{"id":437,"date":"2012-08-01T16:36:27","date_gmt":"2012-08-01T16:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/2012\/08\/01\/remove-file-extensions\/"},"modified":"2023-11-30T12:58:53","modified_gmt":"2023-11-30T17:58:53","slug":"remove-file-extensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/website\/remove-file-extensions\/","title":{"rendered":"Removing File Extensions using .htaccess"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lately, there seems to be a trend where designers want to cloak their file extensions<\/strong> from their visitors. For example, they want the URL domain.com\/index.html<\/em> to display as domain.com\/index<\/em> for whatever reason. Some like the way it looks, others believe it helps with SEO, and others believe it is better for security. I am unsure the last two hold any bit of truth, however. This is a feature you can implement via your htaccess file<\/a>. This article will guide you through doing so via your cPanel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Remove File Extensions from URLs via htaccess<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. Log into your cPanel<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Find the Files<\/strong> category and click on the File Manager<\/strong> icon.

    \"Click\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. In the top right hand corner, click on Settings<\/strong>. For the primary domain, click on the Web Root<\/strong> radio button. For addon domains, click on the dropdown and find your desired addon domain name. Be sure the checkbox next to Show Hidden Files<\/strong> is checked. Click the Save<\/strong> button to return to the main File Manager<\/em> screen.

    \n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. You should now be in the root folder of the domain you chose. Look for the .htaccess<\/em> file and right click on it. This brings up a menu. Find and click on the Edit<\/strong> option. If you get a popup box, simply find and click the Edit<\/strong> button in the lower right corner to continue to the editor.

    \"Click\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. You are now in the text editor. As most sites are coded with either html or php, we have include the code for both below.

    \n

    \n\n
    Apache<\/span><\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
    RewriteEngine<\/span> <\/span>on<\/span><\/span>\nRewriteCond<\/span> <\/span>%{REQUEST_FILENAME}<\/span> <\/span>!-d<\/span><\/span>\nRewriteCond<\/span> <\/span>%{REQUEST_FILENAME}.php<\/span> <\/span>-f<\/span><\/span>\nRewriteRule<\/span> <\/span>^(.*)$<\/span> <\/span>$1.php<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n
    \u00a0\n\n
    Apache<\/span><\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span>
    RewriteEngine<\/span> <\/span>on<\/span><\/span>\nRewriteCond<\/span> <\/span>%{REQUEST_FILENAME}<\/span> <\/span>!-d<\/span><\/span>\nRewriteCond<\/span> <\/span>%{REQUEST_FILENAME}.html<\/span> <\/span>-f<\/span><\/span>\nRewriteRule<\/span> <\/span>^(.*)$<\/span> <\/span>$1.html<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Be sure to hit the Save Changes<\/strong> button in the upper right corner to save your new htaccess configuration. Your site should now display the address without the file extension.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    Lately, there seems to be a trend where designers want to cloak their file extensions from their visitors. For example, they want the URL domain.com\/index.html to display as domain.com\/index for whatever reason. Some like the way it looks, others believe it helps with SEO, and others believe it is better for security. I am unsure Read More ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4288],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-website"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRemoving file extensions in the htaccess file via cPanel access<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Looking to remove file extensions from your URL? Learn how to do that in this .htaccess guide.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/website\/remove-file-extensions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Removing file extensions in the htaccess file via cPanel access\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Looking to remove file extensions from your URL? Learn how to do that in this .htaccess guide.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/website\/remove-file-extensions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"InMotion Hosting Support Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/inmotionhosting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-08-01T16:36:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-30T17:58:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/edu_htaccess_file-manager-pl.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scott Mitchell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@InMotionHosting\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@InMotionHosting\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scott Mitchell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/website\/remove-file-extensions\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/website\/remove-file-extensions\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Scott Mitchell\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/#\/schema\/person\/d850efb28ef3573db7d24b0d8fa9eaed\"},\"headline\":\"Removing File Extensions using .htaccess\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-08-01T16:36:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-30T17:58:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/website\/remove-file-extensions\/\"},\"wordCount\":293,\"commentCount\":178,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/website\/remove-file-extensions\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/edu_htaccess_file-manager-pl.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Website\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/website\/remove-file-extensions\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/website\/remove-file-extensions\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/website\/remove-file-extensions\/\",\"name\":\"Removing file extensions in the htaccess file via cPanel access\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/website\/remove-file-extensions\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/website\/remove-file-extensions\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/edu_htaccess_file-manager-pl.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-08-01T16:36:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-30T17:58:53+00:00\",\"description\":\"Looking to remove file extensions from your URL? 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