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How to Fix WordPress Posts Returning 404 Error (Step by Step)

By Editorial Staff | | Reader Disclosure

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There’s nothing quite as frustrating as clicking on a post you know exists—only to land on a 404 error page. We’ve run into this issue more than once, and it can feel confusing when nothing seems obviously broken.

The good news? In most cases, you can fix it in under a minute. Just go to Settings » Permalinks and click ‘Save Changes’—that simple step resolves the issue for the majority of WordPress sites.

If that doesn’t work, don’t worry. We’ve put together a step-by-step guide covering every common cause… from plugin conflicts to .htaccess issues so you can get your posts back online fast.

How to fix WordPress posts returning 404 error

Why Are My WordPress Posts Returning a 404 Error?

A 404 error means the server couldn’t find the page you requested—even though it may exist in your WordPress dashboard. This disconnect usually happens because something has broken the link between your post’s URL and its actual content.

Here are the most common reasons your posts might show a 404 “Page Not Found” error:

  • Plugin or theme conflicts: Some plugins or themes can interfere with how WordPress handles permalinks. This can lead to broken links and 404 errors on posts that were working fine before.
  • Custom code issues: If you’ve added custom code to your site, even a small error can affect permalinks or cause conflicts that result in 404 errors.
  • Problems with your .htaccess file: The .htaccess file controls how WordPress structures URLs. If this file is corrupted, missing, or misconfigured, your posts and pages may return 404 errors.

How to Find All WordPress Posts With 404 Errors

Before jumping into fixes, it helps to know if this error affects just one post or many. Understanding the scope makes it easier to choose the right solution.

We recommend using Google Search Console. If you haven’t set it up yet, see our guide on how to add your WordPress site to Google Search Console.

Once the Google bot has crawled your site, Search Console will show you detailed reports—including any 404 errors it finds.

To see which posts are returning errors, log in to your Search Console dashboard. Navigate to the ‘Pages’ report, and you’ll find a list of all flagged URLs.

Google Search Console Pages Report

For more help, check out our tips for using Google Search Console to grow website traffic, which includes advice on fixing 404 errors.

Now, let’s look at how to fix WordPress posts returning 404 errors. You can use the links below to jump to a specific method:

Method 1: Check for Plugin or Theme Conflicts and Custom Code Issues

Plugins, themes, or custom code can sometimes interfere with permalinks and cause 404 errors. We’ve run into this ourselves when testing tools on our demo sites.

When we troubleshoot, we use a staging environment to safely deactivate plugins one by one. This helps us isolate the problem without affecting the live site.

To try this yourself, start by temporarily deactivating all your plugins. Then reactivate them one at a time, checking after each one to see if the 404 error returns.

If the error appears after activating a specific plugin, that’s likely the cause. You can search for solutions related to that plugin or contact the developer for support.

Your WordPress theme could also be the issue.

To check, temporarily switch to a default WordPress theme like Twenty Twenty-Three or Twenty Twenty-Four. Go to Appearance » Themes and click ‘Activate’ on a default theme.

Activating a default WordPress theme

If the 404 error goes away with a default theme, your original theme is probably causing the conflict. You can troubleshoot it further or consider switching to a different theme.

For recommendations, check out our expert pick of the most popular WordPress themes.

If you’ve recently added code snippets to your website, review them carefully. Even small mistakes can cause 404 errors.

We recommend using the WPCode plugin for adding custom code. It lets you insert snippets without editing theme files directly, which reduces the risk of breaking your site.

WPCode also detects errors automatically. If something goes wrong, it deactivates the snippet and alerts you. You can even use testing mode to check your code before pushing it live.

WPCode error warning

If none of these steps fix the issue, move on to the next method where we’ll troubleshoot your permalink settings.

WordPress posts often return 404 errors because of problems with rewrite rules in your .htaccess file. In most cases, you can fix this by simply resaving your permalink settings.

Go to Settings » Permalinks in your WordPress admin and click the ‘Save Changes’ button.

Check Permalinks

You don’t need to change anything. Just clicking ‘Save Changes’ flushes the rewrite rules (meaning WordPress regenerates the URL routing instructions that tell your server where each post lives).

This simple step fixes the 404 error for most WordPress sites. If it doesn’t work for you, you may need to update your .htaccess file manually.

Method 3: Update the WordPress .htaccess File

Before making any changes, we recommend backing up your WordPress site and your .htaccess file. If something goes wrong, you can easily restore the original.

You’ll need to connect to your server using an FTP client like FileZilla, or use the File Manager in your hosting control panel.

Next, find the .htaccess file (a hidden configuration file that controls how your server handles URLs) in your site’s root folder. This is the same directory that contains folders like /wp-content/ and /wp-includes/.

Right-click on the file and select ‘File permissions’ or ‘Change permissions’ from your FTP client.

.htaccess file permissions

If WordPress couldn’t write to the file before, try changing the permissions temporarily to 666 to make it writable.

Important: Permission 666 means anyone can read and write to the file, which is a security risk. Only use this setting temporarily and change it back immediately after you’re done.

Now, return to your WordPress admin and resave your permalink settings (Settings » Permalinks » Save Changes). This lets WordPress regenerate a proper .htaccess file.

Once that’s done, go back to your FTP client and change the file permissions to 644. This setting allows WordPress to read the file while protecting it from unauthorized changes.

Change file attributes for the .htaccess file to 644

Alternatively, you can edit the .htaccess file manually.

Right-click on the .htaccess file and select the View/Edit option.

Edit .htaccess file

The file will open in a plain text editor like Notepad or TextEdit.

Add the following default WordPress rewrite rules:

# 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
Hosted with ❤️ by WPCode
1-click Use in WordPress

Save the file and upload it back to your server. Then check if your posts are loading correctly.

Method 4: Contact Your Hosting Provider

If none of the solutions above have fixed the 404 error, we recommend contacting your WordPress hosting provider.

There may be a server-side issue on their end, or they can help you troubleshoot the problem further. In our experience, good hosting support teams can often spot configuration issues that are easy to miss.

For tips on getting help, see our guide on how to properly ask for WordPress support and get it.

Method 5: Enable mod-rewrite (Local WordPress Installation)

If you’re running WordPress on a local server for testing, you’ll need to enable mod_rewrite in your Apache configuration. This applies to MAMP, WAMP, or XAMPP setups.

Enabling mod_rewrite allows WordPress to generate clean URLs and prevents 404 errors on your local posts and pages.

The steps vary by platform. If you’re using XAMPP, open the control panel and click the ‘Config’ button in the Actions column. Then select ‘Apache (httpd.conf)’.

The Apache (httpd.conf) menu on XAMPP

Find this line: #LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so

Remove the ‘#’ at the beginning to uncomment it. This enables the mod_rewrite module.

Finding the rewrite_module on httpd.conf file

Next, look for lines that say AllowOverride None and change them to AllowOverride All. This tells Apache to allow .htaccess files to control URL routing.

You’ll typically find these inside <Directory> blocks, especially the one pointing to your site’s folder (like htdocs in XAMPP). For local testing, it’s usually safe to apply this change wherever you see it.

Changing AllowOverride None to AllowOverride All

Save the httpd.conf file and close it. In the XAMPP control panel, click ‘Stop’ on the Apache module, then click ‘Start’ again to restart it.

Now go back to your WordPress admin dashboard and check if your permalinks are working.

Video Tutorial

If you prefer visual instructions, watch the video below.

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Frequently Asked Questions About WordPress 404 Errors

Running into 404 errors on your WordPress site can be confusing. Here are answers to common questions that can help you troubleshoot more effectively.

Why am I getting a 404 error on my WordPress posts?

A 404 error on WordPress posts usually means the server can’t find the page at the requested URL. This can happen due to broken permalinks, a corrupted .htaccess file, deleted posts, or a plugin/theme conflict that changes how URLs are handled.

How do I fix a 404 error in WordPress?

The fastest way to fix a WordPress 404 error is to resave your permalink settings. Go to Settings » Permalinks and click ‘Save Changes’. If that doesn’t work, check your .htaccess file, disable plugins, or switch to a default theme to rule out conflicts.

How can I find all 404 errors on my WordPress site?

Google Search Console is the best way to find 404 errors on your WordPress site. It shows you a list of all 404 errors that Googlebot encounters. You can also use plugins like Broken Link Checker to spot broken links and missing pages.

What does the .htaccess file do in WordPress?

The .htaccess file in WordPress is a configuration file that controls how URLs are processed. WordPress uses it to manage permalink structure and route URLs to the correct content. If this file is missing or corrupted, your URLs may stop working correctly.

How do I safely edit the .htaccess file?

You can safely edit the .htaccess file using an FTP client or your hosting file manager. Always create a backup first. After editing, make sure the permissions are set to 644 so it stays readable and secure.

Why do my WordPress category or tag pages show 404 errors?

WordPress category or tag pages may show 404 errors if your theme doesn’t support archive templates or if permalink settings are misconfigured. Resaving permalinks and checking your theme’s archive support can usually fix this issue.

How do I fix 404 errors for custom post types?

To fix 404 errors for custom post types, go to Settings » Permalinks and click ‘Save Changes’ to refresh rewrite rules. Also check that your custom post type is registered with the correct rewrite settings and has archive support if needed.

Can I redirect 404 pages to my homepage or another page?

Yes, you can redirect WordPress 404 pages using plugins like Redirection. This lets you create 301 redirects from old or broken URLs to new ones. You can also create a custom 404 page to guide users back to useful content.

🎁 Bonus: Additional Guide on Handing 404 Errors

Here are more resources we’ve put together to help you manage 404 errors and other common WordPress issues:

We hope this article helped you fix WordPress posts returning 404 errors. 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.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

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Reader Interactions

773 CommentsLeave a Reply

  1. So for me… I first deleted the WP Fastest Cache out of my Cpanel and THEN…I “bulk deactivated” all my plugins. Did a refresh…and it worked! Praise God!
    Then I activated the plugins I still needed. So far so good.
    Thanks so much!

    Reply

  2. i have fixed it using the first method. but when i try to get back to my home page from other pages it’s showing me this error: Error establishing a database connection…how can i fix this

    Reply

  3. If the problem still persists, you might want to check to see if mod_security is active and causing issues.

    I ran into this on a wordpress site hosted by Dreamhost and tried all of the options listed on this page before realizing this was my issue.

    Reply

    • If the methods in this article are not working then you would want to reach out to your hosting provider to see if the error could be caused on that end.

      Reply

      Admin

  5. Thank you.
    I have tried deactivating my plugins; I am using theme twenty sixteen. But still, my pages keep loading “the page can’t be found” when I use the custom permalink. I have done the .htaccess, but nothing is working. The post and categories load fine, but pages won’t load unless I use the plain permalink, which is not advisable for SEO purposes.
    Please help me.

    Reply

    • You may want to check with your hosting provider if you haven’t done so already to see if it could be part of an error on their end.

      Reply

      Admin

  7. hello, thanks for the post, great.
    i have 404 error but cannot acces neither the site or the wordpress. how can you access wordpress admin to solve the problem??

    Reply

  14. Please i cannot even access the admin area of my page,i also can’t load the page itself at all. What can i do to solve this?

    Reply

  16. When i am doing same thing and when i am clicking on Save Changes it also redirecting me to my website with 404 Error

    Reply

    • You may want to reach out to your hosting provider to see if they are seeing any errors for your site on their end.

      Reply

      Admin

  17. Came here at first, couldn’t see the solution in the post. Searched the internet for several hours, came back and decided to read the comment section, there I saw the solution to the issue.

    A plugin caused it and once I deactivate, update and reactive it, works fine thereafter. Thank you

    Reply

    • Thank you for letting us know what solved the issue for you in case anyone else runs into the problem :)

      Reply

      Admin

  22. thanks.. i was very close to pulling my hair out. lol.. i was getting the 404 on all my portfolio pages. yikes. easy fix.

    Reply

  23. I have tried to click the save button on setting>permalink on my wordpress admin but the problem still persists. I can’t seem to locate the .htaccess on my FTP login. I noticed someone commented about editing the front. I tried checking out the storefront editor, but because I am not a programmer, I am being careful not to cause more damage to the theme. Any help on how to resolve the “404 Page Not Found” permalink problem. It started after a recent wordpress update.

    Reply

  24. a plugin was the problem for me; I deactivated it and had to edit the page somehow. It wasn’t that nice but it worked.

    Reply

  26. Just have to smile, as I am not the only delighted person. Saved from 3 days of agony :-) kept getting a broken link mydomain.com/’/menu/category

    the /’/ was apparently not linking and your TIP on Go to Settings » Permalinks, and simply click on Save Changes button. worked like a charm cheers

    Reply

    • You may want to reach out to your hosting provider to ensure there are no issues on the hosting’s end

      Reply

      Admin

  31. After trying everything stated to solve error 404 and couldn’t I decide to edit with front editor and save, vola it started working again.

    Reply

  32. I have applied all tricks like
    Changed Permalinks
    Changed Theme
    Changed plugins

    but all in vain, how can i resolve my this error?

    Reply

    • If you recreated the htaccess file you may want to reach out to your hosting provider to ensure there are no errors on the host’s end

      Reply

      Admin

  33. The 404 error has been haunting me for last 3 days now, my problem is that I cannot access anything, no WP dashboard, no website, no cPanel, it’s turning out to be quite a disaster please help me fix this

    Reply

    • For a 404 on everything, you would want to start by reaching out to your hosting provider for what they see on their end.

      Reply

      Admin

    • Unless I hear otherwise, we do not have a maintenance service but you can feel free to send us the issue you are running into using our contact form.

      Reply

      Admin

      • i moved my local wordpress website to server.i changed composts table pointing to server ip and replaced all local host.changed config file and comoptions table also.
        But menu links not working in server site.How can i fix this?

        Reply

  36. Thanks so much !! You have saved my day. Didnt know that Saving the permanent links would fix this issue. :)

    Reply

  37. This post literally saved my life. I just had 404 error to all my posts.

    All I had to do was save changes in permalinks and it worked.

    Reply

  38. Thank you so much for the information, unfortunately I am still having issues. When I try to click into +Add New Page it takes me to a 404, if I click +Add New Plugin it also takes me to a 404, if I try to add anything new it will take me to a 404, my website is still in the creation process, it is not yet published. I tried to use filezilla, but after multiple attempts doesn’t connect to my file. Do you know what I should do, I would greatly appreciate your answer!

    Reply

  39. ok so am not sure if that’s the exact same issue am having. generally, when I access my website I don’t get any 404 errors yet on my SEO audit tool it is shown that my WordPress posts preview page is coming back with a 404 error, can anyone help me get this fixed ??

    Reply

    • You would want to reach out to the support for your SEO tool to see if this is a known issue with the tool

      Reply

      Admin

  40. Today enabled minify script/styles in swift performance lite and after that except home page all other links showed 404 error. searched and found this post and on checking found .htaccess empty, added the basic code from this post and 404 error gone. All links are working fine Thanks.

    Reply

  41. please help me out
    i dont know whats wrong with my WordPress website, i tried creating a new post when am done, i click on publish but it redirect me to a page not found which 404, please help me out as at now, i cant publish anything on my site nothing is working,
    thanks for your help in advance.

    Reply

  43. This is a great post. I had a problem with the permalinks when I moved my WP site from a server to another. Your post saved me a lot of time searching for the reason.

    Thanks

    Reply

  44. hi
    your all articles are easy to understand step by step with screen shots guide thanks for writing

    I have a free classified website in word press. advertisers are posting ads in my website but few of them not meet with our terms and conditions so we delete those ads when i delete ads i get a message by word press.
    (You just trashed a Post. Search engines and other websites can still send traffic to your deleted post. You should create a redirect to ensure your visitors do not get a 404 error when they click on the no longer working URL. With Yoast SEO Premium, you can easily create such redirects)

    My question is how to fix this problem without buying yoast seo premium?

    Reply

  45. Hello,
    My website is under construction right now.
    But I still receive 404 error while logging in.
    It does not allow me to open my account on wordpress as error arrives immediately after clicking on the log in button.

    How to solve this problem so that I can assess wp to complete my website?

    Plz give me directions so that I can proceed further as soon as possible.

    Thank you!

    Reply

  46. Good day, i installed a pluggin. So i can put the google addsense script to my the head section of my blog, after putting this code to the pluggin and updating my permalinks i saved it. It still telling me page not found! How do i fix the error! Is there any other way i can insert this script manually via my cpanel! Please help a brother who is so confused right now

    Reply

  47. These steps seem so simple. But I tried everything. Changing the rights to 666 and 664. Deleting the .htaccess file. Copying and pasting the code didn’t help either.

    I even changed the permalink settings to which I desire and rewrite all the pages by hand again. To make sure they get the name I want and to have new page id’s

    I tried literally everything. I’m really clueless now. Can you please help me.

    Reply

  48. Fatal error: Class ‘Email_Before_Download_Form’ not found in /wp-content/plugins/email-before-download/includes/class-email-before-download-shortcode.php on line 65

    Why???

    Reply

  49. Hi. I liked the simplicity in the Tutorial. Sadly, it didn’t work for me!

    The error goes away only If I change my permalink to ‘plain’. If I change back permalink to ‘post name’, then it shows the error! I’d be grateful If you’d help me out here. Thanks anyway for the post.

    Reply

    • If recreating the htaccess method is not working then you would want to reach out to your hosting provider to see if the mod_rewrite rule is enabled on their server.

      Reply

      Admin

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