WordPress 404 Error Fix

Load the home page, then a known post: if only that post fails, the address is wrong or the page is gone; if every inner page returns 404 while the home page and wp-admin still open, WordPress's rewrite rules are missing. That single test decides which fix you need.

A 404 is not a 500. The server is up and WordPress is running; it simply has nothing to show at that path. A 500 error is a crash with a different fix, covered in WordPress 500 internal server error.

On Apache, the site's root .htaccess must contain WordPress's rewrite block and the server must allow overrides with mod_rewrite enabled; on Nginx, the server block must send unknown paths to index.php.

Standard WordPress block for .htaccess in the web root (usually public_html):

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

If WordPress lives in a subfolder such as /blog/, use RewriteBase /blog/ and RewriteRule . /blog/index.php [L]. If the file is missing or not writable, WordPress shows the rules on the Permalinks screen for you to paste. More on the file is in the .htaccess guide.

Nginx ignores .htaccess. Its server block needs:

location / {
    try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
}

On managed hosting you cannot edit the Nginx configuration yourself, so ask the host to confirm the rule; on WebJi® WordPress hosting, email support@webji.services. Test with sudo nginx -t before reloading on your own server.

"Not found (404)" in Search Console's Page indexing report means Googlebot requested a URL your site no longer serves; restore or redirect it if it had value, or leave it if it was never meant to exist. Google has said 404s on genuinely removed pages are normal and do not harm the rest of the site.

• Not found (404): a real missing page; check where Google found the link.
• Soft 404: the page returns 200 but looks empty or redirects everyone to the home page; give it real content or a real 404/410.
• Removed on purpose: a 410 Gone status tells crawlers the removal is permanent.

Status codes in general are explained in HTTP status codes.