How to solve HTTP Error 500 After installing a plugin on a WordPress website

When you get a ‘HTTP Error 500′ when trying to access your website, it is an indication that your website server is work but there is a misconfiguration in your website file/s.

You can learn more about several types of  HTTP Error 500 on this elaborate post by lifewire.com

There are many reasons why this could occur but on this article we will look at HTTP Error 500 caused after installing a plugin on a WordPress website.

This is a common issue with our clients.

For this to work you will need access to your hosting account file manager either web-based or through FTP.

A file manager manages and organizes your website files.

Though not necessary I recommend you learn the basic WordPress file structure which you can learn more through this article by wpbeginners.com.

However, this is going to be an easy to follow tutorial.

Let’s get into it.

If your website has been working perfectly and suddenly after installing a plugin your website crashes, it means your plugin is not compatible with the current wordpress versionor its conflicting with an existing plugin causing the error.

Most of the time when this error show up, you cant access wp-admin for your website which means you cannot deactivate the just installed plugin.

So, what do you do?

1. Access website file manager

This is where having access to your file manager is important.

You can access file manager through FTP or web-based solutions such as Cpanel

2. Go to the Wp-content > Plugins folder

Go to the wp-content folder in your website server then to the plugins folder.

Every plugin you install on your website a corresponding folder with the plugin name is created in the plugins folder.

3. Locate the plugin you recently installed 

Locate the plugin you recently installed.

If you are not sure, most host provider file manager allows you to sort the folder based on the last modified. This will help identify the recently added folder.

4. Rename recently installed plugin folder

Once you identify the plugin folder rename it.

For instance, if the plugin folder is called xyz you could just rename it to xyz1 or similar.

Quick tip. Keep the original plugin name when renaming to avoid confusion.

5. Plugin successfully disabled.

Once you rename a plugin WordPress automatically disables it and that way you will get rid of the annoying error and gain access to your website.

When you log in to your website as the admin you will be notified that your plugin has been disabled.

You can now delete the plugin from your website or seek for help from the plugin developer on how to resolve the issue.

Conclusion.

When your website crashes after installing a plugin and locks you out of the wp-admin,  it means the new plugin is conflicting with WordPress core system or a plugin.

You need to deactivate or remove the new plugin.

To do this locate the specific plugin folder from wp-content>plugins folder and rename it, this will automatically deactivate the plugin.

Am sure there are so many ways to solve the same problem.

How do you solve this problem on your website or client website?