500 Internal Server Error or a critical error

Do you see a white screen on your website, 500 Internal Server Error, HTTP ERROR 500, or in WordPress There has been a critical error on this website? Then your website's code is crashing. The server itself is usually working fine.

The causes we see, from common to rare

1. A plugin, a theme or WordPress itself after an update.
2. The PHP version doesn't suit your website, for example after a change of PHP version.
3. An error in .htaccess, such as a rule left behind by a security plugin.
4. Not enough memory for PHP: the error log shows Allowed memory size ... exhausted.
5. Incorrect file permissions: folders should be 755, files 644.
6. Your package's storage is full.

How to fix it

1. What just changed? An update, a different PHP version, a change to .htaccess? Undo exactly that change. This is usually the quickest fix.
2. Check the error log. In DirectAdmin, open System Info & Files and then Site summary & logs, choose your domain and open the error log. The bottom lines are the newest. If you see PHP Fatal error with a path to wp-content/plugins/plugin-name, you know which plugin is causing it.

   

3. WordPress after an update: check your mailbox for an email from WordPress with a link to recovery mode. No email? In File Manager, rename the folder wp-content/plugins to plugins-off. If the site works again, rename the folder back and activate the plugins one by one until the error returns.
4. Just changed the PHP version? Switch it back under Select PHP version (see Changing the PHP version and PHP settings (and what to do about errors after an upgrade)).
5. Test .htaccess: rename .htaccess in public_html to .htaccess-old. If the error disappears, the problem is in that file.
6. Was it still working yesterday? Restore a backup with WebOké Backups in My WebOké, or with Installatron if it made a backup before the update.

When should you contact us?

Can't find a cause in the error log, or does the error come back after restoring a backup? Then get in touch.

Ask the AI assistant in My WebOké first, or create a ticket via Support centre and then Submit a ticket. Include:

• the full address of the page where it goes wrong
• the time it went wrong
• what you were doing at that moment, for example saving, uploading or logging in
• a screenshot of the message
• the lines from the error log around that time

Never send your password.

Detailed explanation with all the steps: Error 500 or "critical error" on your website (also after a WordPress update) and My website is blank or shows an error 500.