.htaccess already exists?

[rteeples]

I'm trying to turn on the SEF URLS in the global config, but when I try to rename the htaccess.txt file to .htaccess, it tells me there already exists a file with that name.

How can I fix this?

[brad]

Merge or replace it.

Take a backup first, and you can't go wrong.

[rteeples]

Thanks, Brad,

Do I merge the ones in the www folder, or the ones in the public_html folder?

Is there any trick to merging them?

[brad]

Most likely, the www is just an alias to public_html. Chances are that the existing .htaccess file is even blank. Have you checked?

[rteeples]

Yep. It was empty. I deleted it and renamed the txt file, and voila, it worked like a charm.

Thanks for the help.

[brad]

Good work, I'm glad it was that easy.

Have a good one.

[smartfoxcoupons]

Thank you so much for keeping this help topic online. I had this same issue (6 years later!). I renamed the .htaccess file to .htaccesss.txt (I didn't want to delete it in case I needed it again) and commented out the three lines that were in it and renamed htaccess.txt to .htaccess that it worked like a charm.

[shikz]

Hi,

I am also facing this issue.
Show Hidden Files (dotfiles) is checked and I can see .htaccess file which is not blank.
One more file is there which is empty .htaccess-1397112620
Both of them are hidden files as I can see htaccess.txt whether I check the option or not for hidden file.
When I search through search all your files I can also find .htaccess in public_html/admin/components/com_osefileman/config and public_html/admin/components/com_osefileman/include.

I can also see htaccess and htaccess.php files too.

Please help how to rename txt file in this case.