Sometimes, when you apply a .htaccess file on your site, you get a blank page or an Internal Server 500 error message when trying to access your site's front- or back-end.
There are two reasons this might happen.
Some settings may be incompatible with your host
Working around this is simple:
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Using your favourite FTP application, e.g. FileZilla or CyberDuck, go to your site's web root
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Find the
.htaccessfile and rename it tohtaccess.bak. If you do not see the.htaccessfile listed there, create a blank text file on your local machine, rename it to.htaccessand upload it to your site. It will overwrite the existing one. -
Log back in to your site's back-end, go to , , , disable some options and then click on Save and apply .htaccess.
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If this produces the same error, repeat this procedure. Do note that different servers support different features of our .htaccess Maker. There is no way to know beforehand. Making the perfect .htaccess for your site is a trial-and-error process.
![[Important]](/media/com_docimport/admonition/important.png) | Important |
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If you are on GoDaddy, please note that changes on .htaccess files (or removing them completely) take anywhere between 10-30 minutes to become effective. |
The PHP version was reset to the server's default
If you had set up a PHP version for your site different that your server's default using your hosting control panel interface please keep in mind that this takes place by modifying your .htaccess file. Generating a new .htaccess file overwrites the old one, removing the lines your hosting control panel added or modified at the end of the file.
If you believe this is the case, please go back to your hosting control panel and re-apply the new PHP version. The take a look at the information in the .htaccess Maker documentation to copy the necessary .htaccess lines into Admin Tools' .htaccess Maker configuration. You can then create the .htaccess file again; the effective PHP version of your site will not change now.