# Search Engine Friendly URLs 1. [Home](https://mysites.guru/) 2. [Tools](https://mysites.guru/tools/) 3. [Joomla configuration](https://mysites.guru/tools/joomla-configuration/) 4. Search Engine Friendly URLs # Search Engine Friendly URLs ![Search Engine Friendly URLs](https://mysites.guru/_astro/sef-urls-disabled.CUOwTNXu_5PJlU.webp) Search Engine Friendly URLs turn Joomla's query-string links into readable, keyword-rich URLs. It's an SEO setting, not a security one, and it's easy to enable. Article Contents - [How the SEF URLs check reads $sef](#how-the-sef-urls-check-reads-sef) - [Readable URLs rank and get clicked more](#readable-urls-rank-and-get-clicked-more) - [Words in the URL, no trade-off attached](#words-in-the-url-no-trade-off-attached) - [Enabling Search Engine Friendly URLs](#enabling-search-engine-friendly-urls) - [Turning SEF URLs on across all sites](#turning-sef-urls-on-across-all-sites) - [Further Reading](#further-reading) - [Frequently Asked Questions](#faq) How common is this? - 0.7% of the Joomla sites we have this data for fail this check. Platform: Joomla. Measured across the sites we audit, on each site's most recent snapshot. ## How the SEF URLs check reads $sef This check reads the `$sef` setting in your site’s `configuration.php` file and checks whether Search Engine Friendly (SEF) URLs are enabled. ## Readable URLs rank and get clicked more Unlike the rest of this group, this one isn’t a security issue, it’s an SEO one, and it’s worth being upfront about that rather than dressing it up as a risk it isn’t. With SEF off, Joomla generates URLs like: ```text https://example.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=72 ``` With SEF on, the same page becomes something like: ```text https://example.com/image-gallery/animals ``` That matters for two separate reasons. Search engines weigh a URL’s readability as part of how they rank and display a page, so a query-string URL is a small, avoidable handicap, one of several quick wins alongside [checking whether your robots.txt is hurting your SEO](https://mysites.guru/blog/how-to-check-joomla-robots-txt-seo/). And human visitors are simply more likely to click, remember, or share a link they can read at a glance than one that’s a wall of parameters. Search results themselves show the difference directly: under the blue title link, Google displays the page’s URL, and `/image-gallery/animals` reads as a page about exactly what it says, while `index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=72` reads as nothing at all to a person scanning results, and tells a search engine nothing useful about the page’s topic either. On top of that, most SEO plugins, breadcrumb components, and canonical-tag conventions assume SEF is already switched on; leaving it off can quietly undermine tools you’ve already installed to help with exactly this. SEF sits alongside two related Global Configuration settings that are worth checking at the same time, once you’re on the Site tab: URL Rewriting, which removes `index.php` from the URL entirely using the server’s rewrite module rather than Joomla’s own router, and Add Suffix to URL, which appends `.html` to give search engines an extra readability signal. Neither does anything without SEF already switched on, which is why SEF is the setting that matters most. There’s also a cost worth knowing about if SEF has been off for a long time before you switch it on. Every internal link, every backlink from another site, and every URL already indexed by a search engine points at the old query-string address, and those need to keep resolving after the change or switching this on trades one problem (unreadable URLs) for another (broken links). Joomla’s own router handles this for you: it makes the new SEF URL the canonical one while still resolving the old query-string form behind the scenes, so existing links and bookmarks keep working rather than becoming dead ends. ## Words in the URL, no trade-off attached Search Engine Friendly URLs is set to Yes, and the site’s URLs read as words rather than query strings. There isn’t a downside to weigh here, which sets this check apart from most of the rest of this group: SEF doesn’t trade off against anything else, it doesn’t change what a visitor can see or do, and it doesn’t loosen any security setting elsewhere. The only reason a site would be running with it off is that nobody has switched it on, not that switching it on costs something. ## Enabling Search Engine Friendly URLs 1. Login to the Joomla administration, e.g. `https://yoursite.com/administrator`. 2. Go to Site, then Global Configuration. 3. On the Site tab, under SEO Settings, set Search Engine Friendly URLs to Yes. 4. Click the Save button. 5. Load a few pages straight after saving, including ones a couple of clicks deep into the site, to confirm they render correctly rather than 404ing. A small number of hosts don’t have the Apache rewrite module Joomla needs for SEF URLs to resolve correctly, and the site can stop displaying properly right after you enable it. If that happens, it’s a hosting-side limitation rather than a Joomla one, and it’s worth raising with your host rather than leaving SEF off permanently or deleting `.htaccess`, since that file usually has other rules (redirects, security headers) that you’d lose along with it. Joomla ships a template `.htaccess.txt` file in the site root for exactly this reason: it needs renaming to `.htaccess` before URL Rewriting can do anything, which is the single most common reason SEF appears to be on but URLs still show `index.php`. If the site has been running with SEF off for years before you switch it on, don’t assume the change is purely cosmetic. Anything that has recorded the old query-string URLs, an old sitemap submitted to Search Console, a backlink from another site, a bookmark a returning visitor saved, keeps pointing at the old address. As covered above, Joomla’s router still resolves those, so nothing breaks, but it’s worth resubmitting an updated sitemap afterwards so search engines start indexing the readable version rather than continuing to crawl and display the old one. ## Turning SEF URLs on across all sites mySites.guru checks every connected site for this setting and can turn Search Engine Friendly URLs on across every connected site with one click. ## [Search Engine Friendly URLs](https://mysites.guru/free-audit/?check=joomla/joomlaconfiguration/joomlasef) mySites.guru checks every connected site for this automatically and flags it the moment it appears. These run twice a day on every connected site. It can also fix this across every connected site with one click. [Check your site for free](https://mysites.guru/free-audit/?check=joomla/joomlaconfiguration/joomlasef) ## Further Reading - [Enabling Search Engine Friendly (SEF) URLs on Apache](https://docs.joomla.org/Enabling_Search_Engine_Friendly_%28SEF%29_URLs_on_Apache) ## Frequently Asked Questions Show all Is this a security risk? No. Unlike the rest of this group, Search Engine Friendly URLs is purely an SEO and usability setting. Leaving it off has no security consequence. Why would a site stop working after SEF is enabled? Almost always because the server's Apache rewrite module isn't enabled, or the site's .htaccess isn't being read. That's a hosting configuration issue to raise with your host, not a reason to leave SEF off long-term. [![EU icon: AI MODIFIED](https://mysites.guru/_astro/ai-modified.CaoawZEQ_1In0VX.webp)Written and edited by a human, with AI assistance. Our approach to AI](https://mysites.guru/ai-statement/) ### Article Contents - [How the SEF URLs check reads $sef](#how-the-sef-urls-check-reads-sef) - [Readable URLs rank and get clicked more](#readable-urls-rank-and-get-clicked-more) - [Words in the URL, no trade-off attached](#words-in-the-url-no-trade-off-attached) - [Enabling Search Engine Friendly URLs](#enabling-search-engine-friendly-urls) - [Turning SEF URLs on across all sites](#turning-sef-urls-on-across-all-sites) - [Further Reading](#further-reading) - [Frequently Asked Questions](#faq) - **Published** - 28 August 2026 - **Applies to** - Joomla - **One-click fix** - Yes, in mySites.guru Share [](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmysites.guru%2Ftools%2Fjoomla-configuration%2Fsef-urls-disabled%2F&text=Search%20Engine%20Friendly%20URLs)[](https://bsky.app/intent/compose?text=Search%20Engine%20Friendly%20URLs%20https%3A%2F%2Fmysites.guru%2Ftools%2Fjoomla-configuration%2Fsef-urls-disabled%2F)[](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmysites.guru%2Ftools%2Fjoomla-configuration%2Fsef-urls-disabled%2F) Topics [Joomla configuration](https://mysites.guru/tools/joomla-configuration/)Joomla [ ★★★★★ > "I have known Phil since 2006, and he's been a pivotal part of the web services we provide ever since. His knowledge and expertise are second to none, and the SaaS services he provides are best in class. Don't hesitate to trust Phil to remove your Joomla and WordPress-related challenges." ![Dave Robinson](https://mysites.guru/images/reviews/dave-robinson.webp) Dave Robinson ](https://mysites.guru/reviews/) ## More checks in [Joomla configuration](https://mysites.guru/tools/joomla-configuration/) - [ ### Debug Mode Left On In Production Joomla's debug mode prints file paths, SQL and stack traces to anyone who loads the page. Why that is dangerous on a live site, and how to switch it off. ](https://mysites.guru/tools/joomla-configuration/debug-mode-enabled/) - [ ### Force Multi-Factor Authentication For Super Users Joomla 6.1 is the first version that lets you require MFA for Super Users, under Users > Manage > Options. How to enforce it and why earlier versions couldn't. ](https://mysites.guru/tools/joomla-configuration/force-mfa-for-super-users/) - [ ### FTP Credentials In Global Configuration Joomla's FTP Layer went in Joomla 4, but old configuration.php files still hold plain text FTP credentials. Why that is a legacy risk worth checking for. ](https://mysites.guru/tools/joomla-configuration/ftp-layer-credentials/) - [ ### Joomla 3 Is End Of Life Joomla 3 reached end of life in August 2023, no new security fixes are coming from the Joomla project. Here's what that means and what to do about it. ](https://mysites.guru/tools/joomla-configuration/joomla-3-end-of-life/) - [ ### Scheduled Tasks Stuck Locked A Joomla scheduled task stuck in a locked state won't run again until it's manually unlocked, silently stopping backups, update checks and cleanup jobs. ](https://mysites.guru/tools/joomla-configuration/locked-scheduled-tasks/) - [ ### Plain Text Passwords In Email Joomla can still email a user's actual password in plain text on account creation. Joomla itself recommends against it. Here's how to switch it off. ](https://mysites.guru/tools/joomla-configuration/plain-text-password-emails/) ## See where your own sites stand One free audit of one site · no card · about 2 minutes to connect [Get Your Free Site Audit](https://manage.mysites.guru/en/register) [How the SEF URLs check reads $sef](#how-the-sef-urls-check-reads-sef) [Readable URLs rank and get clicked more](#readable-urls-rank-and-get-clicked-more) [Words in the URL, no trade-off attached](#words-in-the-url-no-trade-off-attached) [Enabling Search Engine Friendly URLs](#enabling-search-engine-friendly-urls) [Turning SEF URLs on across all sites](#turning-sef-urls-on-across-all-sites) [Further Reading](#further-reading) [Frequently Asked Questions](#faq)