What is http error 500? How to fix it?

While accessing the Internet, http error 500 occurs, making it impossible for us to access the website anymore. So what is the cause of this error? How to fix it?

What is HTTP Error 500?

When you access a website and receive a message 500 Internal Server Error or http error 500, it means that the server of the website we are accessing is having problems. The problem that the website server is having can be due to too many people accessing at the same time, .htaccess file error, the server cannot determine the exact problem, etc.

What is http error 500? How to fix it? Picture 1

500 Internal Server Error due to website server error, inaccessible

Depending on the design and code structure of each different website, there will be different messages when this error appears. But in general, when encountering this problem, you will receive similar messages as follows:

500 Internal Server Error
HTTP 500 - Internal Server Error
Temporary Error (500)
Internal Server Error
HTTP 500 Internal Error
500 Error
HTTP Error 500
500. That's an error

How to fix HTTP Error 500

Reload or refresh the page

This error is a temporary error on the server. If you encounter this error, you can download or press F5 to refresh the website you want to access.

What is http error 500? How to fix it? Picture 2

Refreshing the website is the first thing to try when encountering http error 500

Clear browser cache

If your website's cache is corrupted, it could be the cause of the 500 error. However, this is rare. If it happens, the easiest way to fix it is to clear your browser's cache.

Delete Cookies on browser

Fix HTTP Error 500 by clearing Cookies on your browser. Restart your browser and then access the website after clearing all Cookies on your browser.

Fix some other 500 Internal Server Errors

Most of the time, the 500 Internal Server Error is caused by the server. Here are some common errors and how to fix them:

Incorrect file permissions: The cause of the 500 Internal Server Error may be that you have set incorrect permissions for files or folders on the server. Look at the error displayed on the URL and verify the permissions for the files and folders.

PHP Server Timed Out Error: This error usually occurs on Linux or Unix servers running PHP. If there is an error in PHP lib/package and the server cannot read the PHP file, it will cause a 500 Internal Server Error.

In some cases, error 500 occurs because the server is overloaded and the traffic is too much to handle.

.htaccess file error: If the .htaccess file on your server is corrupted or contains many error codes, it will cause 500 Internal Server Error. To fix error 500, you should make sure that there are no errors in the .htaccess file.

The easiest way to verify whether the 500 Internal Server Error is caused by the .htaccess file or not is to delete or move the file and then reload or refresh the website again. If the 500 error is gone, the cause of the error is the .htaccess file.

Isabella Humphrey

Update 16 January 2025

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