How to set / update permalinks without WordPress Admin access, using FTP.
This is the same solution for various problems or questions.
If you are getting a 404 error in your WordPress website, the most common solution is to just update your permalink structure. To do this is quite easy if you can log into your WordPress Dashboard.
1. Update Permalinks using Dashboard
Go to Settings > Permalinks > Choose any > Click Save
Doing this will force your host up update your .htaccess file. If you access your Dashboard read on:
2. Update permalinks using FTP.
Connect through FTP
In the root of your WordPress install, open your .htaccess file. If you can not see your .htaccess file it might be hidden. Find the “Show hidden files” option in your FTP client’s preferences. If you still can’t find the file, you don’t have one and you need to create one.
Using a text editor like notepad, paste the following code into your .htaccess file.
# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress
Save and upload to the same folder where your WordPress install resides.
.htaccess File location
Go to your browser and hit Refresh a couple of times.