Errors / HTTP errors
500 Internal Server Error
The site's server crashed while building the answer.
The page, or the action behind the request, fails with no explanation to the visitor.
Seeing it on someone else’s site?
- Nothing you did caused it and nothing on your side fixes it; the site's code failed.
- Reload once; if it persists, the site owner has a bug to fix.
Why it happens, if it is your site
- An unhandled exception in the code: a bug, a missing environment variable, a database that is down.
- On WordPress, a plugin or theme error, PHP running out of memory, or a broken
.htaccess. - Input the code did not expect, from a form or the address.
How to fix it
- The server's error log at that minute has the real error; the browser only ever sees the number.
- If it started after a deploy or a plugin update, roll that back first and investigate after.
- On WordPress, turn on
WP_DEBUG_LOG, or disable plugins one by one. - Answer bad input with a 4xx instead of letting it crash.
Whose problem it is
Usually the server that answers the request.
Does your site have it?
Free, no account. We open your page and four more in a clean Chrome and list every error like this one, with the page and the click that caused it. How the free page check works.
Often seen with
- 502 Bad GatewayThe server you reached works, but the application behind it did not answer properly.
- 503 Service UnavailableThe server is up but cannot handle the request right now: overloaded, or in maintenance.