{"id":3751,"date":"2017-04-19T08:24:36","date_gmt":"2017-04-19T08:24:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/?p=3751"},"modified":"2024-06-25T11:59:31","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T11:59:31","slug":"fix-broken-permalinks-wordpress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/ph\/tutorials\/wordpress-broken-permalinks","title":{"rendered":"WordPress Permalinks Not Working: Effective Steps to Resolve 404 Errors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>WordPress Permalinks not working is one of the main causes of the 404: Not Found error. Fixing it immediately is important as it can negatively affect user experience. Furthermore, it can prevent search engines from crawling your site, damaging your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts.<\/p><p>There are various solutions to this problem &ndash; from a simple permalink reset to a WordPress core file replacement. This article will guide you through three practical steps to resolve broken permalinks in WordPress.<\/p><p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/assets.hostinger.com\/content\/tutorials\/pdf\/Mega-WordPress-Cheat-EN.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Download all in one WordPress cheat sheet<\/a><\/p><p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-triggers-broken-permalinks-in-wordpress\">What Triggers Broken Permalinks in WordPress?<\/h2><p>The most common issue you&rsquo;ll notice with broken permalinks is 404: Not Found error in WordPress when accessing a page on your website. Various causes may trigger broken permalinks on your website.<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>New plugin installation<\/strong>. The new plugins you install may interfere with your <strong>.htaccess<\/strong> file.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Restoring a backup or migrating WordPress<\/strong>. You recently restored a backup or <a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/how-to-migrate-wordpress\">moved your WordPress site<\/a> to a new domain or server.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Updates<\/strong>. Problems with incompatibility after updating plugins, themes, or WordPress core.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Changes in .htaccess file<\/strong>. Updating, or altering your <strong>.htaccess<\/strong> file incorrectly.<\/li>\n<\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-to-fix-broken-permalinks-in-wordpress\">How to Fix Broken Permalinks in WordPress?<\/h2><p>Here are several methods on how you can fix broken permalinks in WordPress.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-1-resetting-permalinks-structure\">1. Resetting Permalinks Structure<\/h3><p>The simplest way to deal with this problem is by resetting the <a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/what-is-a-permalink\">permalinks<\/a> structure:<\/p><ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Login to your WordPress <strong>Dashboard<\/strong>. Go to <strong>Settings<\/strong> &rarr; <strong>Permalinks<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Select an alternative permalinks structure &rarr; <strong>Save Changes<\/strong>. For instance, if you&rsquo;re currently using the <strong>Day and name<\/strong> settings. Change it to something else, like <strong>Post name<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/The-Settings-section-in-the-WordPress-admin-panel-showing-where-to-select-the-Post-name-option.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"528\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/The-Settings-section-in-the-WordPress-admin-panel-showing-where-to-select-the-Post-name-option-1024x528.png\" alt=\"The Settings section in the WordPress admin panel, showing where to select the Post name option\" class=\"wp-image-66446\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/10\/The-Settings-section-in-the-WordPress-admin-panel-showing-where-to-select-the-Post-name-option-1024x528.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/10\/The-Settings-section-in-the-WordPress-admin-panel-showing-where-to-select-the-Post-name-option-300x155.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/10\/The-Settings-section-in-the-WordPress-admin-panel-showing-where-to-select-the-Post-name-option-150x77.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/10\/The-Settings-section-in-the-WordPress-admin-panel-showing-where-to-select-the-Post-name-option-768x396.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/10\/The-Settings-section-in-the-WordPress-admin-panel-showing-where-to-select-the-Post-name-option.png 1335w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div><ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"3\">\n<li>Once done, change it back to your standard structure and hit <strong>Save Changes<\/strong> once again.<\/li>\n<\/ol><p>If you&rsquo;re still getting a <strong>&ldquo;404 Page Not Found&rdquo;<\/strong> error, let&rsquo;s try other remaining methods.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-2-disabling-plugins\">2. Disabling Plugins<\/h3><p>Deactivate the most-recently installed or updated plugin that might be triggering the error. Otherwise, you can also remove all the installed plugins altogether:<\/p><ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Go to the <strong>Plugins<\/strong> menu in your WordPress dashboard &rarr; <strong>Installed Plugins<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Click the <strong>Deactivate<\/strong> button next to the plugin&rsquo;s name.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Once finished, reset the permalinks structure using the previous method.<\/li>\n<\/ol><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-3-replacing-htaccess-file\">3. Replacing .htaccess File<\/h3><p>In case none of the options solved your broken permalinks issue, the issue can be related to your <strong>.htaccess<\/strong> file&rsquo;s configuration. Thus, you should replace your current <strong>.htaccess<\/strong> file with the <a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/create-default-wordpress-htaccess-file\">default WordPress .htaccess<\/a> code.<\/p><p>In this example, we&rsquo;ll be using Hostinger&rsquo;s <strong>File Manager<\/strong>:<\/p><ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Navigate to <strong>hPanel<\/strong> &rarr; <strong>File Manager<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Select your domain and press <strong>&#8203;Go to File Manager<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Choose the &#8203;<strong>.htaccess<\/strong> &#8203;file&#8203; &#8203;in the <strong>&#8203;public_html<\/strong> &#8203;folder.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Right-click and select <strong>Rename<\/strong>. Then, change the file name (e.g., <strong>.htaccess-error<\/strong>).<\/li>\n<\/ol><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"522\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/The-Rename-popup-appears-in-the-hPanels-File-Manager-where-you-can-rename-the-.htaccess-file-1024x522.png\" alt=\"The Rename popup appears in the hPanel's File Manager, where you can rename the .htaccess file\" class=\"wp-image-66447\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/10\/The-Rename-popup-appears-in-the-hPanels-File-Manager-where-you-can-rename-the-.htaccess-file-1024x522.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/10\/The-Rename-popup-appears-in-the-hPanels-File-Manager-where-you-can-rename-the-.htaccess-file-300x153.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/10\/The-Rename-popup-appears-in-the-hPanels-File-Manager-where-you-can-rename-the-.htaccess-file-150x76.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/10\/The-Rename-popup-appears-in-the-hPanels-File-Manager-where-you-can-rename-the-.htaccess-file-768x391.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/10\/The-Rename-popup-appears-in-the-hPanels-File-Manager-where-you-can-rename-the-.htaccess-file.png 1162w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"5\">\n<li>Next, click the <strong>New File<\/strong> icon at the top of the page. Don&rsquo;t forget to name it <strong>.htaccess<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Paste the code below in your new <strong>.htaccess<\/strong> file.<\/li>\n<\/ol><pre class=\"EnlighterJSRAW\" data-enlighter-language=\"php\" data-enlighter-theme=\"\" data-enlighter-highlight=\"\" data-enlighter-linenumbers=\"\" data-enlighter-lineoffset=\"\" data-enlighter-title=\"\" data-enlighter-group=\"\"># BEGIN WordPress &lt;IfModule mod_rewrite.c&gt; \nRewriteEngine On \nRewriteBase \/ RewriteRule ^index\\.php$ - [L] \nRewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f \nRewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d \nRewriteRule . \/index.php [L] \n&lt;\/IfModule&gt; \n# END WordPress <\/pre><ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"7\">\n<li>Once all is done, click the <strong>Save<\/strong> button.<\/li>\n<\/ol><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"834\" height=\"374\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/The-File-Editor-showing-where-to-add-the-code-snippet-to-the-.htaccess-file-in-the-hPanel.png\" alt=\"The File Editor showing where to add the code snippet to the .htaccess file in the hPanel\" class=\"wp-image-66448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/10\/The-File-Editor-showing-where-to-add-the-code-snippet-to-the-.htaccess-file-in-the-hPanel.png 834w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/10\/The-File-Editor-showing-where-to-add-the-code-snippet-to-the-.htaccess-file-in-the-hPanel-300x135.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/10\/The-File-Editor-showing-where-to-add-the-code-snippet-to-the-.htaccess-file-in-the-hPanel-150x67.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/10\/The-File-Editor-showing-where-to-add-the-code-snippet-to-the-.htaccess-file-in-the-hPanel-768x344.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 834px) 100vw, 834px\" \/><\/figure><p>Alternatively, you can also run this process by using an FTP client, like FileZilla<\/p><p>If the problem is not solved, try to remember what actions you&rsquo;ve taken before the error occurred. If it happened after performing a specific update, then restoring a backup might be a reliable option to get your site up and running.<\/p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"\/ph\/wordpress-hosting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/New-WP_in-text-banner-1024x300.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-111781\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/06\/New-WP_in-text-banner-1024x300.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/06\/New-WP_in-text-banner-300x88.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/06\/New-WP_in-text-banner-150x44.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/06\/New-WP_in-text-banner-768x225.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/06\/New-WP_in-text-banner-1536x450.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/06\/New-WP_in-text-banner.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-conclusion\">Conclusion<\/h2><p>There are plenty of reasons why you can get a broken permalinks issue in WordPress. The bad news is, your website will be inaccessible and will display a &ldquo;<strong>404 Page Not Found&rdquo;<\/strong>&nbsp;error.<\/p><p>Fortunately, you can effortlessly handle this problem using these three simple methods:<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Resetting permalinks structure<\/strong> &ndash; configure your built-in permalink settings on the WordPress dashboard.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Disabling plugins<\/strong> &ndash; deactivate the installed plugins in a few clicks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Replacing .htaccess file<\/strong> &ndash; replace the .htaccess file from hPanel or using an FTP client.<\/li>\n<\/ul><p>We hope that this step-by-step tutorial will help you fix broken permalinks on your WordPress website. If you have any more questions, let us know in the comments section below.<\/p><p>\n\n\n<div class=\"protip\">\n                    <h4 class=\"title\">Learn How to Solve Other WordPress Errors<\/h4>\n                    <p> <a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/fix-wordpress-briefly-unavailable-for-scheduled-maintenance\">How to Fix \"Briefly Unavailable for Scheduled Maintenance\" Error<\/a><br>\n<a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/how-to-fix-wordpress-missed-schedule\">How to Fix Missed Schedule Error in WordPress<\/a><br>\n<a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/fix-mixed-content-wordpress\/\">How to Fix Mixed Content on WordPress<\/a><br>\n<a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/find-fix-broken-links-wordpress\">How to Fix Broken Links on WordPress<\/a><br>\n<a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/fix-wordpress-white-screen-of-death\">How to Fix White Screen of Death on WordPress<\/a><br>\n<a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wordpress-not-sending-email\">How to Solve WordPress Not Sending Emails<\/a><br>\n<a href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/link-you-followed-has-expired-error-wordpress\">How to Solve \"Link You Followed has Expired\"<\/a><\/p>\n                <\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-wordpress-permalinks-not-working-faq\">WordPress Permalinks Not Working FAQ<\/h2><p>Learn more information about WordPress permalinks not working below.<\/p><div class=\"schema-faq wp-block-yoast-faq-block\"><div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1678181964805\"><h3 class=\"schema-faq-question\">Do Permalinks Expire?<\/h3> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">No, permalinks do not expire. They are permanent links that are intended to remain unchanged and accessible for the lifetime of the content they point to. However, changing permalinks on a live site can result in broken links and negative impacts on SEO.<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1678181979267\"><h3 class=\"schema-faq-question\">Can I Change My WordPress Permalink After Publishing?<\/h3> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Yes, you can change your WordPress permalink after publishing by going to <strong>Settings &rarr; Permalinks<\/strong> in the WordPress dashboard, selecting the new permalink structure, and clicking <strong>Save Changes<\/strong>. However, changing permalinks can impact SEO and result in broken links if not properly redirected.<\/p> <\/div> <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WordPress Permalinks not working is one of the main causes of the 404: Not Found error. Fixing it immediately is important as it can negatively affect user experience. Furthermore, it can prevent search engines from crawling your site, damaging your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. There are various solutions to this problem &ndash; from a [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"\/ph\/tutorials\/wordpress-broken-permalinks\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_title":"WordPress Permalinks Not Working: How to Fix Broken Links","rank_math_description":"Is your website getting the \"404 Page Not Found\" error? Here's our guide on how to fix broken permalinks in WordPress.","rank_math_focus_keyword":"wordpress permalinks not working","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"hreflangs":[{"locale":"en-US","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wordpress-broken-permalinks","default":0},{"locale":"pt-BR","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/br\/tutoriais\/como-resolver-link-quebrado-wordpress","default":0},{"locale":"fr-FR","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/fr\/tutoriels\/permaliens-wordpress-ne-fonctionnent-pas","default":0},{"locale":"es-ES","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/es\/tutoriales\/como-solucionar-permalinks-de-wordpress-que-no-funcionan","default":0},{"locale":"en-UK","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/uk\/tutorials\/wordpress-broken-permalinks","default":0},{"locale":"en-MY","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/my\/tutorials\/wordpress-broken-permalinks","default":0},{"locale":"en-PH","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wordpress-broken-permalinks","default":0},{"locale":"es-MX","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/mx\/tutoriales\/como-solucionar-permalinks-de-wordpress-que-no-funcionan","default":0},{"locale":"es-CO","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/co\/tutoriales\/como-solucionar-permalinks-de-wordpress-que-no-funcionan","default":0},{"locale":"es-AR","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ar\/tutoriales\/como-solucionar-permalinks-de-wordpress-que-no-funcionan","default":0},{"locale":"pt-PT","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/pt\/tutoriais\/como-resolver-link-quebrado-wordpress","default":0},{"locale":"en-IN","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/in\/tutorials\/wordpress-broken-permalinks","default":0},{"locale":"en-CA","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ca\/tutorials\/wordpress-broken-permalinks","default":0},{"locale":"en-AU","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/au\/tutorials\/wordpress-broken-permalinks","default":0},{"locale":"en-NG","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ng\/tutorials\/wordpress-broken-permalinks","default":0}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3751"}],"version-history":[{"count":41,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111956,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3751\/revisions\/111956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}