Hello friends! It's possible that you have encountered a 404 error while working with Laravel projects. This error typically occurs when the server cannot find the requested pages. However, you might wonder why the default page for Laravel's 404 error isn't showing but rather the 404 page for PHP instead. To resolve this issue, there are several simple steps that we can review together.
The first common reason for this issue could be misconfigured settings in the .htaccess file. This file is responsible for directing requests to the index.php file of Laravel. If this file is not configured correctly, it might lead to 404 errors. Ensure that this file is configured properly.
Another reason could be due to improper settings in the web server (like Apache or Nginx). For example, in Nginx settings, you need to ensure that requests are pointed to the index.php file. In the Nginx configuration file, the lines associated with try_files need to be configured correctly.
A third reason might be due to cached data in Laravel. Sometimes, necessary changes might not take effect due to cached data, but clearing this cache can solve the issue. In such cases, running the php artisan cache:clear command might help.
Finally, always ensure that you have executed the composer install command and that all the related Laravel files have been installed correctly. Sometimes issues may arise due to the absence of one of these files.
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine On
# Redirect Trailing Slashes...
RewriteRule ^(.*)/$ /$1 [L,R=301]
# Handle Front Controller...
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteRule ^ index.php [L]
</IfModule>
The above code corresponds to sections of the .htaccess file that are used for handling requests correctly in Laravel.
"<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>": This checks whether the mod_rewrite module is enabled or not.
"Options +FollowSymLinks": This option enables following symbolic links.
"RewriteEngine On": This activates the rewrite engine for URL rewriting.
"RewriteRule ^(.*)/$ /$1 [L,R=301]": This line redirects all URLs ending with a slash to the same address without the slash.
"RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d" and "RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f": These check whether the requested file or directory exists.
"RewriteRule ^ index.php [L]": This redirects all requests to the index.php file.