Ever visit your WordPress site after a plugin update, only to find your beautiful URLs replaced with question marks and gibberish? Yeah, it’s annoying. Suddenly, your pages turn into ?p=123 instead of clean, readable links. But don’t panic! Your site isn’t broken. It’s just a little confused.
TL;DR:
If your pretty permalinks break after a plugin update, it’s often due to a rewrite rule reset or a clash in .htaccess settings. No, your database isn’t lost. And yes, it’s fixable — usually within minutes. Just re-save your permalink settings, and your nice URLs will be back. Let’s break down why it happens and how to fix it like a pro (without headaches).
What Are Permalinks?
Permalinks are the URLs to your pages and posts. WordPress lets you choose how you want them to appear, like:
- example.com/?p=123 — Not cute.
- example.com/my-first-post — Much better!
These clean URLs are called pretty permalinks. They help with SEO and are easier for visitors (and you!) to read.
So, Why Did They Break After a Plugin Update?
There are a few likely culprits. Spoiler: they’re not very dramatic, but they sure can be annoying!
Here’s what could be happening:
- Plugin flushes rewrite rules improperly: Some plugins need to refresh WordPress’s rules after installing or updating. If they do this incorrectly — or don’t reset them — it can cause permalinks to fall back to the default ugly version.
- Conflict in code: Two plugins might be dancing over each other’s toes. One says “update the rules,” while the other says “nah, leave it.” The result? Confused permalinks.
- .htaccess file gets wiped or altered: On Apache servers, the .htaccess file controls a lot of permalink magic. A change here, whether from a plugin, theme, or web host, can break pretty URLs.
- You switched hosting or environments: Some server types (like switching from Apache to NGINX) handle rewrite rules differently, causing your permalinks to crumble.
Panic-Free Fix: How to Restore Pretty URLs
Good news — fixing this usually takes less than 60 seconds.
Steps to restore permalinks:
- Go to your WordPress Dashboard.
- Click Settings > Permalinks.
- Select your usual permalink structure (or just leave it as it is).
- Click the blue Save Changes button at the bottom.
Done! This refreshes your site’s rewrite rules. Most of the time, this alone will solve the problem.
Why does this work? Because WordPress stores its permalink structure in a cached set of rules. When something forces a reset and doesn’t properly rebuild them, saving your settings again tells WordPress to “rebuild the house.”
What If That Doesn’t Work?
Still stuck with ugly URLs? Let’s dig a little deeper.
Here are some next-level fixes:
1. Check Your .htaccess File
This file lives in your site’s root directory. If it’s missing or not correct, rewrite rules fail.
Open your file manager or FTP and look for a file called .htaccess. If it’s missing, you can create one. Here’s the default content for most setups on Apache servers:
# 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
Paste that into your .htaccess file and save. Then go back to Settings > Permalinks and hit Save again.
2. Plugin Conflicts
Deactivating plugins one by one may sound boring, but it helps sniff out the troublemaker. Start with recent ones you updated. Sometimes it’s just one plugin being a bit too opinionated.
After each deactivation, check to see if your permalinks start behaving again.
3. Server Type
If your host recently switched from Apache to NGINX, or you’ve moved your site, the rewrite rules may need updating in a different way. WordPress doesn’t handle NGINX rewrites through .htaccess. You’ll need to add rewrite rules via your site’s NGINX configuration file. In shared hosting environments, this usually means contacting your web host.
How to Prevent This in the Future
Now that you’ve fixed it, let’s keep it from happening again.
Friendly Tips to Stay Safe:
- Backup regularly — Before any plugin or theme update, back up your site.
- Use trusted plugins — Stick with well-reviewed, actively maintained plugins. Fly-by-night ones tend to break things.
- Limit overlapping features — Don’t install three plugins all trying to manage URLs or redirects.
- Update safely — Use staging environments for big changes if possible.
Still Seeing Pretty URL Problems?
If nothing above works, here are a few more ideas to try:
- Check site URL in Settings > General — Make sure your URL does not have extra characters or spaces.
- Disable all caching plugins temporarily — They might be serving broken cached versions of your pages.
- Flush rewrite rules manually:
Add this code temporarily to your theme’s functions.php file:
function reset_my_permalinks() {
flush_rewrite_rules();
}
add_action('init', 'reset_my_permalinks');
This will force WordPress to rebuild its internal rules. Remove the code once done.
The Good News
Here’s what you don’t need to worry about:
- Your posts and pages — they’re still there.
- Your database — not touched.
- Your SEO rankings — should bounce back once URLs are fixed.
It’s a momentary glitch, not a disaster. Phew, right?
Conclusion: You’re the Boss Now 🧠
Permalinks breaking after a plugin update is super common. But now, you’re equipped with the knowledge to fix it quickly, and more importantly — understand why it happened in the first place.
Just remember: most of the time, it’s a simple rules reset. And with a quick Save on the Permalinks settings page, you’re back in business. Go you!
So next time your URLs go rogue, don’t sweat it. You’ve got this. 💪
