{"id":97685,"date":"2019-12-16T14:26:07","date_gmt":"2019-12-16T20:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/?post_type=support&p=97685"},"modified":"2025-07-28T11:07:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T17:07:00","slug":"htaccess-deprecation","status":"publish","type":"support","link":"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/support\/htaccess-deprecation\/","title":{"rendered":".htaccess Deprecation and Alternatives"},"content":{"rendered":"

WP Engine does not support the .htaccess file and has deprecated it in order to increase website performance and to match industry trends. If your site used custom .htaccess directives outside of the default WordPress\u00ae rules (such as redirects, headers, or access rules) they can be converted using the guidance provided in this article.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article includes overviews of alternatives for common .htaccess directives, including explanations of what each directive does, links to more information on the web, and examples of how to implement each rule type by alternative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/a>\n\n\n\n

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What is the .htaccess file and why was it deprecated?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

PHP servers are used to execute the code that WordPress runs on. The .htaccess<\/a> is a PHP configuration file that a web admin can use to tell the server how to interact with a website. It can control any number of things on a site-by-site basis, like how your URLs are formed or restricting access to a directory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The .htaccess file has performance implications on sites leveraging an Apache backend server. As .htaccess files are read recursively, this can lead to file system reads on every page load on your site. On smaller sites this doesn\u2019t lead to a big impact, but as the number of directories on a site gets larger, there is an impact those file system crawls have on performance. You can read more about the recommendations around this in \u201cWhen (not) to use .htaccess files<\/a>\u201d from Apache.org.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most importantly, .htaccess files tie our architecture to Apache as a backend web server. As new exciting technologies arise, and open up new features and performance we\u2019d like to make available to our customers, it becomes paramount to break that dependency as we evolve as a Digital Experience Platform. We\u2019re incredibly excited at the evolution, and the velocity we\u2019ll be able to deliver as part of this change in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We recognize the overhead this will have on our customers as they prepare for upgrades. We believe it\u2019s in the best interest of our customers to deprecate and remove .htaccess support going forward. We\u2019ve been committed to smoothing out the transition period, and have made platform changes as we\u2019ve encountered challenges. If you\u2019re in a situation where you don\u2019t know the best course of action, or believe that the .htaccess is the only manner in which to accomplish your goals, please do not hesitate to reach out to our Support team. They\u2019ll be able to help ease this transition, and raise issues to our development teams to address the shortcomings this deprecation creates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While our data suggests only a small amount of customers leverage the .htaccess feature, we recognize that there are those that have relied on this functionality. We\u2019re committed to continually smoothing this transition, and will be more than happy to assist with recommendations and alternatives. We suggest reviewing our list of alternatives below and testing any changes on a Staging or Development environment<\/a> first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While our Support team does not support PHP or code development, if you have any questions or concerns about this change, please reach out to our Support team<\/a> at any time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>\n\n\n\n

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Default WordPress .htaccess Directives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By our analysis, most WP Engine websites will not<\/em> need to make any changes as they are using a default WordPress version of the .htaccess. Default WordPress rewrites will be handled by WP Engine automatically at the server level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your .htaccess file contains only default content, no changes need to be made. You can find the default .htaccess files used for WordPress here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your .htaccess file contains content beyond the default WordPress state, see the alternatives below<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/a>\n\n\n\n

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Directive Alternatives Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If your site is using .htaccess directives outside of the default WordPress rules (above), we have put together a list of recommended alternatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Directive<\/th>Purpose<\/th>Alternative<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Deny from all<\/b><\/td>Restrict access<\/td>\n
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  • By default, PHP files have guards at a platform level that prevent them from being served. Other static files are served by Nginx and not Apache.<\/li>\n
  • Nginx rules can be added to replicate this behavior if needed by contacting Support<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td><\/tr>
Allow from all<\/b><\/td>Allow access<\/td>\n
    \n
  • PHP files have guards at a platform level that prevent them from being served. Other static files are served by Nginx and not Apache.<\/li>\n
  • Nginx rules can be added to replicate this behavior if needed by contacting Support<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td><\/tr>
Rewrites<\/b><\/td>Forces redirects and rewrites<\/td>\n
SetHandler<\/b><\/td>Specifies how to handle certain file types<\/td>\n
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  • None<\/li>\n
  • Static assets are served by Nginx and not Apache (where the .htaccess would be processed).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td><\/tr>
Option-indexIgnore<\/b>*<\/td>Prevent directory browsing<\/td>\n
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  • None<\/li>\n
  • WP Engine already disallows indexing of directories by default.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td><\/tr>
mod_<\/b> Headers<\/strong><\/td>Header tweaking<\/td>\n
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  • Headers should be sent with PHP code.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td><\/tr>
AddType<\/b><\/td>Adds MIME type support for app type<\/td>\n
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  • Static assets are served by Nginx and not Apache (where the .htaccess would be processed).<\/li>\n
  • If additional rules are desired, they can be added to the Nginx config by contacting Support<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td><\/tr>
Caching<\/strong><\/td>Sets cache expirations<\/td>\n
    \n
  • WP Engine manages caching rules at a server level for you, by default.<\/li>\n
  • Additional caching rules can be managed in PHP code.<\/li>\n
  • Extra caching rules for static assets can be applied to Nginx by contacting Support<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td><\/tr>
Security<\/strong><\/td>Disable PHP processing in plugin(s).<\/td>\n