What is a 404 Not Found Error? How to fix a 404 error

When you surf the Internet, you may often encounter a 404 Page Not Found error, so what is this error? Let's find out in the following article.

I. What is a 404 Not Found error?

The 404 Not Found error is an error related to incorrect URL links, or the URL links do not exist. The 404 error message is tailored to the preferences of each website owner, but all are a common 404 error.

Common 404 error messages include:

• 404 Error
• Error 404
• 404 Not Found
• The requested URL [URL] was not found on this server
• HTTP 404
• Error 404 Not Found
• 404 File or Directory Not Found
• HTTP 404 Not Found
• 404 Page Not Found

II. Causes of 404 Not Found errors

There are two main reasons that lead to a 404 error: The user enters the wrong URL, or website administrators have changed the URL to a new one without submitting it to Google. As a result, Google can't find the website when users enter the old URL, leading to the 404 Not Found error.

III. How to solve the 404 Not Found error

1. Check the URL again

Check whether you have entered the correct URL. If not, adjust it to the correct one, then hit Enter.

2. Manual search with a browser

If you don't remember the URL of the web page, but only its features, you can enter keywords related to the web page in your browser and search. Once you have found the desired web page, you should save this new URL or compare it with the old one, so you can identify errors in the URL entry.

3. Clear the browser cache

If you can access the URL successfully on all other devices except your computer, you can try clearing the browser cache.

4. Change DNS server

Another reason that 404 Not Found error occurs is that the web page you are trying to access has been blocked by the network provider. To access it, you could switch to a different DNS server, like Google's 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4, for example.