Are your WordPress posts returning a 404 error on your website?
This error happens when you can access your WordPress admin area and blog, but when you try to open a post, you will see “404 Not Found.”
In this article, we will show you how to fix WordPress posts returning 404 errors.
Why Are My WordPress Posts Returning a 404 Error?
There are several reasons why your WordPress posts might be showing a 404 “Page Not Found” error. These can include:
- Plugin or theme conflicts: Sometimes, plugins or themes you’ve installed on your site can interfere with how WordPress handles permalinks. This can lead to broken links and 404 errors.
- Custom code issues: If you’ve added custom code to your website, there might be errors in the code that are affecting permalinks or causing other conflicts, resulting in 404 errors for your posts.
- Issues with your .htaccess file: The .htaccess file plays a role in how WordPress structures URLs. If this file is corrupted or missing, it can lead to 404 errors for your posts.
That being said, let’s look at how to fix WordPress posts returning 404 errors. You can use the links below to jump straight to different solutions:
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Video Tutorial
If you prefer written instructions, then just continue reading.
Method 1: Check for Plugin or Theme Conflicts and Custom Code Issues
Sometimes, plugins, themes, or custom code you’ve added to your WordPress site can interfere with permalinks or cause conflicts, leading to 404 errors. We’ve even experienced it ourselves when we’re testing tools on our demo site.
One way to solve this problem is to temporarily deactivate plugins. Plugins can sometimes disrupt how WordPress handles links.
Once you’ve deactivated the plugins, you can reactivate them one by one while checking if the 404 error reappears after activating each plugin. If the error shows up after activating a specific plugin, that might be the culprit.
You can then search for solutions related to that plugin or contact the plugin developer for support.
Similarly, your WordPress theme might be causing the conflict.
To check, you can temporarily switch to a default WordPress theme like Twenty Twenty-Three or Twenty Twenty-Four. All you need to do is go to Appearance » Themes and click ‘Activate’ on a default theme.
If the 404 error disappears with the default theme, it indicates a potential conflict with your current theme. You can then try troubleshooting the theme or consider using a different theme.
You can check out our expert pick of the most popular WordPress themes for recommendations.
If you’ve recently inserted code snippets to your website, there might be errors in the code causing the 404 errors. Take a close look at the code you added and see if you can identify any mistakes.
The safest way to add code snippets to WordPress is with the WPCode plugin. This plugin lets you insert custom code without directly working with the theme files, reducing the risk of breaking your website.
Plus, whenever WPCode spots an error in your code, it will automatically deactivate the snippet and ask you to check it. You can also use the testing mode to check if your code works before pushing it to your live website.
If none of these solutions work, move on to the next method where we’ll troubleshoot your permalink settings.
Method 2: Fix Your Permalink Settings
WordPress posts can return 404 errors because of problems with rewrite rules in your .htaccess file. In most cases, you can fix the problem by updating your permalink settings.
Simply go to Settings » Permalinks in your WordPress admin, and click on the ‘Save Changes’ button.
There is no need to make changes to the permalink settings themselves. This will update your permalink settings and flush the 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.
Method 3: Update the WordPress .htaccess File
Before you start, make sure to back up your WordPress .htaccess file first. If something goes wrong, you can easily restore the original file.
Now, you will need to connect to your server using an FTP client like FileZilla or the File Manager app in your WordPress hosting dashboard.
Next, you will need to find and edit the .htaccess file, which is located in the same location as folders like /wp-content/ and /wp-includes/.
Simply right-click on the file and select ‘File permissions.’
You can make the file writeable by changing its permissions to 666.
Simply enter ‘666’ into the ‘Numeric value’ box and then click on ‘OK’.
Then, you need to repeat the steps in the first method of our tutorial. Once you have done this, don’t forget to change the permissions back to 660.
You can also edit the file and add code to it.
Once you have opened the .htaccess file with a text editor, simply insert this code:
# 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
Method 4: Contact Your Hosting Provider
If neither of the solutions above has fixed the WordPress posts returning 404 error, then we recommend contacting your WordPress hosting provider. There may be an error on their end, or they might be able to help you troubleshoot the problem.
Please also see our guide on how to properly ask for WordPress support and get it.
Method 5: Fix WordPress Posts Returning 404 Error on Local Servers
If you are using a local server for testing purposes, then you will need to enable mod_rewrite in the Apache configuration of your MAMP, WAMP, or XAMPP site.
This will allow WordPress to generate clean URLs and prevent the 404 error for posts and pages on your local server.
How you do this will differ by the platform you use. People using XAMPP can open their control panel and click the ‘Config’ button within Actions. Then, select ‘Apache (httpd.conf).’
Next, you will need to find this line #LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so and remove the ‘#’ to uncomment it.
This will load the mod_rewrite.
Then, find all instances of AllowOverride None and change them to AllowOverride All.
The ‘All’ value means that all directives can be overridden.
Once done, you can save the httpd.conf file and close it. After that, in the XAMPP control panel, click ‘Stop’ on the Apache module and ‘Start’ again to restart it.
Then, go back to your admin dashboard to see if your permalinks are working.
We hope this article helped you resolve the posts returning 404 errors in WordPress. You may also want to see our guide to the most common WordPress errors and how to fix them, along with our expert picks for the best WordPress plugins to grow your site.
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Nweke Nathaniel
I unpublished some posts from my site and I have linked some internal links to the posts, pls, how can I redirect the posts url to the homepage instead of showing “page not found”
WPBeginner Comments
The simplest solution likely would be to redirect all 404 errors to the homepage. To do this, check out this step-by-step guide: https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-redirect-your-404-page-to-the-home-page-in-wordpress/
Dayo Olobayo
I get the 404 error on posts I have deleted and do not wish to redirect them to other articles. How do I solve that?
WPBeginner Support
In that case you would want to redirect the posts to your homepage as that URL would show a 404 error if there is nothing to show.
Admin
Dayo Olobayo
This looks so simple yet very helpful. I’ve never even considered that alternative before. I’ll do that right away. Thanks a million!
Moinuddin Waheed
This is one of the most occuring error for wordpress websites.
this is really frustrating as it seems to get stuck and leading to nowhere.
I have solved the issue by saving the permalink.
I didn’t know about the other steps.
I really appreciate the efforts to make it holistic by including all the steps to resolve this error.
WPBeginner Support
Glad we could share the other options
Admin
mohadese esmaeeli
Hello. The 404 error can be really frustrating, and we’ve all encountered it at least once. The situation becomes challenging when everything appears to be correct, there are no broken links, yet the 404 error persists. I faced this issue once, and it was resolved by adjusting the permalink settings.
amir
Hi
in my case, a plugin named as “WebP Express” create a htaccess file in uploads folder that restrict my access to some images.
try rename or remove it and see if the problem still exist.
WPBeginner Support
Thank you for sharing this suggestion to check for multiple htaccess files.
Admin
Eriab Nsereko
Syed & the team u saved my whole entire day! My homepage was actually loading well.. but the other pages couldn’t load. So, I pasted the code in my .htaccess file and it did absolutely like magic.
# BEGIN WordPress
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ – [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
# END WordPress
WPBeginner Support
Glad we could help!
Admin
David Helleskov Fønsbo
Thanks – None of the suggested solutions did work for me. Looks like the typical permalink error but it isn’t.
Saving permalink again does not create a new .htaccess.
WPBeginner Support
If none of the methods in our guide are working for you, please reach out to your hosting provider and they should be able to help fix the issue.
Admin
Victor
The updating permalinks fix worked. Fastest solution ever. Thank you for writing this piece
WPBeginner Support
You’re welcome, glad our guide was helpful!
Admin
Julie
Thank you for the quick fix! Appreciate the help.
WPBeginner Support
You’re welcome, glad our guide could help you!
Admin
Frank Thomas
Thank you for this post. I was missing the .htaccess files after moving sites and of course the wordpress code in them. I’ve replaced it all and voila! We are live at 5. Thanks.
WPBeginner Support
You’re welcome, glad to hear the guide helped!
Admin
anand
i have try to your guideline but not working my website again showing same error 404
WPBeginner Support
If none of the recommendations from our guide could solve your error, please reach out to your hosting provider and they should be able to take a look and help!
Admin
Harald
Hi,
saving permalink helped me too, but it keeps returning over and over again after some days.
I have no clue what causes it.
WPBeginner Support
If it is a constantly recurring error, we would recommend reaching out to your hosting provider and they can either look at their error logs for the site or keep an eye on your site for the specific error causing the problem.
Admin
Mete
Thank you very much.solved my problem
WPBeginner Support
Glad our guide was helpful!
Admin
Emmanuel
This is my lifesaver. My site is working fine after modifying the .htaccess files.
Thanks a ton!
WPBeginner Support
Glad our guide could help!
Admin
Jon
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.
WPBeginner Support
Thanks for sharing this for those who may also have this issue!
Admin