Browser tends to download PHP files instead of displaying them, while using XAMPP for Linux

Question

I am using XAMPP for Linux, but when I try to open a PHP file saved in a folder saved in home directory, the browser downloads the PHP file instead of displaying it. What could be the problem?

XAMPP Status is:

Component                        Status         Hint
MySQL database                   ACTIVATED
PHP                              ACTIVATED
Perl                             ACTIVATED
Common Gateway Interface (CGI)   ACTIVATED
Server Side Includes (SSI)       ACTIVATED
PHP extension »OPcache«          DEACTIVATED    See FAQ
PHP extension »OCI8/Oracle«      ACTIVATED

Some changes to the configuration sometime may cause false negative status reports.

What could be a possible solution?

Answer 1

If you try to access a PHP file saved in your home folder, it will be downloaded instead of saved. Just move it to your www folder commonly found in /var/www and give it 644 permissions and try again.

Answer 2

check php.ini

You might be using short tag <? ?> or <?= ?> instead of <?php ?>.

The short_open_tag should be On.

short_open_tag = On