PHP File Download Issues

The Problem

You navigate to a .php file in your browser and instead of the page rendering, the browser downloads the raw PHP source code as a file. This means the web server isn't processing PHP — it's treating the file as a static download. This is both a functionality and a security issue, as your source code (including database credentials) could be exposed.

Common Causes

• PHP handler not configured — the web server doesn't know to send .php files to the PHP interpreter
• PHP not installed — the PHP package is missing entirely from the server
• Wrong MIME type — the server is sending .php files with a download content type
• mod_php / PHP-FPM not loaded — the PHP module is installed but not enabled in the web server
• .htaccess override disabled — handler directives in .htaccess are being ignored

Apache Fixes

Check PHP Is Installed

# Check PHP version
php -v

# Check if PHP module is loaded in Apache
apache2ctl -M | grep php

# Install PHP if missing (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt install php libapache2-mod-php

# Enable the PHP module
sudo a2enmod php8.2
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Add PHP Handler in .htaccess

# Add to .htaccess
AddHandler application/x-httpd-php .php

# Or for newer Apache/PHP-FPM setups:
<FilesMatch \.php$>
    SetHandler "proxy:unix:/run/php/php8.2-fpm.sock|fcgi://localhost"
</FilesMatch>

Apache Virtual Host Configuration

# In your Apache virtual host config
<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName yourdomain.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html

    <FilesMatch \.php$>
        SetHandler application/x-httpd-php
    </FilesMatch>

    DirectoryIndex index.php index.html
</VirtualHost>

Nginx Fixes

Nginx doesn't process PHP natively — it passes PHP requests to PHP-FPM (FastCGI Process Manager):

# /etc/nginx/sites-available/yourdomain.conf
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;
    root /var/www/html;
    index index.php index.html;

    location ~ \.php$ {
        include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.2-fpm.sock;
    }
}

# Test config and reload
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

Ensure PHP-FPM Is Running

# Check PHP-FPM status
sudo systemctl status php8.2-fpm

# Start if not running
sudo systemctl start php8.2-fpm
sudo systemctl enable php8.2-fpm

cPanel PHP Handler

On cPanel shared hosting, the PHP handler is usually managed through:

1. Go to cPanel → MultiPHP Manager
2. Select your domain and choose the correct PHP version
3. Click Apply

You can also check cPanel → MultiPHP INI Editor to verify PHP configuration for your domain.

Quick Diagnostic Test

<?php
// Save as test.php and access via browser
echo "PHP is working! Version: " . phpversion();
?>

If this file downloads instead of showing text, the PHP handler is definitely misconfigured. If it shows the version, the issue is specific to certain files or directories.