Coding⏱️ 4 min read📅 2026-06-15

How to Fix: apache throws 500 error on php error

Apache server returns 500 error on PHP errors due to missing error display. Learn how to fix and customize error messages.

Quick Answer: Check php.ini file for display_errors setting, set it to On (1) to show error messages in the browser.

📋 Table of Contents

  1. ⚠️ Common Causes
  2. 🛠️ Step-by-Step Verified Fixes
  3. ✨ Wrapping Up

Apache throws a 500 error on PHP errors, which affects all users who visit your website. This issue is frustrating because it prevents users from seeing detailed error messages that could help diagnose and fix problems. However, we will provide you with two methods to resolve this issue and improve the user experience.

The primary goal of these methods is to display error messages in a more informative way while still providing a good user experience for visitors. By following these steps, you should be able to resolve the 500 error on PHP errors and make your website more reliable.

⚠️ Common Causes

  • The root cause of this issue is that Apache's error logging mechanism does not display detailed PHP error messages by default. This is because Apache uses a custom error handler that overrides the standard PHP error handling mechanism. As a result, when a PHP error occurs, Apache returns a generic 500 Internal Server Error instead of displaying the actual error message.
  • Another possible cause is that the PHP error reporting level is set too low, which can prevent detailed error messages from being displayed. However, this should not be the case if you have followed the standard configuration guidelines for PHP and Apache.

🛠️ Step-by-Step Verified Fixes

Configuring PHP to display error messages in the browser

  1. Step 1: Open your php.ini file (usually located at /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini) and look for the 'display_errors' directive. Set it to 'On' to enable detailed error messages to be displayed in the browser.
  2. Step 2: Save the changes to the php.ini file and restart Apache by running the command '/service apache2 restart'.
  3. Step 3: Test your website again to see if the 500 error has been resolved.

Using a custom error handler to display PHP error messages

  1. Step 1: Create a new file called 'error.php' in the same directory as your index.php file. This will be used as a custom error handler.
  2. Step 2: In this file, add the following code: `

    Error:

    `. This will display a generic error message with the URL that caused the error.
  3. Step 3: Add the following line to your Apache configuration file (usually located at /etc/apache2/apache2.conf): `ErrorDocument 500 /error.php`. This will redirect any 500 errors to your custom error handler.

✨ Wrapping Up

By following one of these two methods, you should be able to resolve the issue and display more informative error messages on your website. Remember to test your website thoroughly after making changes to ensure that the problem has been resolved.

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