How To Redirect Posts After Changing Permalinks On WordPress

Changing your WordPress permalink structure can affect the URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) of published posts. If visitors continue using the old links, they may encounter 404 errors instead of reaching the articles they want to read.

This can affect websites with posts linked from Google, social media and other websites. Redirecting old URLs to their new addresses helps visitors find the right content and allows search engines to process the URL changes.

You can manage these redirects using the Redirection plugin without manually editing your website's code.

Why You Should Redirect Posts After Changing Permalinks On WordPress

WordPress allows you to choose how your post URLs are structured. For example, you might change from URLs containing the publication date to shorter URLs containing only the post name.

Consider this example:

Old URL: https://example.com/2026/10/28/wordpress-tips/

New URL: https://example.com/wordpress-tips/

If someone visits the old address after the change, the link may no longer lead to the intended post unless WordPress resolves it or a redirect is configured.

Redirecting the old URL to the new one helps maintain access to the article. It also helps search engines understand that the content has moved to a different address.

How To Redirect Posts After Changing Permalinks On WordPress

The Redirection plugin provides tools for managing URL redirects. You can create individual redirects or use its Permalink Migration feature when your old URL structure is supported.

Step 1: Install The Redirection Plugin

Log in to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Plugins → Add New Plugin.

Search for Redirection by John Godley. Click Install Now and then Activate.

You can also get the plugin from the official WordPress plugin directory.

Step 2: Complete The Plugin Setup

After activating the plugin, navigate to Tools → Redirection.

If you are using it for the first time, follow the setup wizard. Once the configuration is complete, open the redirect management screen.

You can now create redirects or configure the migration of your previous permalink structure.

Step 3: Configure Permalink Migration

If you changed the permalink structure for many posts at once, check whether the plugin's Permalink Migration feature supports your old URL format.

Open Tools → Redirection and select the Site section. Look for Permalink Migration.

Enter your previous permalink structure in the field provided. For example, a website that previously used the year, month, day and post name may have used:

/%year%/%monthnum%/%day%/%postname%/

Use the actual structure your website used before the change.

Save the configuration and test several old post URLs to confirm that they redirect to the correct new addresses.

The Permalink Migration feature is still in beta and does not support every URL structure. If your previous format is unsupported, create individual redirects or use a suitable regular-expression rule.

Step 4: Create Individual Redirects

If the migration feature does not support your URL structure, you can create redirects manually.

Go to Tools → Redirection and locate the section for adding a new redirect.

Enter the old URL path in the Source URL field and the new URL path in the Target URL field.

For example:

• Source URL: /old-wordpress-guide/
• Target URL: /wordpress-tips/

These are examples only. Replace them with the actual paths of your old and new posts.

Click Add Redirect to save the rule. Repeat the process for each post that needs a redirect.

Make sure each old URL points to the corresponding article rather than an unrelated page.

How To Check If Your WordPress Redirects Are Working

After setting up the redirects, test your old post URLs in a browser.

Check that each old address leads to the correct new URL and that the destination article loads successfully.

You should also review the Redirection plugin for 404 errors that may indicate old URLs still need attention. Google Search Console can help you monitor indexing issues after the change.

If a redirect does not work, check the source path, target path and redirect settings. You may also need to review your caching plugin or server configuration.

Not every 404 error requires a redirect. If a post has been permanently removed and there is no relevant replacement, leaving the URL unavailable may be appropriate.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Does WordPress automatically redirect posts after changing permalinks?

WordPress may redirect some old post URLs, but you should check that the old URLs lead to the correct destinations.

2. Which redirect should I use after changing WordPress permalinks?

Use a 301 redirect when a post has permanently moved to a new URL.

3. Can I redirect all WordPress posts at once?

Yes. You can redirect multiple posts using the Redirection plugin if your old and new URL structures are compatible.

4. How do I protect SEO when changing WordPress permalinks?

Set up 301 redirects to the corresponding new URLs, update internal links and ensure search engines can access the new URLs.

Share this

Share on FacebookPlus on Google+