Create a Custom 404 Page

Your website’s 404 page lets a visitor know if they tried to access a page that does not exist. This guide will show you how to view and customize your site’s 404 page.

In this guide

1. About 404 Pages
2. Customize the 404 Page Template

About 404 Pages

The purpose of a 404 page is to display an error when a visitor tries to view a page on your website that does not exist:

An example of a 404 error page

To view your website’s 404 page, type your site’s address followed by a random string of characters – for example yourgroovydomain.com/sdltkgbd. As the page does not exist on your site, you will arrive at the 404 error page.

If you arrive on this error page, it’s likely because of one of these reasons:

1. You have mistyped the page’s URL in your browser.
2. You changed the page’s permalink and are trying to access the old URL.
3. The page is set as a draft. In your dashboard, navigate to Pages and click on the Drafts tab to make the page publicly accessible.
4. The page is set to display blog posts, but your site has no published posts. In your dashboard, navigate to Posts → Add New and publish your first post.

Every WordPress site has a 404 error page built in, commonly displaying text such as “Oops! That page can’t be found” or “Nothing Found.” You can personalize this page by following the steps in the next section.

Customize the 404 Page Template

If your site uses a theme that supports the site editor, you can access and edit the 404 template. A quick way to determine if your site uses the site editor is to check for Appearance → Editor in your dashboard.

To modify the default 404 error page template for your site, take the following steps:

1. Visit your site’s dashboard.
2. Navigate to Appearance → Editor.
3. In the Design options on the left, select “Templates.”
4. Click on “404” in the list of templates to view the template.
5. Click anywhere on the template to begin editing in the WordPress editor.
6. Click the “Save” button at the top of the screen to save your changes.

Editing the 404 page template

You can get creative with designing your 404 page – the possibilities are endless! At a minimum, we recommend your 404 page contains the following:

1. A link back to your homepage.
2. A search box to locate the page the visitor was looking for.
3. A navigation menu to browse your other pages.

You can also improve your 404 error page by adding catchy text, fun GIFs, or any other content blocks you like.