Error 404 when wanting to log into admin mode

Hey @vmastah,

It sounds as if there may be an issue with your .htaccess file. I can see a 301 redirect happening when trying to access /wp-admin.

My recommendation would be to rename your .htaccess file as backup.htaccess (or similar), and then see if you can access admin? If you can great – just head to the permalinks page, hit save, and it should generate a new .htaccess file.

Hope this helps!

Hi @thepixelhut

it sounds like the .htaccess file is in the documents of the site, how can i access those now that i can’t log in?

Hey @vmastah

Do you have any direct access to the sites files? Via FTP maybe?

@thepixelhut

I installed a file manager plugin yesterday, https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/file-manager-advanced/

is this a way to access the files without loggin in?

Hey @vmastah

No, unfortunately you won’t be able to access that without logging-in.

The only real option you have is to access it via cPanel / your web hosting interface / FTP. Do you have access to any of those?

@thepixelhut

we were able to access the file and renamed it to backup.htaccess, we were still not able to get to the admin page however. Do you know what else it could be?

@vmastah

Other than the file manager plugin, have you installed any other plugins before this issue came about?

You can also try disabling plugins 1 by 1 (if you can’t access admin then just rename the plugin folders 1 by 1) and see if any of these are causing the issue.

@thepixelhut I activated a defender program that had been inactive for a few years, other than that i think i did not add another plugin, though im not a 100% sure.

however, i did add a line in a file called wp-config.php, i added: define( ‘WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE’, true );

because the site had troubles with auto-updating, do you think this could be a reason for this problem?

@vmastah

I activated a defender program that had been inactive for a few years

that sounds like it may be your issue – can you try and rename this plugin in the wp-content/plugins directory?

the WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE part shouldn’t have this sort of effect.

@thepixelhut i have asked the host to add me to the FTP, when that has been succesfull i will let you know. Thanks for your quick responses!

@thepixelhut so I woke up today and i got a text rom my boss, he could log into the admin mode. I first tried my old link and got the error 404 again, then i tried the link he send me, i could log in and when i tried MY link again after i could log in through that link too, any idea why this is happening?

@vmastah

I can only suggest what i’ve said above. It may be worth asking your boss to check with your hosting company to see if they have any input. Good luck!

@thepixelhut i’ve reset the permalinks, thanks for your help once again!

Check and reset the .htaccess file.
Deactivate plugins by renaming the plugin.
Switch to a default theme by renaming the active theme directory.
Clear your browser cache. All these tips can solve your issue.