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Port conflicts are the most common reason a Bearsampp service fails to start. Every service needs exclusive access to a specific network port, and if another application on your system is already using that port, the service cannot bind to it and will refuse to start.

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Default ports

Each service in Bearsampp listens on a default port. These are the ports most likely to conflict with other software already running on your machine:
ServiceDefault Port
Apache (HTTP)80
Apache (HTTPS)443
MySQL3306
MariaDB3307
PostgreSQL5432
Memcached11211
Mailpit SMTP1025
Xlight FTP21

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Detecting a port conflict

Bearsampp can check whether a port is in use and which process is holding it:
  1. Right-click the Bearsampp tray icon.
  2. Go to [module name] → Check port [N].
  3. Bearsampp displays one of two results:
    • “Port X is used by [process name]” — the port is occupied by a specific service Bearsampp recognizes.
    • “Port X is used by another application” — the port is occupied by an unrecognized process.
    • “Port X is not used” — the port is free; a conflict is not the cause of the issue.

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Fixing a port conflict

The simplest fix is to assign Bearsampp’s service to a different, unused port:
1

Open the Change Port dialog

Right-click the tray icon, go to [module name] → Change port.
2

Enter a new port number

Type a port number that is not in use. For Apache, 8080 is a common alternative to 80. For HTTPS, try 8443.
3

Apply the change

Click Finish. Bearsampp updates its configuration and restarts the service on the new port.
After changing Apache’s port, your local sites will be accessible at http://localhost:8080 instead of http://localhost. Update any bookmarks or project URLs accordingly.

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Common sources of conflicts

These ports are used by IIS (Internet Information Services), which is bundled with Windows and may be running even if you haven’t set it up manually. Older versions of Skype also used port 80 as a fallback.To disable IIS: Open the Start menu, search for Turn Windows features on or off, and uncheck Internet Information Services. Restart your computer, then start Bearsampp.Alternatively, change Apache’s port to 8080 as described above.
Another MySQL instance — from a previous installation, XAMPP, or another WAMP stack — is likely running in the background.Check the Windows Services panel (services.msc) for any service named MySQL and stop or disable it before starting Bearsampp’s MySQL.
A standalone PostgreSQL installation or another development stack may already be running a PostgreSQL service.Open services.msc, find the conflicting PostgreSQL service, and stop it. Alternatively, change Bearsampp’s PostgreSQL port to 5433.

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Finding the conflicting process manually

If Bearsampp’s port check does not identify the process, you can use the Windows command line: 
netstat -ano | findstr :80
This lists all connections on port 80, along with the Process ID (PID) in the last column. To identify the process:
  1. Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc).
  2. Go to the Details tab.
  3. Find the row where the PID matches the number from the netstat output.
  4. The Name column shows the executable using the port.
Once you know which application is responsible, you can stop it, disable its service, or change Bearsampp to use a different port.
If you regularly run IIS or another web server alongside Bearsampp, configure Bearsampp to use port 8080 for HTTP and 8443 for HTTPS as a permanent setup. This avoids repeated conflicts without having to disable either server.