Written by Admin on 2025-05-06

Godaddy WordPress Site: Why It Is Forcing Download and How to Fix It

If you have a WordPress site on Godaddy, you might have noticed that some of your files, such as images, are being forced to download instead of being opened in the browser. This can be frustrating for your visitors and can significantly reduce your site's usability. In this article, we will discuss why this issue happens and how you can fix it.

Why is Godaddy WordPress site forcing download?

The most common reason for your Godaddy WordPress site to force downloads is that your server is not configured to serve these files correctly. This means that the server is not telling the browser what type of file it is, and as a result, the browser assumes that it is a file to download instead of opening it.

This issue can happen with any type of file, but it is most common with images. It can also happen if your site is using a caching plugin that is not configured properly or if your theme or plugin is causing conflicts.

How to fix the issue

Here's how you can fix the issue of Godaddy WordPress site forcing downloads:

Check the server configuration

The first thing you need to do is check your server configuration. Make sure that your server is configured to serve all file types correctly. You can do this by adding the following code to your .htaccess file:

AddType image/png .png AddType image/jpeg .jpeg .jpg AddType image/gif .gif

This code tells the server to serve images as image/png, image/jpeg, or image/gif, depending on the file type.

Check your caching plugin

If you are using a caching plugin, make sure that it is configured properly. Some caching plugins have options to exclude certain file types from caching. Check if your plugin has this option and exclude the file types that are being forced to download.

Check your theme or plugin

If the above solutions don't work, it's possible that your theme or plugin is causing conflicts. First, switch to a default WordPress theme, such as Twenty Twenty-One, and check if the issue is still there. If it's not, then your theme is causing conflicts. Try disabling your plugins one by one to see if one of them is causing the issue.

Conclusion

Godaddy WordPress site forcing downloads can be a frustrating issue, but it is usually easy to fix. By checking your server configuration, caching plugin, and theme or plugin, you should be able to resolve the issue and provide a better user experience for your visitors.