Home » Tutorials » How to Fix 502 Bad Gateway Error in WordPress?
If you are running a WordPress site, chances are you have come across different types of errors at some point.
One of the most frustrating ones is the 502 Bad Gateway Error. Unlike a simple 404 page not found, a 502 error feels confusing. Why? Because it doesn’t clearly tell you what went wrong. But, here’s the good news, in most cases 502 errors can be fixed by you quite easily.
And today, I’m going to explain it in detail. After the end of this article, you’ll have a clear idea on what it means, why it happens, how it affects your website. And most importantly, how to fix 502 bad gateway errors in WordPress.
So, let’s move forward shall we?
First, let me give you the basics of the 502 error. Whenever any issue occurs, we as humans ask the first question on what it is.
So, let me be as simple as I can and help you understand what it is. How the internet works is it sends requests and responses between the browser and the server. Which server? The server that hosts your website.
After you type an URL (website address), it (the browser) sends a request to the server, so it gets the permission to deliver the page. After the server gets the information, it processes the request using services like PHP or a database. And then, it sends back the information to your browser to load the requested page.
Now, if the explained process doesn’t complete because of any interruption or something else, you’ll see the 502 Bad Gateway Error. To tell it in simple terms, your browser requested the server for your websites, it (the server) forwards the request to another service. But instead of getting a valid response, it received no response at all. Sometimes maybe it got an invalid one. So, the server gets confused with the response and doesn’t know what to do. And it displays the 502 bad gateway error message in the browser.
At first glance, most people think that the 502 error might just seem like a small inconvenience. But its impact can be significant if it continues for too long. For visitors, it creates confusion and frustration.
You’ve also faced it several times, you go to a website and it doesn’t load and gives you a 502 error. Now, if it’s very important for you to get information from that website, you’ll be anxious for a bit. And if that outage continues, you become frustrated, because your work is on hold.
The same thing happens to users who come to your website. Instead of reading your content or buying a product, they see an error screen and quickly leave your site. And as there are hundreds more competitors, they go to the next one. Clearly bad for business, because in this fast paced world, a small thing can make or break a business.
For you as a site owner, having a 502 error means lost traffic, reduced conversions, and even lower search rankings. And be careful because, if the search engines repeatedly find your site unavailable, your site might get blacklisted or deranked by search engines. And I bet you don’t want that to happen, do you?
Sometimes, even the short-term outages caused by 502 errors can harm user trust. Imagine a potential customer trying to check out a product on your website. But what they see is the 502 error. They might not come back, and you lose a sale. This is why it’s a major thing to fix the error whenever it occurs.
Check out this guide to fix WordPress dashboard not loading.
Now that you understand what a 502 error is and why it happens, let’s go through detailed solutions. Start with the simplest and move towards the advanced fixes until the error is resolved.
Sometimes a 502 error is only temporary. It might’ve been caused by the browser itself. So, all you need to do is refresh the page after a few seconds. If it still doesn’t work, try opening the site in an incognito/private browsing window.
This rules out the issues caused by cached files in the browser. Now what you can do is, test the site from a different device. Also, try switching from Wi-Fi to mobile data. If your site loads now, the problem is on your local device or network.
Now, clear the DNS cache. Doing it can simply fix the issue that persists. But, sometimes, the device stores an outdated address, causing a connection failure. Flushing the DNS will ensure that your device requests the latest address from the server.
Here’s how you can flush the DNS:Windows: Open Command Prompt → type ipconfig /flushdns → Enter.Mac: Open Terminal → type sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder.
After you do this, kindly restart your browser and try to load the website again. If the 502 bad gateway error is caused by browser, cache or DNS, it will load now, fixing the issue.
To protect our sites, we all take precautionary measures. Like a CDN (Content Delivery Network) such as Cloudflare or a firewall like Sucuri. They can sometimes cause a 502 error. This is because they are the MITM (Man in the middle) between users and the origin server. If the CDN cannot connect to your server properly or if SSL settings are misconfigured, it will show the 502 bad gateway error.
Now, you can test it by logging in to your CDN dashboard and temporarily pause it. Or you can switch it into DNS-only mode. If your site loads fine without the CDN, then you know it’s the CDN causing this error.
Now, to fix this, check your DNS settings, SSL certificates, and firewall rules. If you see anything is not configured properly or have issues, kindly fix them. And it will fix the 502 bad gateway error.
One of the most common reasons behind 502 errors in WordPress is a plugin or theme conflict. If you recently installed or updated a plugin and then started seeing the error, you know who’s the reason for this issue.
If this issue occurs, you might not be able to access the WordPress admin area. So, what can you do? You’ll need to use FTP or your hosting file manager.
Once you get access, navigate to wp-content/plugins/. Now, all you need to do is to rename the entire plugins folder to something like plugins-old. This will disable all plugins at once.
If your site loads now, you are now sure that a plugin is causing this issue. Simply, rename the folder back to plugins and then disable plugins one by one until you identify the faulty one.
The same approach works for themes. Switch to a default WordPress theme such as Twenty Twenty-Five. If your site loads after doing that, you need to fix something in your previous theme.
If you don’t know, WordPress relies heavily on PHP. And if your scripts take too long or run out of memory, the server will give you a 502 bad gateway error. To fix this, you can increase the PHP memory limit and execution time.
Open your wp-config.php file and add the following code:define(‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘256M’);define(‘WP_MAX_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘512M’);
If you have access to php.ini or .user.ini, increase the following:memory_limit = 512Mmax_execution_time = 300
This allows PHP to run longer and use more resources. This will prevent crashes during heavy tasks and will now show you the 502 bad gateway error anymore.
A corrupted or misconfigured .htaccess file can also cause 502 bad gateway errors. If you don’t know, this file controls important server rules. And if something is wrong, it will block requests. And, to fix it, rename your current .htaccess file (found in your site’s root folder) to .htaccess-old. Then, create a new one with WordPress defaults and save it. Now, test your site again, if the 502 bad gateway error was caused by this, it will work as usual.
If none of the above solutions work, well, there is only one thing you can do. Because the issue may be with your hosting environment. Hosting servers sometimes crash PHP-FPM services. And sometimes the site goes down temporarily due to maintenance.
If this happens, please contact your hosting provider and ask for help. They will check the error logs, restart PHP, and check if your site is hitting resource limits. If anything is wrong with the hosting they will surely fix the issue from their side, and you won’t have to do anything. And when they’re done, you won’t see the 502 bad gateway error anymore.
So, you’ve read all of my fixes and come here? Great! Did I help you fix the 502 bad gateway error in WordPress? Yes? That’s so cool.
Please always remember, anything happens to your site, the first thing you should not do is to panic. It doesn’t fix anything. What you can do is understand the reason for the issue, search for a fix for it, and implement the fix. Ta-da, your site is running again. Worrying wouldn’t have done much.
So. for the 502 bad gateway error, start with simple checks like refreshing or disabling plugins. Then continue to more advanced fixes like increasing PHP limits or checking server configurations. If all else fails, your hosting provider can step in to help.
With a bit of patience, follow the steps I’ve shared above. You’ll not only fix the issue but also make your WordPress site more stable and reliable in the long run. We have also written an fixing guide for Elementor Editor not loading. Do check it out as well.
Have a great day!
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