Can't access wp-admin Internal Server Error 500

Question

I suddenly can't access company.co.za/wp-admin, as it redirects to

http://company.co.za/wp-login.php?redirect_to=http%3A%2F%company.co.za%2Fwp-admin%2F&reauth=1

with error 500

What should I do to resolve this?

I know I can try disabling all plugins, but how do I do that without loggin into wp dashboard? Is there some other step I should take?

Thank you

Answer 1

There are so many for internal server error. The main reasons for internal server errors are.

1. Corrupt .htaccess file
2. PHP Memory limit
3. Corrupted plugin
4. Incompatible PHP version
5. Corrupted core files

In oder to fix this issue, you need to investigate in step by step order.

To solve this issue first of all you need to enable Debug mode and check the issue. after that try with restoring .htacess file, enabling default theme, disabling plugins etc.

if you still facing 500 internal server issue, check the tutorial on wpera --> https://www.wpera.net/500-internal-server-error/

Answer 2

Thank you so much Neelima Naidu,

In my case, i faced this problem: Incompatible PHP version

The php version was updated automatically in cpanel: from 5.6 to 7. My site was using old version of Wordpress and plugins and that update caused 500 error.

It was solved now!

Thanks a lot!

Pamela

Answer 3

500 errors are hard to diagnose; they are sort of generic. Sometimes the access logs will give you hints. And they are not consistent - they come and go sometimes.

I'd temporarily rename the plugins folder to disable them, then look at the site. If the problem does not reoccur, then put the plugin folders back one-two at a time to identify.

If possible, also change to one of the 'twenty' themes temporarily. And, check with your hosting support to see if they have ideas that are specific to your site.

Answer 4

I've had this a few times and think it was caused by Wordpress auto updates. My fix is to FTP in to the site and rename the plugins folder to plugins.old or something similar then access the dashboard, check that you're running the latest version of Wordpress, one site told me I was running an old insecure version of PHP(5) and so I upgraded to 7.2 and then renamed the plugins folder back to normal and everything works fine again.

Answer 5

Did you just add a plugin or change a theme? if you cannot access anything, go to phpmyadmin through the cpanel through your hosting provider.

1. Find your wp database.
2. Go to wp_options table.
3. If you changed plugins, run the SQL: UPDATE wp_options SET option_value = 'a:0:{}' WHERE option_name = 'active_plugins';

-or-

Find Option_name 'active_plugins' and remove the plugin from the code. Each plugin will start with 0;#; I typically copy and paste this whole thing into notepad in case it is not the plugin that does it.

*** If you changed themes *** 3) Find Option_name 'template' and change the value to the name of the theme you had it before 4) Find Option_name 'Stylesheet' and change the value to the name of theme (typically a theme will have the same name stylesheet)

hope that helps!