Fix ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE in WordPress

ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE is one of the errors that may occur in WordPress. This error can be caused by the website you are visiting or your system.

In this article, we would like to discuss ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE in WordPress and how to fix it.

Why Do I see ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE?

There are many reasons for the occurrence of ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE in WordPress. This error will be displayed by the browser and limits your access to the website.

If you get this error, before you change the browser or check for other possibilities, make sure you have access to the internet. In addition, this error can be caused if your browser’s memory is full.

Installed addons and extensions could have a negative impact on your browser’s performance. Thus, you will receive this error if your computer is infected or the website has internal issues.

If It’s Caused By WordPress

If all of your visitors are getting this error, then your website is causing it. To fix it, follow the steps below:

1. Plugins Confliction

Before installing different plugins on your website, make sure they are compatible with other plugins and more importantly WordPress itself. In most cases, if plugins are conflicting with one another you get the ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE message.

Plugins are required to load the CSS and JavaScripts files and often they make changes to the elements and cause plugins to not work properly. To check if the installed plugins are the source of this error, follow the following steps:

1. Before making any changes to WordPress we highly recommend getting a full backup of your website.
2. Let’s begin. To check if the installed plugins are the source of this error, you must disable all of them. To do so, go to the WordPress Dashboard > Plugins and select all plugins. Then, from the bulk action menu choose Deactivate and click on Apply.
3. Revisit your website once the plugins are disabled. If you are still seeing the ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE it means that plugins aren’t the source of this error. On the other hand, if the error is gone it means that one of the installed plugins is causing issues. Therefore, you have to enable the installed plugins one by one to find the one that’s causing the issue.

2. Themes Confliction

If plugins aren’t the source of this error then, you must check installed and activated themes in WordPress.

To do so, you must choose one of the default themes that come with WordPress. Default themes are usually named after the years of the plugins, for example, twentysixteen. These themes can be found in the Appearance tab of the WordPress Dashboard.

If you are already using one of the default themes, you must activate another theme. If the error disappears then your theme was the source of the error.

In either case, if one of the plugins or themes are causing ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE you must contact their developers and notify them about the error.

3. Install the SSH SFTP Updater Support Plugin

The easiest method to keep WordPress updated at all times is by installing the SSH SFTP Updater Support plugin.

Follow the steps below to install the plugin:

1. Login to the WordPress Dashboard and click on Plugins and Add New.

2. Type in SSH SFTP Updater Support in the search box and press enter.

3. Then click on Install Now and Activate the plugin.

4. Limit MaxLineLength

Another method to fix ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE in WordPress is by limiting the MaxLineLength. To do so, simply follow the steps below:

1. Connect to your server either with an FTP client or from cPanel.
2. Go to File Manager.
3. Download the .htaccess file and open it with an editor.
4. Add this code at the top, SubstitueMaxLineLength 10m.
5. Save the file and upload it back where you downloaded it from.

If Your Computer Is Causing It

If ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE is only displayed on your computer, don’t panic there are multiple methods of fixing it.

1. Clear Browser’s Cache

One of the easiest methods to fix this error is by clearing your browser’s cache.

1. Open your browser and press Ctrl+H (if your browser is Google Chrome).

2. Click on Clear Browsing Data from the left-hand side.

3. Choose All Time from the Time range drop-down menu.

4. Check all boxes and click on Clear data.

Once the process is finished, restart the browser and revisit the website again. If this method fixed the error, then there is no need to follow the following methods.

However, if it didn’t we recommend trying other methods mentioned below.

2. Reset Network Configuration

The second method is to reset your network configurations. Follow the steps below:

1. Right-click the Windows icon on the bottom left of your screen and click on Command Prompt (Admin) or you can press Windows+R and type CMD and click ok.

2. In the opened window type the following commands and press enter.

ipconfig /flushdns
nbtstat –r
netsh int ip reset
netsh winsock reset

3. Restart your windows and if you no longer see the ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE there’s no need to follow the following method.

3. Delete temp Files

Deleting temp files is another method to fix ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE. Follow the following steps:

1. From your keyboard press Windows+R

2. Search for %temp% and click ok

3. temp files will be displayed to us in a new window

4. Press Ctrl+A to select them all and delete them.

5. Open your browser and check if the error is gone or not.

If none of the methods mentioned above fixed the error, use another browser and if the error is no longer displaying then you have to reinstall the previous browser.

As mentioned above, ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE is caused either from the website or on your computer. If the error is only caused on the computer you can fix it by clearing your browser’s cache, reset network configuration and delete the temp files.

If the error is website-based you can fix it by installing the SSH SFTP Updater Support plugin to keep your website updated at all times or by checking confliction between themes and plugins. In addition, you can limit the MaxLineLength in the .htaccess file.