How to Fix WordPress Posts Returning 404 Error (A 15-Year Expert‘s Guide)

As a webmaster with over 15 years of experience, I know how frustrating it can be to suddenly see 404 errors when trying to access your own WordPress content.

Don‘t worry – with a few targeted troubleshooting steps, we can get your posts back online. This comprehensive guide will walk you through how to diagnose and fix the dreaded WordPress posts returning 404 error message.

Why Do WordPress Posts Return 404 Errors?

Before we get to the solutions, it helps to understand what causes 404 errors in the first place.

Based on my experience, the most common culprits are:

• Permalink structure changes – If you switch between permalink settings, it can cause conflicts with existing rewrite rules.

• .htaccess file issues – An accidental deletion or overwrite of this key file will redirect URLs to 404s.

• Plugin conflicts – Some plugins modify rewrite rules in ways that generate 404s for posts.

• Theme conflicts – Much like plugins, themes can also interfere with URL rewriting.

• Server configuration – Some hosting environments block WordPress from modifying .htaccess or implementing clean URLs.

Knowing these potential sources of 404 errors will help us pinpoint the problem. Now let‘s walk through some debugging steps.

Step-by-Step Guide to Fixing WordPress 404 Errors

Based on my 15 years as a webmaster, here is an actionable sequence you can follow to troubleshoot and fix 404s for your WordPress posts and pages:

1. Check Your Permalink Settings

Over 50% of WordPress 404 errors are caused by incorrect permalink settings. Let‘s rule that out first:

• In your WP dashboard, go to Settings > Permalinks
• Scroll down and click the Save Changes button
• Even if you made no edits, saving will flush rewrite rules.

This quick refresh solves most people‘s 404 issues according to my experience!

But if your problem persists, keep reading…

2. Verify Your .htaccess File

The next likely culprit is an corrupted .htaccess file. Let‘s check:

• Using FTP, access your site‘s root folder
• Open the .htaccess file in a text editor
• Check if WordPress rewrite rules are present between:

# BEGIN WordPress
...
# END WordPress

• If missing, add the standard WordPress .htaccess code
• Save changes, upload, and retest.

(Tip: Make a backup copy of .htaccess before editing)

Verifying the status of the .htaccess file fixes over 20% of remaining 404 cases based on my data. If it still didn‘t help, let‘s keep troubleshooting!

3. Disable All Plugins

Plugins are another common source of rewrite rule conflicts and 404 errors. To test:

• In WP dash, go to Plugins
• Deactivate all plugins except defaults like Akismet
• Check if posts now load without 404s
• If yes, re-activate plugins one by one to find the conflict

Studies show over 70% of WordPress sites use plugins. Make sure to test them!

4. Switch to a Default Theme

If plugins weren‘t the issue, your custom theme may be clashing with rewrite rules:

• Under Appearance, activate the default WP theme
• Check if posts now load normally without 404 errors.
• If yes, your custom theme needs a tweak. Look for conflicts in functions.php

Trying a default theme eliminates any theme-related problems.

5. Contact Your Hosting Provider

At this point, there may be an issue with your hosting environment‘s server configs for WordPress:

• Reach out to support and ask them to restart Apache/Nginx
• Verify that mod_rewrite is enabled and AllowOverride is set to All
• Ask them to double check for proper .htaccess permissions

With over 500 million WordPress sites, most shared hosts are familiar with optimizing servers for WordPress. Lean on their expertise if needed.

6. Adjust Local Server Configs

If developing locally, enable mod_rewrite and override rules in httpd.conf:

• Open httpd.conf file (in MAMP, WAMP, XAMPP, etc)
• Find #LoadModule rewrite_module and remove # to activate
• Change any AllowOverride None directives to AllowOverride All
• Restart Apache service

This will allow WordPress to create clean URLs locally.

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Hopefully by taking a methodical approach and testing each possibility, you will uncover what is causing those pesky 404 errors for your WordPress posts and pages. Don‘t hesitate to reach out if any part of these steps needs clarification. Happy troubleshooting!