Troubleshooting 500 Internal Server Error

A 500 Internal Server Error means the web server tried to run your website and something went wrong, but the page it shows visitors doesn't say what. The real reason is almost always written in an error log, and on shared hosting it is almost always something in your own site: a line in .htaccess, a PHP error, a permission, or a plugin. This guide shows you how to find the cause safely, in the order that finds it fastest.

1. What a 500 error actually tells you

A 500 is a catch-all: Apache, the web server on our Linux shared hosting, returns it when it cannot finish a request. The code doesn't say which part failed; the error log does. Nearby codes point elsewhere:

For a 508, see the "Resource Limit Is Reached" guide; for a 403, the 403 Forbidden guide.

2. Step one: read the error log

The error log usually names the file, the line and the reason.

Common log messages and what they point to:

For more on reading logs, see Reviewing error logs in cPanel and DirectAdmin.

3. .htaccess: test by renaming, then fix the line

.htaccess is the most common cause of a 500 that appears straight after a change, because Apache refuses to serve anything in a folder whose .htaccess it can't understand.

Test safely

Check subfolders too: a .htaccess in public_html/blog only affects that folder, and the log line names the file's path.

Lines that always give a 500 on our servers

We checked our shared servers on 22 September 2026. Two rules catch people most often:

• php_value and php_flag lines. None of our Linux shared servers run PHP as an Apache module; they use PHP-FPM or CGI. Apache doesn't recognise these lines, so any .htaccess that contains one returns a 500 for the whole folder. Delete the line and set the value in your control panel instead, as explained in How to fix "Allowed memory size exhausted" PHP errors. Plugins and old tutorials often add these lines, so check even if you didn't write them.
• Options on DirectAdmin. DirectAdmin hosting allows only these values: Indexes, IncludesNOEXEC, MultiViews, SymLinksIfOwnerMatch, FollowSymLinks and None. Any other value, such as ExecCGI or All, gives a 500. Remove it or use an allowed value.

Other causes are typos such as RewriteEngin, curly quotes pasted from a word processor, or a rewrite rule that loops on its own target. mod_rewrite is already loaded on every Linux shared server. For writing and testing rules, see How can I enable the mod_rewrite module. For WordPress, the standard file is in How to create a default .htaccess file for WordPress.

4. File and folder permissions

A wrong permission can stop the server reading your code, and some PHP setups refuse to run a script anyone can write to. The safe values:

To change a permission, right-click the file in cPanel's File Manager and choose Change Permissions, or use the Permissions option in DirectAdmin's File Manager. Change only the items the log names, and leave public_html itself alone unless support asks. If permissions look right and the log still says "Permission denied", ask support to check file ownership. See also How to manage file permissions in DirectAdmin.

5. A PHP version or extension change

If the 500 started right after you (or a plugin update) changed the PHP version, the new version is the first suspect. Two things go wrong:

• Old code on a newer PHP. Functions removed in PHP 7 and 8, such as each(), create_function() and the old mysql_ functions, cause a fatal error. The log shows Call to undefined function or a syntax error in a file that used to work.
• A missing extension. Each PHP version has its own list of enabled extensions. If your site needs intl, imagick, zip, soap or the ionCube loader and it isn't enabled for the new version, the site fails.

Switch back to the version that worked, confirm the site loads, then update the code or enable the extension before trying again. In cPanel, the version is set in MultiPHP Manager; extensions come as a server-wide set for each PHP version that you can't switch on or off yourself, so check what is loaded (upload a file containing <?php print_r(get_loaded_extensions());, open it, then delete it; phpinfo() is switched off on some of our servers) and, if one you need is missing, open a ticket naming the extension and the PHP version; see How to change PHP versions in cPanel. On DirectAdmin, see Changing PHP version in DirectAdmin.

Some PHP functions are disabled on shared hosting for security, including phpinfo() on our cPanel servers: see PHP disabled functions on shared hosting.

6. Memory and resource limits

PHP memory_limit applies to one script. The log says Allowed memory size of ... bytes exhausted. Raise memory_limit in your control panel (256M is enough for almost every WordPress site), never with a php_value line in .htaccess. If the error continues at 256M or 512M, a plugin or script is using too much memory. Full steps: How to fix "Allowed memory size exhausted" PHP errors.

Your account's limits cover everything your site runs at once. Domain India shared hosting uses CloudLinux, which gives each account a fixed share. Running out of physical memory or processes gives visitors a 500 or 503; running out of entry processes gives a 508. In cPanel, check the Faults column in Metrics › Resource Usage for the time of the error: see How to check your hosting resource usage.

7. WordPress: a plugin or theme

On WordPress, most 500 errors after an update come from one plugin or the theme. WordPress may show "There has been a critical error on this website" instead, and may email the admin address a recovery-mode link for deactivating the plugin.

If you can't reach the dashboard, use File Manager:

To see the exact error, turn on WordPress's debug log for a few minutes (WP_DEBUG and WP_DEBUG_LOG set to true in wp-config.php) and read wp-content/debug.log: see How to enable debugging in WordPress.

If the files themselves look damaged or unfamiliar, the site may have been hacked: see the security checklist for a hacked or defaced website.

8. The cPanel cache trap: always test with ?t=

Our cPanel servers run nginx in front of Apache as a caching proxy. It keeps copies of normal pages and redirects for up to 120 minutes (measured 22 September 2026), and when Apache returns a 500 it can keep serving the stored copy. That creates two traps:

• A broken site can look fine. A page you opened recently comes back from the cache while other pages still give visitors the 500.
• A fixed site can look wrong. A page or redirect stored while something was misconfigured can keep being served for up to two hours after your fix.

Make every test request unique: add a query string you change each time, such as ?t=1, then ?t=2. That request skips the stored copy and reaches Apache. Use a private browser window to avoid your browser's own cache too. From a terminal:

curl -sI "https://yourdomain.in/?t=$(date +%s)" | head -1

This cache is on our cPanel servers; we have not measured the same behaviour on DirectAdmin or Webuzo.

9. Windows (Plesk) hosting

Domain India Windows hosting runs IIS with the Plesk panel, so .htaccess has no effect there. The common 500 causes are different:

• A malformed web.config. A missing closing tag or a section IIS doesn't recognise breaks the whole site. Restore your last working copy first, then edit carefully.
• Application errors. ASP.NET and PHP errors show as a plain 500 unless detailed errors are turned on.

To see the real error, check your domain's logs in Plesk (see How to check Plesk logs). For ASP.NET, you can briefly show detailed errors by adding these two lines to the matching sections of your existing web.config:

<!-- inside system.web -->
<customErrors mode="Off" />
<!-- inside system.webServer -->
<httpErrors errorMode="Detailed" />

Remove them once you have the message, because detailed errors show visitors your code and file paths.

10. Getting help, and where Domain India hosting fits

When to contact support, and what to send

Open a ticket if the log shows nothing, names a file you can't change, or the 500 affects every site on your account. Include:

• the exact URL and the time the error happened, with time zone;
• the error log line from Metrics › Errors or the error_log file;
• what changed just before it started (a plugin update, a PHP version change, an .htaccess edit, a file upload);
• what you have already tried from this guide.

Support is on 24/7 live chat, and tickets get a first response within 15 minutes; how long a fix takes depends on the issue. There is no phone support. Open a ticket at /support/ticket or, when logged in, at New ticket. Please don't send passwords in the ticket.

Where Domain India hosting fits

Domain India Linux shared hosting (cPanel, DirectAdmin and Webuzo) runs Apache with mod_rewrite and .htaccess, and lets you choose your PHP version for each site. If your site still hits its account limits after you have fixed the cause, a larger plan or a VPS gives it more room.

Prices on the cards are live and exclude 18% GST. Compare all plans on cPanel hosting, DirectAdmin hosting, Windows hosting and VPS servers.

Ready to track it down? Start with your error log, then use the mod_rewrite guide for .htaccess fixes, or open a ticket with the URL, the time and the log line.