502 Bad Gateway Error?

Table of Contents

What 502 Bad Gateway Error Means
Step 1: Refresh the Page
Step 2: Clear Your Cache
Step 3: Deactivate Your Plugins
Step 4: Change the Theme
Step 5: Disable Your Firewall
Step 6: Review Your Server Resources

What is a 502 Bad Gateway Error?

In this guide, we will break down what the 502 Bad Gateway error means, explore common causes, and walk you through how to fix it. Whether you are tech-savvy or a complete novice, you should be able to follow these steps with no problem. Let’s dive in!

Breaking Down the Meaning

This error happens when one server receives an invalid response from another server. In WordPress, it normally means that your hosting server is trying to connect to another service, like PHP or a proxy, and something has gone wrong.

Instead of showing your website like normal, your browser instead displays the error message.

Common Causes That Block the Gateway

There are many different causes for receiving the 502 error on your website, and some of them aren’t always easy to figure out at first. The most common reasons that you would see this error are:

• A slow or overloaded server
• Plugin or theme conflicts
• PHP errors and timeouts
• DNS misconfiguration
• Firewall or security feature blocking access

How to Fix It, Step by Step

Let’s go through some steps you can take to try to resolve this issue on your own. We’ll start with the easiest steps first.

Step 1: Refresh the page

It might sound so simple at first, and you might even laugh at the suggestion. Sometimes, though, this can be just a temporary glitch and go back to normal within as little as a couple of minutes. Your server might be rebooting, under maintenance, or trying to handle a sudden surge in traffic.

If the page loads again, great! If it doesn’t, then keep reading for more steps.

Step 3: Deactivate Your Plugins

An outdated, buggy, or poorly managed plugin can sometimes cause issues with your website. This is why we are proactive about managing and keeping your plugins updated. To do it yourself, follow these steps:

First, if you have access to your WordPress dashboard, then you will want to log in there through wp-admin. If you don’t know the address to log in, it is usually yourdomain.com/wp-admin. (With yourdomain.com being the name of your website). If you don’t know your password, WordPress has a handy place on this page where you can reset it via your email address.

Once you get logged into your WordPress dashboard, you will want to find the plugins. This is located in the left-hand sidebar and usually looks like a plug icon.

Next you will want to go to the All Plugins tab and deactivate your plugins. You can choose to do this one at a time and then try viewing your webpage if you want to try and pinpoint the issue and think it may be plugin related. For example, let’s say you just installed a new plugin and then your website stopped working. Just deactivate that plugin and then try viewing your website to see if it could be the issue.

Note: In the image above, some plugins are outdated. We recommend making sure that all of your plugins are up to date before following this step! If not, try updating them first and then viewing your website again.

If you have tried refreshing the page and checking your plugins, yet still see the 502 Bad Gateway Error message, read on for more troubleshooting steps.

Step 4: Try Changing Your Theme

An old theme or a theme with no updates can cause issues, just like a plugin can. You can try changing your theme to see if this resolves the problem. Before you change your theme completely, try checking to see if there are any updates for it first, or if you need to renew your license (if you have a paid theme).

In your WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance, then Themes.

Once you have gone to your themes, then you can select and activate a different theme, like the 2023 theme, then save the changes. Try refreshing your website again and going to your home page to see if changing the theme has fixed the problem.

Still seeing an error? No problem! Read on for more troubleshooting steps.

Step 5: Disable Your Firewall

It probably sounds crazy to tell you to disable a security feature that is supposed to protect your website, but it is a vital troubleshooting step to identifying the core issue causing the 502 error if all else has failed.

Sometimes, something like a firewall or CDN can get too aggressive and block traffic even when it’s not needed, including traffic from your own server.  Try logging into your dashboard and either pause or disable your security features, like your firewall. This could be something like Cloudflare or Sucuri.

Try refreshing your website now and loading your page to see if the error is gone. If it is gone, you might need to adjust the settings in your firewall or contact your support team for assistance. If you are still having a problem, continue reading for our last troubleshooting step.

Step 6: Review Your Server Resources & Logs

If you have tried everything and still see this 502 error, then the issue may be deeper within your server resources or error logs. This step is a little bit more advanced, but it could provide the insight you need to resolve recurring issues.

Here is what you can check:

Your server logs: Your hosting provider likely provides access to error logs through a control panel or dashboard. Look for any recent issues that may have occurred around the time you started seeing the 502 error message. These logs sometimes show PHP error logs, timeouts, and other server-side issues. If you don’t know precisely what you are looking at or what it means, you can always contact their support team for more insight.

Resource Usage: Some hosts do set limits on CPU, memory and processes, and the more you pay, the more allowance you get for larger limits. If your site is using too many resources, for example: during a traffic spike, it could trigger the 502 Bad Gateway message. Your hosting dashboard may show a graph or alerts about your server limits.

What to do if this is the issue:

If you see an issue here, you may need to consider upgrading your hosting plan. As websites grow, they tend to take more resources, which can max out the limits in your current plan. 

You can also try to optimize your site performance by reducing image sizes, removing unused themes and plugins, or using a caching tool to lighten the load on the server. For any videos, consider uploading them to a video-sharing service rather than storing them in your media library.

If you’re still seeing the 502 Bad Gateway Error after trying all the steps above, it might be time to call in the pros. Whether you’re unsure about what to do next or just want peace of mind, our expert web maintenance team at Hog the Web is here to help.

We’ll diagnose the issue, resolve it quickly, and get your site back online—so you can focus on running your business.

Contact us today and let us take care of the rest.