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.htaccess Generator

Developer Tools

Generate an Apache .htaccess file for your website. Force HTTPS, configure www redirects, add 301 redirect rules, and set custom error pages — download ready.

Reviewed by the thecalcu.com team · Last updated July 9, 2026

What is a .htaccess?

An .htaccess file is a per-directory configuration file used by Apache web servers, the technology powering the majority of shared hosting plans, WordPress hosts, and cPanel-based environments. Placed in your website's root directory, it applies server-level rules that affect every request to your site: enforcing HTTPS, redirecting between www and non-www versions, setting up permanent redirects for changed URLs, adding custom error pages, and protecting your images from hotlinking.

The .htaccess Generator creates this file from a form interface, producing syntactically correct Apache configuration that can be uploaded directly to your server. Writing .htaccess rules by hand is error-prone: a missing backslash in a regex, an incorrect flag in a rewrite rule, or a path that does not start with / will either silently do nothing or, in the worst case, return a 500 Internal Server Error for your entire website.

The most common and most important use is HTTPS enforcement. Having an SSL certificate installed makes HTTPS available, but it does not redirect HTTP traffic automatically. Users who visit http://yoursite.com or click an old HTTP link land on the insecure version unless a redirect rule is in place. The generator adds a RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off check and a 301 redirect that sends all HTTP traffic to the HTTPS equivalent with zero configuration required on your part.

URL canonicalisation, choosing one definitive form for your domain, is the second major use. Search engines treat example.com and www.example.com as separate URLs. Without a redirect, content appears at two URLs simultaneously, splitting link equity and potentially creating duplicate content flags. The generator lets you enforce either form with a single selection.

Use this alongside robots.txt Generator and Sitemap.xml Generator to complete the full technical foundation of a new website deployment.

Why Use an .htaccess Generator?

The Apache rewrite rule syntax is notoriously difficult to write correctly from memory. The correct HTTPS enforcement block, for example, requires three specific lines in the right order with the right flags:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

Missing the [L,R=301] flag means the redirect happens without a 301 status code. Writing [R=301] without [L] causes redirect loops. Using https://www.yourdomain.com instead of https://%{HTTP_HOST} hardcodes the domain and breaks the rule on staging subdomains.

A generator eliminates all of these pitfalls. You select the options you want, review the output, and upload, without needing to remember the exact syntax or worry about flags.

For developers managing redirects during a site migration, generating structured Redirect 301 directives from a list of old/new URL pairs is far faster than writing each line individually. Enter your redirect pairs one per line in the generator, copy the output, and the entire redirect map is ready.

Who Should Use This Generator?

WordPress site owners, WordPress installs on Apache include a default .htaccess for URL routing, but forcing HTTPS and adding custom redirects requires editing it manually. This generator produces the additional directives to add above the WordPress block.

Web developers and freelancers, managing .htaccess across client sites is a routine task. The generator produces correct rules for the most common scenarios (HTTPS, www, redirects, error pages) in seconds, reducing the risk of syntax errors that break live sites.

SEO professionals during site migrations, when a site moves to a new URL structure, every old URL needs a 301 redirect to its new equivalent. Enter the redirect pairs from your migration map into the generator and get a complete redirect block for .htaccess.

Shared hosting users, VPS users can edit Nginx config directly, but shared hosting users can only configure server behaviour through .htaccess. This generator is particularly relevant for anyone on cPanel, Plesk, or similar managed hosting.

Bloggers protecting their images, image hotlinking is common on blogs and photography sites. Enabling the Hotlink Protection option generates rules that block other sites from embedding your images directly, protecting your bandwidth allowance.

What Insights Does the .htaccess Generator Give You?

The generator produces a single output: .htaccess Content, a plain-text file formatted as valid Apache configuration, ready to upload to your server.

The output is ordered with the most foundational rules first: HTTPS enforcement → www/non-www canonicalisation → 301 redirects → error pages → hotlink protection. This ordering is intentional because Apache processes RewriteRules sequentially; HTTPS and www rules must run before any path-specific redirect rules to avoid rule conflicts.

Each section is preceded by a comment line (prefixed with #) explaining its purpose, making the file readable and maintainable, future you, or another developer, can identify what each block does without deciphering the regex.

How to use this .htaccess calculator

  1. Toggle Force HTTPS on if your server has an SSL certificate installed, this adds a RewriteRule that 301-redirects all http:// requests to https://.
  2. Choose your WWW Preference, select Force www to always serve www.example.com, Force non-www to always serve example.com, or No preference to leave both accessible (not recommended for SEO).
  3. Enter your 301 Redirects in the text area, one per line in the format old-path https://example.com/new-path/. Old paths are relative (start with /); new URLs must be absolute (start with https://).
  4. Toggle Custom Error Pages on to add ErrorDocument directives that serve your custom 404 and 500 HTML pages, ensure those files exist at /404.html and /500.html before enabling this.
  5. Toggle Hotlink Protection on if you want to block other sites from embedding your images. Enter your Site Domain in the format example.com (no https://, no trailing slash), the rule allows image requests from your own domain while blocking others.
  6. Copy the .htaccess Content from the output box. If you already have an .htaccess file, append the relevant sections above your existing rules. If starting fresh, save the output as .htaccess and upload to your website root directory.
Show formula & methodology ↓Show less ↑

Formula & Methodology

The generator assembles Apache directives in a specific order to prevent rule conflicts. Rules are grouped into sections, each preceded by a comment:

apache RewriteEngine On  # Force HTTPS RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]  # Force non-www RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\.(.+)$ [NC] RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%1%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]  # 301 Redirects Redirect 301 /old-page/ https://example.com/new-page/  # Custom Error Pages ErrorDocument 404 /404.html ErrorDocument 500 /500.html  # Hotlink Protection RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$ RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^https?://(www\.)?example\.com [NC] RewriteRule \.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif|webp|svg)$ - [F,NC] 

Key flags explained:
- [L], Last rule; stop processing further RewriteRules after this one
- [R=301], Return HTTP 301 (Permanent Redirect) to the client
- [NC], No Case, match regardless of upper/lower case
- [F], Forbidden, return 403 to the client
- %{HTTP_HOST}, the domain name from the request header
- %1, backreference to the first capture group in the preceding RewriteCond

The hotlink protection RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$ line allows direct browser access (no referer header) while blocking cross-site image embeds. Your domain's dots are escaped (\.) in the regex to prevent them from matching any character.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an .htaccess file?
.htaccess (HyperText Access) is a configuration file used by Apache web servers to apply server-level rules for specific directories and their subdirectories. Rules in this file control redirects, URL rewriting, access control, caching, and security settings without requiring changes to the main server configuration. It is placed in the directory where the rules should apply, typically the website root.
What can you do with an .htaccess file?
Common uses include forcing HTTPS on all traffic, redirecting www to non-www (or vice versa), setting up 301 permanent redirects from old URLs to new ones, blocking specific IP addresses, adding custom error pages, protecting image hotlinking, enabling GZIP compression, and setting browser cache headers. For SEO, the most important uses are enforcing a canonical URL structure (HTTPS and consistent www/non-www) and implementing 301 redirects for moved or deleted pages.
What is the difference between a 301 and 302 redirect?
A 301 redirect signals that a page has permanently moved to a new URL, search engines transfer the original page's ranking signals to the new URL. A 302 redirect signals a temporary move, search engines keep the original URL in their index and do not transfer ranking signals. For SEO purposes, always use 301 when a page has permanently changed URL. Use 302 only for genuinely temporary situations, such as A/B testing a variant page or a seasonal campaign page.
Why force HTTPS with .htaccess instead of relying on my SSL certificate?
An SSL certificate makes HTTPS available, but it does not automatically redirect HTTP requests to HTTPS, users who type your domain without 'https://' or click an old HTTP link will still reach the insecure version. The .htaccess redirect rule catches all HTTP requests and sends them to the HTTPS version with a 301 permanent redirect. Most browsers and search engines require HTTPS, and Google has used HTTPS as a ranking signal since 2014.
What is the difference between forcing www and forcing non-www?
Search engines treat 'example.com' and 'www.example.com' as separate URLs by default. If both versions serve the same content without a canonical redirect, it can cause duplicate content issues and split link equity between two versions of the same site. Choosing one canonical form, with or without www, and 301-redirecting the other consolidates all traffic and rankings to a single URL. Either choice is valid; the important thing is consistency.
How do I add a 301 redirect in .htaccess?
Use the Redirect directive: 'Redirect 301 /old-path/ https://example.com/new-path/'. The old path is relative to the website root (starting with /) and the new URL is absolute (starting with https://). Enter each redirect on its own line in the generator's Redirects field in the format 'old-path new-url'. The generator formats these as correct Redirect directives in the output.
What is hotlink protection and why does it matter?
Hotlinking is when another website embeds your images directly using your server's URL, consuming your bandwidth without your permission. This can significantly increase your hosting costs on bandwidth-metered plans. The .htaccess hotlink protection rule blocks image requests where the HTTP referer header does not match your own domain, returning a 403 Forbidden response to the requesting site. Your own pages and direct browser access continue to work normally.
Does .htaccess only work on Apache servers?
.htaccess is specific to Apache and Apache-compatible servers (such as LiteSpeed). It does not work on Nginx, Caddy, or IIS servers. Most shared hosting plans run Apache, so .htaccess works on the majority of shared hosting environments including cPanel-based hosts. If you are on Nginx, common with VPS and cloud servers, you need to implement equivalent rules in the Nginx server block configuration file instead.
Can a mistake in .htaccess break my entire website?
Yes, a syntax error in .htaccess can return a 500 Internal Server Error for all pages on your site until the error is fixed. Before uploading changes, keep a backup of the working .htaccess file and test the new version on a staging environment first. If your site goes down after an upload, access your server via FTP or the hosting control panel file manager and either delete the .htaccess file or restore the backup. The generator produces syntactically correct output, but always verify the paths you enter are accurate.
Where do I upload the .htaccess file?
Upload .htaccess to the root directory of your website, the same directory that contains your index.html or index.php file. On cPanel hosting, this is typically the public_html folder. The file must be named exactly '.htaccess' (with a leading dot and no file extension). On Windows computers, creating a file starting with a dot can be tricky, you may need to use FTP software or your hosting file manager rather than Windows Explorer.
Is my domain or redirect data stored when I use this generator?
No. The .htaccess Generator runs entirely in your browser. The redirect rules, domain name, and settings you enter are processed locally by JavaScript and never sent to any server. Nothing is stored, logged, or shared. You can safely enter your real production domain and live redirect paths without any privacy concern.
Also known as
htaccess generatorApache redirect generatorforce HTTPS htaccess301 redirect generatorwww to non-www redirecthtaccess file builder