GoDaddy Hidden .htaccess Issue within File Manager, Resolved

We were contracted to perform a few updates on an outdated website which was hosted through GoDaddy. Upon attempting to perform the updates we received the dreaded 500 Internal Server Error. In short, the theme we were attempting to update failed to do so for one reason or another.

Making matters worse, the website was now locked in WordPress maintenance mode.

 

Show htaccess in GoDaddy File Manager

We resolved these issues by accessing the clients’ GoDaddy web hosting cPanel account. Upon doing so, we noticed that there was no option to “reveal hidden files” from within the File Manager. This is necessary, as both the “.htaccess” and “.maintenance” files are hidden files.

Not to worry, we recalled having a similar hidden file issue with BlueHost and applied that solution to this instance with success. To solution required that we access the “File Manager” component which will open a new window displaying your root web files. Append the following to the URL within the window to force the display of hidden files, including .htaccess and .maintenance:

 

[su_spoiler title=”REVEAL CODE” style=”fancy” icon=”chevron-circle”]

&showhidden=1&saveoption=1

[/su_spoiler]

 

We then manually removed the .maintenance file as well as having manually uploaded and replaced the updated website parent theme which resolved all issues.

 

We hope this article has helped you see your hidden files on your GoDaddy server via cPanel. If this was helpful, please like us on Facebook, share this on your social media or buy us a cup of coffee.