Hi dmozi313,
1/ When you remove the .htaccess file from your Joomla website, you can easily generate a new one by using the default content provided by Joomla. Here are the steps to generate a new .htaccess file for Joomla:
Log in to your Joomla administration panel.
Navigate to "System" and then "Global Configuration" in the Joomla administrator menu.
In the "Site" tab, find the "SEO Settings" section. Ensure that the "Search Engine Friendly URLs" and "Use URL Rewriting" options are enabled. Save your changes.
After saving the configuration changes, Joomla will automatically generate a new .htaccess file in the root directory of your Joomla installation.
2/ If Joomla didn't create the .htaccess file automatically, you can create it manually. Open a text editor and copy the default Joomla .htaccess content into the file.
Here is a basic example of what the content might look like:
##
# @package Joomla
# @copyright Copyright (C) 2023 - 20224 Open Source Matters. All rights reserved.
# @license GNU General Public License version 2 or later; see LICENSE.txt
##
##
# READ THIS COMPLETELY IF YOU CHOOSE TO USE THIS FILE!
#
# The line just below this section: 'Options +FollowSymLinks' may cause problems
# with some server configurations. It is required for use of mod_rewrite, but may already
# be set by your server administrator in a way that dissallows changing it in
# your .htaccess file. If using it causes your server to error out, comment it out (add # to
# beginning of line), reload your site in your browser and test your sef url's. If they work,
# it has been set by your server administrator and you do not need it set here.
##
##
# Apache server doesn't allow for a space character between the '#' and the '!' symbol.
# # For security reasons, Option followsymlinks cannot be overridden.
# # Options +FollowSymLinks
##
Save the file as .htaccess in the root directory of your Joomla installation.