How to fix “Error: MySQL Shutdown Unexpectedly” in XAMPP control panel

Are you having trouble with the XAMPP error: MySQL shutdown unexpectedly?

This is usually the result of corrupted files or an improper shutdown. Here is a simple step-by-step to fix the issue.

What can cause the error?

• Corrupted files
• Improper database shut down
• Missing files
• Port changes

Here’s what it looks like:

Steps to fix the problem

1. Stop everything in XAMPP, specifically MySQL and Apache
2. Go to your XAMPP folder and rename the /xampp/mysql/data folder to /xampp/mysql/data-old
3. Create a new (empty) folder and name it “/xampp/mysql/data“
4. Copy the folders from “/xampp/mysql/backup” and paste them into the new, empty “/xampp/mysql/data” folder
5. Copy all the database folders from the “/xampp/mysql/data-old” folder and paste them into the “/xampp/mysql/data” folder
6. Copy “ibdata1” and all of the log files with “ib_” prefixes (like ib_logfile0, ib_logfile1, etc) from “/xampp/mysql/data-old” and paste into the “/xampp/mysql/data” folder
7. Start MySQL from the XAMPP control panel

That’s it! Now go to phpMyAdmin to check if all the databases are available and running properly.