Fix the 503 Service Unavailable error

Definitions

The 503 Service Unavailable indicates a website is unable to handle a load request. Typically, this is because your hosting account has exceeded the allocated server resources on its plan.

Here is a visual example of the 503 Service Unavailable error:

Before you start

🚨 Typically, the 503 Service Unavailable is temporary and resolves itself once your hosting account resource usage stabilizes.

✅ The best thing to do when seeing a 503 error is to check your hosting account CPU and memory usage.

ℹ️ Follow each step by step fix below to see why the 503 error is happening and take measures to avoid encountering it in the future.

Step by step

Check your hosting account resource usage

In the majority of cases, a 503 error is caused by high resource usage on your hosting account.

1. Log in to your hosting control panel

2. Click on the Resource Usage button

3. Click on the Current Usage tab

4. Look for the CPU Usage, Physical Memory Usage and Faults graphs. If usage exceeds the red limit line on any graph, your hosting account is exhausting the allocated server resources on your hosting plan, causing the 503 error on your website(s).

5. To view the specific processes on your hosting account that are triggering high resource usage, click on Snapshot from the top menu and then Process List and HTTP Queries to view details

6. Allow some time to pass for your resource usage to stabilize and for heavy processes to complete. Once resource usage has stabilized, reload your website(s) and you will see things loading fine.

7. Review both the CPU usage and memory usage guides to better understand your resource usage and learn how to optimize it

Check for a plugin error

In some instances, a 503 error is caused by a plugin.

1. Open this guide: Check your website error log and apply common fixes

2. In that guide, follow all the steps under ‘Check your website error log‘

3. Once in your error log, use that same guide to ‘Identify a plugin error‘

4. If you find a plugin error, complete the ‘Fix a plugin error‘ steps

Check for a theme error

Sometimes, a theme can cause a 503 error.

1. Open this guide: Check your website error log and apply common fixes

2. In that guide, follow all the steps under ‘Check your website error log‘

3. Once in your error log, use that same guide to ‘Identify a theme error‘

4. If you find a theme error, complete the ‘Fix a theme error‘ steps

Increase your PHP memory threshold

Sometimes a 503 error is caused by a PHP memory threshold limit.

1. Log in to your hosting control panel

2. Click on the Select PHP version button

3. Look for the memory_limit dropdown

4. On the dropdown, select the highest threshold value available

5. Wait a few moments and then load your website

Refresh your web browser page

A simple refresh on your browser page could fix the 503 Error.

1. Look for the circular arrow icon near the address bar and click it

2. Or, if you prefer keyboard shortcuts:

• Cmd + R on a Mac
• Press F5 or Ctrl + R on Windows

Clear your browser cache and cookies

Clearing your browser cache could fix the 503 Error.

Here are steps for major web browsers, complete them on your computer or laptop:

Google Chrome:

1. Click on the three vertical dots on the top-right corner of your browser window

2. Navigate to More Tools > Clear Browsing Data

3. Make sure Cached images and files and Cookies and other site data are checked

4. Click on Clear Data

5. Open a new web browser window

6. Load your website

Safari:

1. Click on Safari in the top menu and then select Preferences

2. Navigate to the Privacy tab and click on Manage Website Data

3. Click on Remove All and then confirm your decision

4. Close the preferences window and refresh the page to reload your website

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Click on the three horizontal lines at the top-right corner, then select Settings

2. Select the Privacy & Security tab on the left

3. Scroll down to the Cookies and Site Data section and click on Clear Data

4. Make sure Cookies and Site Data and Cached Web Content are both selected, then click Clear

5. Open a new web browser window

6. Load your website

Restart your computer or device

A simple restart can sometimes solve many problems. If after performing all the steps above, you are still seeing the 503 Service Unavailable error, try restarting your computer or device.

Once you’ve restarted your device, open a new web browser window on your device to load your website.