500 Internal Server Error is a common HTTP status code which means that something is wrong on the web site’s server but the server couldn’t specify the problem.
You can recognize if it is the 500 error if you receive any one of these messages:
- 500 Error
- 500 Internal Server Error
- HTTP Error 500
- Internal Server Error 500
- HTTP 500 Internal Error
- Temporary Error (500)
- HTTP 500 – Internal Server Error
- 500 That’s an error
Causes of 500 Internal Server Error
Unlike the popular myth, 500 Internal Server Error is not caused because of the web browser you are using. It is irrelevant to the web browser you are using even if it is Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer or any other web browser. The 500 Internal Server Error is broad and there are several causes for the appearance of this message rather than just one. Like we mentioned earlier, the appearance of 500 errors indicates one of several potential errors. Since there are several possible errors, there could also be different possible causes. Mostly, there is an issue with the whole website or just with the specific page but this doesn’t mean the problem couldn’t be on the visitor’s end.
How To Correct 500 Internal Server Error as a Client?
1)Reload:
This error could be temporary and the next time you visit the page. You can reload/refresh the page to do so. You can either click the circle on the upper-left corner of the page, press F5 on your keyboard, or press Ctrl+R on your keyboard to refresh. If this isn’t working, you can try entering the URL again.
2)Browser’s Cookies:
Sometimes, all you need to do to fix the 500 error is delete the cookies associated with the page displaying the error. You can try and delete the cookies, then close your web browser, re-open it and search for the page. The error will be gone if the error is caused by the cookies.
3)Browser’s caches:
Generally, the 500 Internal Server Error is not caused by the browser’s cache but cases of the error go away after clearing the caches have been observed. So, we suggest you clear the caches in the web browser and visit the page or website again.
4)Contact the website:
If there’s no problem on your end, then there is nothing you can do but tell the site’s administrators about it. You can contact the website owners and let them know about this problem so that they can solve the problem.
5)Troubleshoot:
There is a slim chance that this could work but it doesn’t hurt to try. Since the 500 error is broad and there are many potential causes, some servers display the 500 error message instead of the 504 error. All you need to do is troubleshoot as a 504 Gateway Timeout error.
How To Correct the 500 Internal Server Error for your own website?
The appearance of the 500 Internal Server Error code is probably the indication that there is an issue in the server. If this is the case, then non of the solutions mentioned above will work and it needs a different approach. If you are the website owner then have a look at the solutions below.
1)Check your permissions:
Let’s start the list with the most probable one. 500 Internal Server Error is mostly caused due to incorrect permissions on a CGI and PHP script. If you check this and fix it if this is the case then you will not see the error message on your website.
- Increase execution timeout:
An HTTP 500 error could be the result of a PHP timeout. If your script joins external resources and those resources timeout, an HTTP 500 error can occur. Timeout rules, or better error handling in your script, should help to fix the problem if this is the cause of the 500 error.
3)Fix coding error in .htaccess:
This is the most uncommon case out of the three cases, this rarely occurs. Still, be sure to check if your site’s .htaccess file is properly structured.