Are you getting a 502 Bad Gateway error in your web browser? You need to know what is 502 Bad Gateway is and the reason behind this error. However, it can be a little tricky to solve this error. But you will understand why this kind of error appears on your browser at times and how to fix it after reading this article.
If 502 Bad Gateway appears on a web browser, there is something wrong with the web server communication. To explain deeper, it happens when your website server is relying on another server for information, and the other server is providing a bad response. This error can happen because of so many reasons. Also, this error appears in different formats like,
- 502 Service Temporarily Overloaded
- HTTP Error 502 Bad Gateway
- 502 Bad Gateway
- HTTP 502
- Error 502
- 502 Server Error: The server encountered a temporary error and could not complete your request
- 502 Proxy Error
- Temporary Error (502)
On all the error codes, you will notice 502, and that is because of the common HTTP status code in which the webserver is designed.
Contents
- Common Reasons For 502 Bad Gateway Error
- How to Fix 502 Bad Gateway Error
- Reload the Webpage
- Check the Server Connectivity
- Start a new Browsing Session
- Clear Cache and Cookies
- Check DNS Changes
- Check the Server Access Log
- Use Safe Mode if Browser outputs 502 Bad Gateway
- Restart your System and Networking Device
- Seek Support
- Frequently Asked Questions
Common Reasons For 502 Bad Gateway Error
Some of the common reasons for 502 bad gateway errors are:
- Proxy timeout
- The dropped connection between proxy and server
- Queued requests
How to Fix 502 Bad Gateway Error
Reload the Webpage
The first and foremost solution is to reload the webpage. It is the simplest option to try before jumping to other solutions.
Use Ctrl + R on Windows and Command + R on Mac to reload the page. Also, there is a refresh button available on the address bar of the browser for this purpose.
Check the Server Connectivity
If that doesn’t help you, check for connectivity issues. If the server is under maintenance, you can wait for some time and then try opening it later. You can consult with people or use services like search engine reports to check for the server status.
Start a new Browsing Session
Close all the tabs and then restart the browser. You can try searching the URL by re-opening the same browser. Or else from a new browser like Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, etc.
Clear Cache and Cookies
Browser with outdated cached files or corrupted files may be another reason for the 502 Bad Gateway error. Clear cache and delete cookies from your bowser’s history.
Check DNS Changes
Have you changed your host server? Or did you move your browser’s IP address? These changes do affect your Website’s DNS server. The DNS servers take time to adapt to the changes and be effective. It can be a reason for your 502 bad gateway, and it will be alright on its own after the DNS changes become effective. Use any DNS propagation tool and check whether changes made are visible to all geographies.
Check the Server Access Log
In the IIS (Internet Information Services) access logs, check the status code. If it is 502, then the error is on your server. But if it is not 502, then there may be issues with your system or network. Similarly, check all the access logs of your proxy server. A detailed check on the access logs gives you the status of the error.
Use Safe Mode if Browser outputs 502 Bad Gateway
First of all, disable all your extensions and then try connecting to your website. If the 502 bad gateway error persists, enable your plugins one by one and find whether the problem is associated with the plugins or not.
Restart your System and Networking Device
This option is good to try after testing all the other six solutions. If the 502 bad gateway error still remains after trying the six options, then the problem is not with your browser. It may be in your system or your networking device. Restart your system and then your networking device.
Seek Support
Finally, when none of the solutions helped you, contact the website you are looking for. Based on the support they provide, you can reach them through call, email, or use their social networking accounts. If there is no error from the website end, then contact your internet service provider.
Frequently Asked Questions
The 502 Bad Gateway error can be due to plenty of reasons. The primary reason is that the webserver is not able to communicate due to proxy timeout, dropped connection between proxy and browser and qued requests, or too many requests due to which server has become unresponsive.
>>502 Bad Gateway generally means communication error with the webserver.
>>You can try to soft reload and hard reload on your web browser.
>>Ping the URL from shell or command prompt to check if the server is connected to the web.
>>Check server load. If the server has too many requests to handle, it may become unresponsive and stop processing requests or become unreachable to the client’s browser.
>>Check if the DNS server is reachable.
>>You could also try to check the DNS propagation if some changes to DNS have been made recently.
This is common if your WordPress site is hosted on a shared WordPress hosting server. WordPress is simple to use on the frontend yet complicated in the backend because too many plugins run in the background. In order to serve a page hosted on WordPress, a considerable amount of computing resources is required.
