To disable directory browsing in WordPress all you need to do is add a single line of code in your WordPress site’s .htaccess file located in the root directory of your website. To edit the .htaccess file you need to connect to your website using an FTP client.
Once connected to your website, you will find a .htaccess file in your site’s root directory. .htaccess is a hidden file, and if you can not find it on your server, you need to make sure that you have enabled your FTP client to show hidden files.
You can edit your .htaccess file by downloading it to your desktop and opening it in a text editor like Notepad. Now at the end of your WordPress generated code in the .htaccess file simply add this line at the bottom:
Options -Indexes
In general, most .htaccess files contain the following code:
# 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
The modified code will look like:
# 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
Options -Indexes
Now save your .htaccess file and upload it back to your server using your FTP client. That’s all you need to do. Directory browsing is now disabled on your WordPress site and people trying to locate a directory index on your website will be redirected to 403 Access Forbidden or 404 Not Found page.
