What is HTTP ERROR 404, and How Can I Fix it?

Whenever we open a web page on any browsers, a page opens up with some of the messages like ERROR 404 not found and that annoys most of us who keep surfing almost 24×7. Whenever it keeps occurring, again and again, most of us who don’t understand it think that it is a problem with the device or network, but it is not like that.

There is something different than this which is responsible for this error. Now some of the questions that pop-up in mind are answered below. We will go through all these questions and will clear all your doubts one-by-one. So, let us start exploring this error.

What is HTTP ERROR 404?

It is a type of response provided to the user if the desired web page which the user wants to visit is not able to open or display. It is also a status code of the page.

For understanding this, let us take an example, the ticket counter of any theater displays house-full when they can’t allow people to go and watch the show. Now, you can relate this example to the occurrence of this error.

What does error 404 mean?

ERROR 404 not found means that you cannot visit this page for several different reasons, or the status of the page is that it cannot be opened or unable to open. It can be any of these.

Kameron, manager at Vetted Trades, “404 error means that the page you are looking for is not going to be displayed, whether it exists, or it does not exist.” And you don’t know for sure that the page exists or not.

What can cause a 404 error?

It can occur due to many reasons. One of these reasons can be that the creator of the page himself does not want it to open; the other reasons can be anything like connectivity or server itself is unable to display it, or maybe the page doesn’t exist.

When the server is unable to display, it means that there are two reasons. First, the page doesn’t exist. Second, there is a problem in the server’s communication and response to the request for the web page.

On concluding all of these about doubts, we can say that HTTP ERROR 404 occurs whenever there is a problem while requesting to visit the web page.

Now, let us take a look at how to deal with it and fix it.

How to deal with it?

There are many different ways to deal with this error, as it is a common error that occurs many times a day while surfing. One of the most simple things a user can do is to refresh the page or close the link and open it again.

Now, the question comes that how does doing this helps in removing the error? The answer is simple. On refreshing or opening the link, another request is sent to the server for opening the page. But, it can only work when the page exists, and there is a problem with connectivity or server response.

How do I fix error 404?

Follow the given steps to fix 404 files not found error easily:

1. First, check whether the link or source you want to visit is valid or not. If it is not valid, then it is never going to open. So, type the correct URL(Uniform Resource Locator).
2. Second, if you are the creator or designer of the page, then design a better or attractive no response page for your page. So, customize the page to make it attractive.
3. Third, if the above two are already done, then check the server and its response, acknowledgment to request, and its working.

Lastly, take the help of other tools like, for example, take the tool provided by Google, that is, Search Console Tool to check the occurrence of the error and to correct or solve the problem.

Conclusion

These were simple and easy to implement solutions to the problem of the occurrence of HTTP error 404. You need to solve the problem of the frequent occurrence of error because the error can lead to a decrease in the popularity of the website and, ultimately, the designer and companies itself.