Set WordPress to ignore a File Path

Sometimes, you need to allow access to a file or directory but don’t need a subdomain. For example, you may upload a file or folder to your public_html directory, but WordPress may show a 404 error when attempting to access its file path. In such situations, you can create a rewrite condition within your .htaccess file to force your WordPress website to ignore the file path of that file. This would allow a file – e.g. domain.com/file.html – to display as is instead of embedded as part of the parent WordPress website.

Edit WordPress to Ignore a File Path

1. Log into SSH or cPanel File Editor.
2. Navigate to your WordPress root directory.
3. Open your website .htaccess file.
4. Below is the default WordPress .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

   Add the following above the RewriteCond lines, replacing file with the file path to your saved files:

   RewriteCond $1 !^(/file)

5. Save your changes.

You should now be able to visit the URL for that HTML file without your WordPress website attempting to integrate it as part of the website.