.php file.
Review your .htaccess file
If the above action doesn’t work for you, it could be that your .htaccess file has been corrupted.
This file consists of several rules that govern your server’s actions, although it won’t be immediately obvious which rule is causing your 500 error on WordPress. As such, you’ll need to review and edit your .htaccess via FTP.
To do this, simply follow the instructions below:
Start by opening FileZilla.
Make a backup of your .htaccess file and then delete all its contents.
If your 500 internal server error has gone, then you will need to restore your .htaccess file and start removing blocks or lines of code until you’ve determined exactly which one is causing the error.
Deactivate all your plugins
If the above steps haven’t worked, it could be that one or more of your plugins are causing issues with your WordPress site.
Since there’s no quick way of determining which specific plugin is affecting your WordPress, you’ll need to deactivate all your plugins and then re-activate each of them one-by-one until you find the one that’s causing the error.
For details on how to do this, please read the following article: How do I deactivate a WordPress plugin?