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To keep https://example.com/about in the browser while Apache serves the files from a physical /public directory, use an internal rewrite in the document-root .htaccess file. If the browser should change to https://example.com/public/about, use an external redirect instead. The two configurations are different, and confusing them is the most common cause of unwanted URL changes and rewrite loops.
Choose between an internal rewrite and an external redirect
A domain-to-subfolder setup can produce two completely different results. Decide which URL visitors should see before editing .htaccess.
| Goal | Browser address | Apache response | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internal rewrite | Remains https://example.com/path |
Apache maps the request to /public/path internally; no 3xx response is sent |
Keep the folder name private while the application lives in a subdirectory |
| External redirect | Changes to https://example.com/public/path |
Apache sends a 3xx response with a Location header |
Make the subfolder part of the public, canonical URL |
A path substitution without the R flag is an internal rewrite. A fully qualified destination URL, or a substitution using R, is an external redirect. Use a temporary redirect while testing and change it to a permanent status only after the behavior is confirmed.
Prerequisites and file location
The examples assume that:
- DNS for
example.comalready points to this Apache site. - The real website files are in a physical directory named
publicbeneath the document root. - The
.htaccessfile is located directly in the document root, not insidepublic. - Apache’s
mod_rewritemodule is enabled. - The virtual host permits overrides for this directory. A server administrator controls this through the Apache override settings.
For example, if the document root is /var/www/example, the relevant paths are:
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/var/www/example/.htaccess
/var/www/example/public/index.html
/var/www/example/public/about/index.htmlIn .htaccess and other per-directory contexts, Apache removes the directory prefix before matching a RewriteRule. Therefore, a rule in the document-root file normally matches about, not /about. This differs from a rule written in the main virtual-host configuration. Apache’s documentation describes this per-directory behavior and the separate roles of RewriteRule and RewriteCond.
Hide the subfolder with an internal rewrite
Place this configuration in the document-root .htaccess file:
RewriteEngine On
# Apply only to the intended host.
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^(?:www.)?example.com$ [NC]
# Do not prepend /public a second time.
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/public(?:/|$) [NC]
# In document-root .htaccess, the RewriteRule pattern is relative.
RewriteRule ^ public%{REQUEST_URI} [END]Replace example.com with the hostname you actually intend to serve. Keep the backslashes in the regular expression. The condition accepts both the bare hostname and its www form, without accepting arbitrary host names.
How the internal rule processes a request
RewriteEngine Onenables rewrite processing for this directory.- The
HTTP_HOSTcondition limits the rule toexample.comandwww.example.com. The[NC]flag makes the hostname comparison case-insensitive. - The
REQUEST_URIcondition checks the original path. A request already beginning with/publicis excluded, so Apache does not keep adding anotherpublicsegment during per-directory processing. - The rule pattern
^matches the relative path supplied to the root.htaccesscontext. The substitution joinspublicto the original URI. A request for/aboutis therefore served from/public/about, while the client still knows only about/about. [END]stops further per-directory rewrite processing for the request on Apache versions and hosting environments that support it. If your environment does not support[END], use[L]and retain the destination-prefix exclusion. Verify the exact Apache version and test the result because[L]and[END]do not have identical processing scope.
What visitors see
With the internal configuration, these requests keep their original browser paths:
| Requested URL | File or directory Apache serves | Visible URL |
|---|---|---|
https://example.com/ |
/public/, usually resolved through its directory index |
https://example.com/ |
https://example.com/about |
/public/about |
https://example.com/about |
https://example.com/assets/site.css |
/public/assets/site.css |
https://example.com/assets/site.css |
If the requested path does not exist under public, Apache’s normal handling determines the result. Depending on the files and other rules in the application, that may be a 404, an index-file fallback, or an application-generated response. The rewrite itself does not guarantee that every path has content.
Show the subfolder with an external redirect
Use this version when the public URL must include /public:
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RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^(?:www.)?example.com$ [NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/public(?:/|$) [NC]
RewriteRule ^ https://example.com/public%{REQUEST_URI} [R=302,END,NE]A request for /about receives a temporary redirect to https://example.com/public/about. The browser then makes a second request to that new URL. The exclusion condition is still required: without it, the redirected request would match again and could become a loop such as /public/public/about.
Why testing should use 302 first
R=302 tells clients and intermediaries that the redirect is temporary. It is safer while you check both host variants, HTTP and HTTPS, existing files, missing paths, query strings, and any other canonicalization rules. Browsers and caches can retain a permanent redirect for a long time, making a mistake harder to observe after the fact.
After the destination and canonical-host behavior are correct, replace R=302 with R=301 only if the move is genuinely permanent:
RewriteRule ^ https://example.com/public%{REQUEST_URI} [R=301,END,NE]Do not use a permanent status merely to make a test appear successful. Clear cached permanent redirects, or test with a client that does not reuse its cache, whenever you change a 301 during troubleshooting.
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Query strings and the redirect target
The examples operate on the path in REQUEST_URI. Apache normally carries the existing query string forward when the substitution does not supply a new one. For example, a request such as /search?q=apache should redirect or rewrite with the ?q=apache portion preserved under the normal mod_rewrite rules. Test the exact query strings used by your application, especially if other rewrite rules add, remove, or replace parameters.
Understand matching, directories, and rule order
REQUEST_URI includes the leading slash, which is why the exclusion tests for /public. The RewriteRule pattern in the root .htaccess file does not normally include that slash because Apache has already removed the per-directory prefix. Mixing those two forms in one expression is a frequent source of rules that appear correct but never match.
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The rule is intentionally broad: ^ covers the root request, nested pages, and static assets. The substitution then adds the physical directory once. If you need a narrower mapping, replace the broad pattern with a relative path pattern, but keep the same host condition and destination-prefix guard.
Rule order matters when the file already contains application rewrites. Apache evaluates rules in sequence. A rule placed above the folder mapping may redirect or rewrite the request first; a rule placed below it may never see the original path, particularly when processing is terminated. Review existing rules before inserting this block, and make sure the intended host condition applies to the whole mapping.
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Why common RewriteRule attempts fail
A leading slash in a root .htaccess pattern
This rule is commonly copied from a virtual-host example:
RewriteRule ^/about public/about [L]In a document-root .htaccess context, Apache has already removed the directory prefix and normally presents the path without its leading slash. Start the pattern with ^, or match the relative segment you need:
RewriteRule ^about$ public/about [L]The exact pattern depends on the paths you want to handle, but the per-directory rule must not assume the same leading-slash behavior as server configuration.
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The hostname is placed in RewriteRule
RewriteRule matches the URL path, not the hostname. A pattern such as ^example.com will not test which domain reached the server. Put the host test in a RewriteCond that reads %{HTTP_HOST}, as in the working configurations above.
The rule loops
A loop occurs when the rewritten destination is processed again and the same prefix is added repeatedly. The essential guard is:
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/public(?:/|$) [NC]The boundary expression matters. It excludes /public and paths below it, but not unrelated names such as /publication. Keep this test before the rule that prepends the directory.
The wrong .htaccess file is edited
A rule in the document-root file runs in a different per-directory context from a rule inside /public/.htaccess. If you move the file, the relative path seen by RewriteRule changes. Start by confirming the absolute filesystem location of the active document root and the location of every .htaccess file involved.
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If the request behaves exactly as though the file does not exist, possible causes include:
- The host does not allow overrides for the document root.
mod_rewriteis not loaded.- The request is reaching a different virtual host than the one you edited.
- Another configuration layer, application rule, or proxy is handling the request first.
- The file name is wrong, permissions prevent Apache from reading it, or a syntax error causes the configuration to be rejected.
Check the virtual-host configuration and Apache error logs with the site administrator. A syntax or permission problem is more useful to diagnose from the server log than from the browser’s generic error page.
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HTTP and HTTPS rules fight each other
It is common to combine a folder mapping with an HTTP-to-HTTPS redirect and a bare-host-to-www redirect. If each rule makes a separate assumption about the current host or scheme, requests can bounce between destinations. Test the combinations deliberately and ensure that each canonicalization rule has one clear target.
When TLS terminates at a reverse proxy, Apache may receive an HTTP connection even though the visitor used HTTPS. Before adding a scheme condition, confirm which request variable reflects the original client scheme in your proxy setup. Do not blindly stack an HTTPS rule on top of the folder rule.
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Host validation and redirect security
Never construct a redirect destination from an unvalidated host supplied by the client. A request can contain an unexpected Host header; reflecting that value into a fully qualified redirect can create an open-redirect vulnerability or send users to an attacker-controlled domain.
The fixed destination in the example, https://example.com, avoids that problem. The allowlisted HTTP_HOST condition also ensures that the rule is not applied to every domain sharing the server. If you serve several legitimate domains, give each one an explicit condition and fixed destination rather than copying arbitrary input into the redirect URL.
Testing the mapping before going live
Use an HTTP client such as curl to inspect status codes and headers rather than relying only on a browser, which may cache redirects. Run tests against the actual host names:
curl -I http://example.com/
curl -I https://example.com/
curl -I http://www.example.com/
curl -I https://www.example.com/
curl -I https://example.com/about
curl -I https://example.com/assets/site.css
curl -I https://example.com/missing-path
curl -I 'https://example.com/search?q=apache'
curl -I https://example.com/public/aboutFor an internal rewrite, the response should not expose a redirect to /public; the browser URL remains unchanged while Apache serves the mapped content. For an external test configuration, inspect the 302 response and its Location header. Once the destination is confirmed, repeat the checks after changing to 301 if the move is permanent.
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- The root URL serves the intended index from
public. - A nested route maps to the corresponding path under
public. - An existing static file loads without an extra directory segment.
- A missing path produces the intended application or server response.
- Both the bare host and the
wwwhost behave according to your canonical-host policy. - HTTP and HTTPS requests do not bounce between rules.
- Query strings remain available to the application when they should.
- A request already beginning with
/publicis not prefixed again. - The external version returns the intended 3xx status and
Locationheader; the internal version does not return a redirect merely to serve the folder.
When a virtual-host configuration is better
If you administer Apache’s main configuration, a dedicated virtual-host rule is usually preferable for a simple host move. Apache’s remapping guidance favors a Redirect directive in the virtual host for straightforward redirects because it avoids per-directory processing and makes the host-level intent explicit.
Use .htaccess when you do not control the main configuration or your hosting provider specifically requires directory-level overrides. Remember that a configuration copied between contexts may need a different pattern, a different substitution form, or different processing flags. Always evaluate the rule in the context where it will actually run.
Practical deployment sequence
- Confirm DNS, the active virtual host, the document root, and the physical
publicdirectory. - Decide whether the folder should remain hidden or become part of the public URL.
- Back up the current
.htaccessfile and note any existing application rewrites. - Add the host condition and destination-prefix exclusion before the mapping rule.
- Use the internal configuration for a hidden folder, or the external configuration with
R=302for a visible folder. - Run the root, nested-path, asset, missing-path, host-variant, scheme, query-string, and already-prefixed tests.
- Review Apache’s error log if the file is ignored, a 500 error appears, or another rule wins.
- Only after successful testing, change a truly permanent external move to
R=301. - If you later change a permanent destination, account for cached 301 responses when validating the new behavior.
The durable principles are simple: test the hostname in RewriteCond, match the relative path in a per-directory RewriteRule, exclude the destination prefix to prevent loops, and choose an internal substitution or an explicit 3xx redirect based on the URL visitors should see.
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