Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Purchasing a product through one of these links generates a commission for us at no additional expense to you.
Struggling with a 404 error on a Post, Page, or Category?
Well, I’ve got some good news. There’s a quick fix that almost always fixes 404 errors in WordPress.
If you’re not sure what a 404 error is, you can get a quick overview from Wikipedia here.
The trick that (almost) always fixes 404 errors
Open your WordPress admin dashboard and visit the Permalinks Settings menu (Settings → Permalinks).
Save your existing permalinks settings by clicking the Save Changes button at the bottom.
When you save your permalinks settings, WordPress rebuilds your .htaccess file. Very often when you have a 404 error on an archive page or a new post type, it’s because the .htaccess file needs to be updated.
For our purposes, saving the permalinks is a handy trick that works like magic for fixing 404 errors.
What if it doesn’t work?
When you visit the 404 error page, do you see a 404 page within your existing theme’s design? Or, do you see a blank white page that looks nothing like your site?
If you see a page that looks nothing like your site, then the cause of the 404 error is not with your .htaccess file, but rather with your hosting configuration. To fix it, you will need to contact your host and notify them of the error.
