404 🌐 HTTP

HTTP 404 Not Found

The server can’t find anything at the requested URL.

Seen on: Nginx Apache React WordPress

Meaning

A 404 means the server is reachable but there is no resource at that path. It may never have existed, it moved without a redirect, or the server’s routing isn’t sending the request to your application.

For single-page apps and frameworks with “pretty URLs”, a 404 on page refresh almost always means the web server isn’t rewriting unknown paths to index.html / index.php.

Common causes

  • Typo or wrong case in the URL (paths are case-sensitive on Linux)
  • Page or file was moved/deleted without a 301 redirect
  • Missing rewrite rules — SPA/framework routes 404 on refresh
  • Wrong document root or base path (app deployed in a sub-folder)
  • API route not registered, or wrong HTTP method mapped to a different route
  • .htaccess not applied because AllowOverride None
  • Some APIs return 404 instead of 403 to hide resources you can’t access

⚡ Quick fix

  1. Double-check the exact URL, including case and trailing slash
  2. Add a fallback rewrite to index.html / index.php for SPA and framework routes
  3. Confirm the server’s document root points to the right folder
  4. For moved pages, add a 301 redirect from the old URL
  5. List your framework’s registered routes (php artisan route:list, rails routes)

Detailed fix by platform

Nginx

  1. Send unknown paths to your app:
    nginx
    location / {
    try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;          # SPA
    # try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;  # PHP frameworks
}

Apache

  1. Enable mod_rewrite (sudo a2enmod rewrite) and set AllowOverride All for the directory.
  2. Front-controller fallback in .htaccess:
    apache
    RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^ index.php [L,QSA]

React

  1. With React Router, configure the host to serve index.html for all routes (Netlify _redirects: /* /index.html 200; Vercel rewrites).
  2. If deployed under a sub-path, set basename on the router and homepage/base in the build config.

WordPress

  1. Re-save Settings → Permalinks to regenerate rewrite rules.
  2. Check that .htaccess is writable and mod_rewrite is enabled.

Code examples

Check how the server sees the path

bash
curl -I https://example.com/dashboard
curl -I https://example.com/Dashboard   # case matters on Linux

How to diagnose

  1. URL — Exact path, case, trailing slash, sub-folder?
  2. Static file — Does the file exist under the document root?
  3. Routing — Does the web server rewrite to the app front controller?
  4. App routes — Is the route registered for this method?
  5. History — Was the page moved? Add a 301.

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