Written by Admin on 2025-05-06

WordPress Turns into Download Links After Migration

If you have recently migrated your WordPress website to a new hosting provider or server and are experiencing the strange phenomenon of your website appearing as download links rather than a functional website, you are not alone. This is a common issue that many website owners face after migration, but fortunately, it can be easily resolved by following a few simple steps.

The issue usually occurs when the migration process fails to correctly transfer the files and data of the WordPress website to the new hosting provider or server. This results in the website appearing as a series of download links rather than a fully functional website.

To fix this issue, the first step is to ensure that the migration process was completed successfully. Check whether all the files, data, and databases have been transferred correctly, and whether the website is accessible from the new server.

If this checks out, you may need to adjust your WordPress permalinks. Permalinks are the URLs that are used to access the pages or posts on your website. To change your permalinks, go to the WordPress dashboard and click on ‘Settings’ and then ‘Permalinks’.

In the ‘Common Settings’, select the ‘Post name’ option, and click ‘Save Changes’. This will ensure that your website appears as a functional website and not as a series of download links.

If the problem still persists, you may need to update your .htaccess file. The .htaccess file is a configuration file that controls how your website behaves. To update this file, access your website’s root directory and look for the .htaccess file.

Open the file and make sure that the following code is present:

BEGIN WordPress

RewriteEngine On RewriteBase / RewriteRule ^index.php$ - [L] RewriteCond %{REQUESTFILENAME} !-f RewriteCond %{REQUESTFILENAME} !-d RewriteRule . /index.php [L]

END WordPress

If this code is not present, copy and paste it into the .htaccess file, and save the changes. Lastly, make sure that the file permissions are set correctly. Set the file permissions to 644, and the folder permissions to 755.

In conclusion, the issue of WordPress turning into download links after migration can be a frustrating issue to deal with, but it is not an unsolvable one. By following the above steps, you can easily restore your website’s functionality and get it up and running in no time.