How do I remove index.php from my URLs?

What the settings do

Joomla can show three kinds of addresses. With Search Engine Friendly URLs off: index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12. With SEF on: index.php/about-us. With SEF and URL rewriting on: /about-us. The last one needs a server rule, which is what .htaccess provides on Apache.

Apache (most hosting)

1. In your site folder, rename htaccess.txt to .htaccess (keep a copy if you already have a .htaccess).
2. Go to System → Global Configuration → Site, panel SEO.
3. Set Search Engine Friendly URLs to Yes and Use URL Rewriting to Yes. Save.
4. Open a few pages on your site to check they load.

Nginx

Nginx doesn't read .htaccess. Add the try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args; rule to your server block (see the official "SEF URLs on Nginx" guide), or ask your host.

Good to know

• Add Suffix to URL adds .html to addresses; turn it on only when you start, because it changes every URL.
• If pages give 404 or 500 after turning it on, see "Turning on URL Rewriting broke my site".