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How to Fix WordPress Posts Returning 404 Error

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WordPress is a powerful CMS. Sometimes a slight tweak can make your website inaccessible. However, finding a solution for any WordPress problem is extremely easy (check out how to properly ask for WordPress support and get it). In the past we have covered some of the most common problems WordPress users face. Like the internal server error or error establishing database connection. Another common problem that most WordPress users face at some point is WordPress posts returning a 404 Error. In this article we will show you how to fix WordPress posts returning 404 error.

Fixing WordPress posts returning 404 error

Usually in this scenario a user can access their WordPress admin area, their blog’s main page, but when accessing a single posts they get a 404 Not found error. First of all, don’t panic most of the time your posts are still there and completely safe. This usually happens if your .htaccess file got deleted or something went wrong with the rewrite rules. What you need to do is fix your permalinks settings.

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Go to Settings » Permalinks, and simply click on Save Changes button.

Update permalink settings

This will update your permalinks settings and flush rewrite rules. In most cases this solution fixes the WordPress posts 404 error. However, if it does not work for you, then you probably need to update your .htaccess file manually.

Login to your server using FTP, and modify the .htaccess file which is located in the same location where folders like /wp-content/ and /wp-includes/ are located. The easiest thing you can do is to temporarily make the file writeable by changing the permissions to 666. Then repeat the original solution. Don’t forget to change the permissions back to 660. You can also manually add this code in your .htaccess file:

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress

Fix for Local Servers

Often designers and developers install WordPress on their computers using a local server for testing purposes. If you want to use pretty permalinks, then you need to enable the rewrite_module in the Apache configuration of your MAMP, WAMP, or XXAMP.

We hope this article helped you resolve posts returning 404 error in WordPress. Did this solution work for you? Do you have another solution that worked for you? Please share it in the comments below. We would like to make this article a comprehensive resource for users who run into this issue.

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Reader Interactions

746 CommentsLeave a Reply

  1. This is my lifesaver. My site is working fine after modifying the .htaccess files.
    Thanks a ton!

    Reply

  2. For me the problem was I forced a redirect from mydomain.com to ww.mydomain.com, but in wordpress the site URL said mydomain.com. After changing the redirection to ww.mydomain.com -> mydomain.com everything worked.

    Reply

  6. I was panicking and thinking that my website was hacked or had malware. As I read your writing and you wrote not to worry, I began to relax. The first option (permalink) worked for me immediately…
    Thanks :-)

    Reply

  8. On IIS there is no .htaccess file but the key is still the permalink settings. Just hitting Save didn’t fix it but changing the Custom Structure to Plain worked like a charm. Thanks for the push in the right direction.

    Reply

  11. Dang! Can’t thank you enough for this – super simple fix worked perfectly – just hit save changes on the permalinks settings page and viola’ – my pages are back. Thank you!!

    Reply

  13. honestly thank you so much! without fail your site always comes thru with answers that work. thank you so much!
    (now I just wish I knew what caused it to get out of whack in the first place. oh well.)

    Reply

  14. This article just saved me from a panic attack Lol. The solution worked great. Thanks for making this video.

    Reply

    • If none of our methods in this guide worked for you, we would recommend reaching out to the support for your hosting provider to ensure there is not an error on their end.

      Reply

      Admin

  16. None of the above suggestions worked so I did some further searching. I came across someone who suggested switching off the mod security under the security section in cpanel.

    I tried this and it worked. I also tested it by switching it back on after a change and then trying another change and BAM, 404 error.

    Reply

    • Thanks for sharing this should someone else run into this issue. Not every host allows access to that specific file but if you reach out to your host they can normally disable or change it for you :)

      Reply

      Admin

    • Disabling ModSecurity fixed mine.
      I actually tried permalinks plus rewriting .htaccess, but that didn’t solve my problem. I’m glad I read comments. Many thanks guys for sharing.

      Reply

  17. Thanks, it was so simple and the problem solved. No other pages were visible after I migrated to another server. I added the lines to .htaccess file and uploaded the same. Now all the pages are being displays without the 404 error and I am able to access my WP dashboard too. Thanks a lot.

    Reply

  18. My posts are showing 404 error after installing ssl certificate. How can I fix it? I tried everything mentioned above, but none helped.

    Reply

  19. My .htaccess file is exactly the same with that code but nevertheless I did whatever in the post. did not work, saved permalinks through admin console, did not work. Manually edits, no luck. Deleted the .htaccess and recreated it by saving it from admin console, again did not work. Nothing works. Don’t know how did it even work on others?

    Reply

    • If none of the recommendations from our article were able to help we would recommend reaching out to your hosting provider as that can be a sign that there is an issue on your host’s end.

      Reply

      Admin

  20. You saved my day. I got this issue after transferring my site from one hosting to another. I couldn’t believe it was so simple to fix the issue. Many Thanks WpBeginner team!

    Reply

  21. I never reply to these things but just wanted to jump on here and say thank you! I’ve been having this issue a lot and having to wait ages for support to help me and so finally had a hunt around, found this, and can now fix it myself. You legend!! Much appreciated

    Reply

  29. One of solutions to correct the issue with the Permalink change is simply delete the .htaccess file – WordPress will recreate it again automatically.
    But, before you delete it, copy the file on your computer, just in case…

    Reply

    • If someone has customized their htaccess file then that would be a good idea. Otherwise, WordPress should auto regenerate the default information in the file where most wouldn’t need to worry.

      Reply

      Admin

  30. Saving the permalinks settings worked perfectly. Such a simple solution to what looked like a serious problem! Thank you!

    Reply

  31. its works fine 100 %
    and easy to solve my problem, we are very very thankful to you about it

    Reply

  34. I’m facing 404 error while adding new plugin , theme , editing any post or product, editing any page ..
    I’ve try to save permalinks and also tried to change .htaccess .. But not this given solution is working for me.

    Reply

    • You would want to reach out to your hosting provider to see if you are running into any errors on their server’s end.

      Reply

      Admin

  35. I’m having error 404 issues on my website, I can’t access to the website at all what can I do?

    Reply

    • You would use the htaccess method from this guide or reach out to your hosting provider to be able to assist you

      Reply

      Admin

    • For that specific error, you would want to reach out to your hosting provider to take a look.

      Reply

      Admin

  38. I’m facing a problem where this is extension of my own website after every page and I don’t know how to fix it.

    Reply

    • You would likely want to check under Settings>Permalinks to ensure everything is set correctly there

      Reply

      Admin

  40. This is a great solution but it didn’t fix my issue so in case anyone else is in the same boat, here’s what went wrong for me; my index.php file went missing from the server. Added a new copy and everything is back

    Reply

  42. Thanks for your articles. My issue is that I can’t log in to my website even though I’m logged in to the host server… When I try to log in my wordpress the message goes :

    Not Found

    The requested URL was not found on this server.

    My website isn’t published yet as I’ve just started.

    Reply

    • You would want to check with your hosting provider to ensure there isn’t an issue on their end or where your site is installed

      Reply

      Admin

  43. My main page is working but all other pages are showing 404 error. They are visible in admin panel but can’t view them.

    Reply

  44. Hi,

    Below is the error that i am getting which is similar to the one described above

    “The requested URL was not found on this server.”

    Reply

    • For that error, if you haven’t done so already you would want to reach out to your hosting provider to see if the error could be server related.

      Reply

      Admin

  49. I’m having the same problem with category links. They return a 404 error and it’s a new website. I’m afraid not all pages are going to be indexed.

    Reply

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