permalinks and 404.files

I’m learning more about wordpress file structures. Recently, I customized my own 404 template, 404.html file, in the public_html/theme/twentytwentyfour/templates directory to redirect users back to my home page.

However, I notice that when I go to settings/permalinks and change
FROM: Custom Structure, https://mysite.com/%category%/%postname%/
TO: Plain, https://mysite.com/?p=123

instead of my custom 404 template, it displays a file not found from 404.shtml in the public_html directory.

This behavior is repeatable because when I revert back to the custom structure, it returns to the customized 404 template.

How does changing the permalink setting as described determines which 404 file is executed?

Ronald Cross

• This topic was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by stemsrus. Reason: update title and content