Received 404 error on Home Page for Guest users

Is the 404 error page themed by WP? (soft 404) Or is it the generic server 404 page? (hard 404). If a hard 404, WP is not involved and there’s an issue with your server configuration. I then recommend seeking assistance through your host.

If a soft 404, it’s likely your theme or a plugin has corrupted the query being made, resulting in nothing found. You say this only happens sometimes? Intermittent faults are very difficult to troubleshoot. Try to determine what set of conditions would consistently cause the problem. You could then selectively deactivate plugins or switch themes to learn which module is responsible for the problem.

Yes 404 error page is server side.

So WP is not involved then. It’s quite strange then that being logged into WP or updating the page would make a difference if WP is not involved. It doesn’t make sense to me.

Maybe the server 404 is only part of the story? Perhaps a WP redirect is involved and the redirect is what returns 404? Here’s a test to try:
Open your browser’s Network Developer tool, then request your home page as a guest. Does that request return a 301 or 302 status? Or does it actually return 404? If 301 or 302, then what request does return 404?

If the home page request directly returns the 404 and the 404 page is not WP themed, then it’s definitely a server configuration issue. I suspect the server’s modSecurity configuration needs adjustment.

If a 301 or 302 status and WP is involved, your theme or a plugin could be causing this behavior. Try deactivating all plugins and switching to one of the default Twenty* themes. With only core WP active, guests should be able to access your home page. To identify the actual culprit, restore your normal theme and plugins, one at a time, until the problem recurs.

Currently, the website is working fine for all users, so I will perform these steps if I get a 404 error again on the website to check what is the actual issue, is it from the server side or the WordPress side?

I hope this sounds good to you.

It’s a reasonable approach. Whether or not it sounds good to me is irrelevant, it’s not my site ?? But if I saw you were making an egregious error I would certainly point it out.

Sure. I have chosen this approach because currently website is working fine and I got 200 responses for the Home page in the browser’s Network Developer Tool. But I will keep these steps in mind to get the root cause of the error.

Thanks a lot!