Laravel Failed To Load Resource: The Server Responded With A Status Of 404 (Not Found)

When you encounter the error “Failed to load resource: the server responded with a status of 404 (Not Found)” in Laravel, it means that the server was unable to find the requested resource. This can happen due to various reasons such as a misconfigured route or a missing file.

Example 1: Misconfigured Route

In Laravel, routes are defined in the routes/web.php file (for web routes) or routes/api.php file (for API routes). If you have a misconfigured route, it can result in a 404 error. For example, let’s say you have the following route:

    
Route::get('/posts', 'PostController@index');
    
  

In this case, if you access the URL http://example.com/posts but the index method in the PostController is not defined or misspelled, it will result in a 404 error.

Example 2: Missing File

Another possible cause of the 404 error is a missing file. For instance, if you are trying to load a CSS or JS file but it is not present in the specified location, the server will respond with a 404 error. Make sure that the file path is correct and the file exists at the specified location.

    
<link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/styles.css">
<script src="/js/script.js"></script>
    
  

In the above example, if the styles.css or script.js file is not present in the public/css or public/js directory respectively, it will result in a 404 error.

In order to fix the 404 error, you can follow these steps:

1. Check your routes and ensure they are properly defined and pointing to the correct controller and method.
2. Verify the file path and make sure the requested file exists at the specified location.
3. Clear your browser cache and try accessing the resource again.
4. If you have recently made changes to your routes or files, try running php artisan optimize or composer dump-autoload to refresh the cache and autoload classes.