How to Setup WordPress Custom Permalinks on Windows IIS

This blog will show how to config WordPress Custom URL Structure under Windows and IIS is how to handle URL Rewrites

Click on Settings -> Permalinks

Choose URL structure or enter a custom structure

Save below web.config file into WordPress root folder can allow permalinks (or “pretty URLs”) on Windows IIS.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<configuration>
  <system.webServer>
    <rewrite>
      <rules>
        <rule name="wordpress" stopProcessing="true">
          <match url="." />
        <conditions>
            <add input="{REQUEST_FILENAME}" matchType="IsFile" negate="true"/>
            <add input="{REQUEST_FILENAME}" matchType="IsDirectory" negate="true"/>
        </conditions>
        <action type="Rewrite" url="/index.php"/>
        </rule>
      </rules>
    </rewrite>
  </system.webServer>
</configuration>

Once web.config file created, ‘Pretty URL’ will working properly, but if you have images or other kind of static files in the website, you need to add another rewrite rule to stop above rewrite:


<rule name="Redirect Image to HTTP" stopProcessing="true">
<match url=".*\.(gif|jpg|jpeg|png|css|js)$" ignoreCase="true"/>
<action type="Rewrite" url="{R:0}"/>
</rule>