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How to fix 502 bad gateway error in WordPress

Do you want to fix the 502 bad gateway error on your site? This error is quite annoying because it can be caused by many different things. This means that fixing the 502 gateway error can take some time. In this article, we will show you how to easily fix the 502 bad gateway error in WordPress.

How to fix 502 bad gateway error in WordPress

What is a 502 bad gateway error?

A 502 Bad Gateway error is triggered when your WordPress hosting server gets an invalid response for the requested page.

A bad gateway error is one of the common WordPress errors that you may encounter on your site. It can be due to various reasons and depending on your server, the error message may also slightly differ in its appearance.

How to fix 502 bad gateway error in WordPress

When you visit a website, your browser sends a request to the hosting server. The hosting server finds the page and sends it to your browser with the status code.

Normally, you would not see this status code. However, in the event of an error, the status code is displayed with an error message. Examples of such errors include 404 not found, 503 service unavailable, 403 forbidden errors, and more.

The most common reason for a 502 gateway error is when your request takes too long for the server to respond. This delay may be a temporary glitch caused by high traffic. It could also be a bug caused by a poorly coded WordPress theme or plugin. Last but not least, it can also happen due to misconfiguration of the server.

With that said, let's take a look at how to easily fix the 502 bad gateway error in WordPress.

Fixing the 502 Bad Gateway Error

This error usually occurs when your server cannot find the cause of the invalid response. This means that we will try different troubleshooting steps until we find the problem.

Ready let's start.

Step 1:Reload your website

Sometimes your server may take longer to respond due to increased traffic or low server resources. In that case, the problem may automatically disappear in a few minutes. You should try to reload the web page you are viewing to see if this was the cause.

If this solved your problem, then you don't need to read any further. However, if you see this error frequently then you should read on as there may be something else that needs to be fixed.

Step 2:Clear browser cache

Your browser may show you the cache error page. Even after fixing the problem, you would still see the 502 error because the browser is loading your website from cache.

To fix this, users with Windows / Linux operating systems can press Ctrl + F5 buttons and Mac OS users can press CMD + Shift + R Buttons on their keyboards to refresh the page. You can also delete the cache manually from your browser settings.

How to fix 502 bad gateway error in WordPress

Once you clear your WordPress cache, try loading the website again.

You can use a different browser to troubleshoot if the problem occurs due to browser cache. If you see the error in all browsers, then continue reading.

Step 3:Disable CDN or Firewall

If you are using a CDN service or website firewall on your website, their servers may be up and running. To verify this, you will need to temporarily disable the CDN.

Once disabled, it will remove the extra layer that has been created between your browser and the hosting server. Your website will now fully load from your server and if the issue was caused by the CDN/firewall service, it will now be resolved.

You can then contact your CDN service provider for support. Once the issue is resolved, you can go ahead and enable the CDN again.

Step 4:Update WordPress Themes and Plugins

If the error is still there, the next step is to check your theme or plugins.

First, you will need to disable all WordPress plugins via FTP. After that, visit their website to see if the error has been resolved.

If so, then one of your plugins was causing the problem. Now you need to activate all the plugins one by one until you can reproduce the error. This will help you locate the plugin responsible for the error.

You can find an alternative plugin or contact the plugin author for support.

If disabling plugins did not fix your problem, then you should check your WordPress theme. You will need to change the WordPress theme through phpMyAdmin.

After changing your theme to the default WordPress theme, visit your website to see if it's working. If you are still seeing the error, continue reading.

Step 5:Check the hosting server

If all the troubleshooting steps mentioned above failed, there is likely a problem with your hosting server.

You should contact your hosting provider's support team and discuss the problem with them. You can also mention all the troubleshooting steps you have taken.

All good WordPress hosting companies will be able to quickly fix the problem if it is caused by poor server settings.

That is all. We hope this article helped you learn how to fix 502 bad gateway error in WordPress. You can also check out our comprehensive WordPress troubleshooting guide for step-by-step instructions on how to fix your WordPress issues.

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