How to fix MySQL server not starting in the XAMPP control panel. The logs will most likely say unexpected shutdown or “Index for table ‘.\mysql\user’ is corrupt; try to repair it”.

This has happened to me on a few occasions with XAMPP, seemingly caused by stopping the MySQL server in the control panel.

This was my error log upon trying to start the MySQL server:

3:43:26 PM  [mysql] 	Attempting to start MySQL app...
3:43:26 PM  [mysql] 	Status change detected: running
3:43:28 PM  [mysql] 	Status change detected: stopped
3:43:28 PM  [mysql] 	Error: MySQL shutdown unexpectedly.
3:43:28 PM  [mysql] 	This may be due to a blocked port, missing dependencies, 
3:43:28 PM  [mysql] 	improper privileges, a crash, or a shutdown by another method.
3:43:28 PM  [mysql] 	Press the Logs button to view error logs and check
3:43:28 PM  [mysql] 	the Windows Event Viewer for more clues
3:43:28 PM  [mysql] 	If you need more help, copy and post this
3:43:28 PM  [mysql] 	entire log window on the forums

The fix

Fixing the MySQL server not starting in XAMPP is done by reverting back the data files pre-issue.

Navigate to your XAMPP MySQL directory (C:\xampp\mysql).

Create a new folder called FIX_BACKUP.

Copy C:\xampp\mysql\backup and C:\xampp\mysql\data into C:\xampp\mysql\FIX_BACKUP.

Paste the contents of C:\xampp\mysql\backup into C:\xampp\mysql\data overwriting all the files.

Finally copy the ibdata1 file from C:\xampp\mysql\FIX_BACKUP\data into C:\xampp\mysql\data overwriting the file.

Your MySQL server should now start in the XAMPP control panel.