How To Fix 404 Error Quickly From Your WordPress Admin Dashboard

Imagine that you are searching on Google for important information. Google will show you some very relevant results based on your search.

You will then click on a link from the search result page that you think will help you get the information you want.

Unfortunately, you will see a 404 error when clicking on that link. Bang!

Such situations make you very frustrated, don’t they? If I were in your position, I would be disappointed.

Could there be anything more depressing and unfortunate than this?

Issues similar to these may also affect your website. At that time, your website visitors may have experienced the same feeling.

Unfortunately, these 404 errors will also affect your Search Engine Optimization campaigns.

But you don’t need to worry. I’m here to help you fix your 404 errors on your WordPress website with some easy steps.

I will tell you how to clear these 404 errors on your WordPress website quickly.

Before that, first, let’s try to understand these 404 errors and how they appear.

So What Is a 404 Error?

404 error is widely known as Page Not Found error.

When your web browser cannot access the requested page, it is called Page Not Found or 404. But don’t get confused; this is not an issue with your web browser.

Whenever the .htaccess file gets accidentally deleted or something goes wrong with the server configuration, this error usually will appear.

However, remember that this 404 error won’t permanently delete your pages from the server. In most cases, your pages will remain on the server unless you specifically delete them.

And in most cases, the pages are safe on your web server, and they will be accessible when you resolve this problem.

404 Error: Why Is It Happening?

Let me tell you; there are many reasons why 404 errors are happening on your WordPress website.

There is a chance that you wrongly typed the URL; then, the page will return with the 404 error.

There will be a problem with the Domain Name Systems (DNS) settings or an issue with the permalink structure of your WordPress website.

We can quickly fix the first problem. Ensure that the entered URL is correctly typed and that you did not make any mistakes.

However, if 404 errors are caused due to the two other reasons I mentioned, you need to keep reading and resolve it as per the guide.

Reset Your WordPress Permalinks

When you start experiencing 404 errors on your WordPress website, the first thing you need to check is your permalink settings.

For that, you need to log into your WordPress admin dashboard.

Then go to the Settings Menu and then click on Permalinks.

Now click on the Save Changes button. Yeah, I know you are wondering that you did not make any changes there.

I understand that. You need to click on that button, even if you haven’t made any changes.

Let me tell you what will happen when you click on that button. Your permalink settings will automatically be updated when you click on that button. Then WordPress will flush the associated rewrite rules.

Hopefully, this should fix your 404 errors by now. Now go back to your browser and reload the page that you saw the 404 error. And hopefully, you will get the correct page rendered.

If that is somehow not working, let’s go to the following method.

Restore Your .htaccess File

As the next step, let’s try to restore your .htaccess file.

For that, you will need to log into your DirectAdmin control panel or FTP because we will edit the file directly there.

So once you have logged into your DirectAdmin control panel, click on the File Manager icon. In the File Manager, you need to go to the root folder of your WordPress installation.

Now select the .htaccess file and right-click on it. You will now see a context menu with a couple of options.

From the context menu, select the Edit option.

Here is a pro tip. You can also double click on the file, and it will open directly, so you can edit without going to the context menu.

Now in that file, you need to find the WordPress block. It will start with # BEGIN WordPress and end with # END WordPress line.

And then replace the existing block with the below code.

# BEGIN WordPress
# The directives (lines) between "BEGIN WordPress" and "END WordPress" are
# dynamically generated, and should only be modified via WordPress filters.
# Any changes to the directives between these markers will be overwritten.
<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

This is the default .htaccess file for your WordPress website.

Once you have updated the block, go ahead and save the file.

The changes will reset your WordPress website’s permalink settings when you reset this file. So if you were using custom permalink settings for your WordPress website, you need to update the permalink settings again.

As I have mentioned above, you can change the permalink settings of your WordPress site from the Settings and Permalinks menu.

Now go back to your browser and refresh the page. You should now be able to access the page.

So these are the two easy methods to fix the 404 error on your WordPress site.

Fixing the 404 error is vital because it will make your website accessible to your potential visitors. Page Not Found errors will also affect your SEO strategies negatively.

I am sure that you don’t want that to happen. So go ahead and fix your Page Not Found error right now.

If you still see the 404 error, don’t hesitate to contact our Customer Technical Support team. Our team is ready to assist you.