To properly configure your Laravel site on a server (whether cPanel, NGINX, or Apache), follow these steps:

1. Create .htaccess in the Root Directory:

In your root project directory (not the public folder), create a .htaccess file with the following content:

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>

  Options +FollowSymLinks

  RewriteEngine On

  # Redirect requests that are not for existing files or directories to /public

  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/public/

  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d

  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f

  RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /public/$1

  # Fallback to index.php

  RewriteRule ^(/)?$ public/index.php [L]

</IfModule>

2. Create .htaccess in the public Directory:

Inside the public folder, create another .htaccess file with the following content:

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>

    <IfModule mod_negotiation.c>

        Options -MultiViews -Indexes

    </IfModule>

    RewriteEngine On

    # Handle Authorization Header

    RewriteCond %{HTTP:Authorization} .

    RewriteRule .* – [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization}]

    # Redirect Trailing Slashes If Not A Folder…

    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d

    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (.+)/$

    RewriteRule ^ %1 [L,R=301]

    # Handle Front Controller…

    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d

    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f

    RewriteRule ^ index.php [L]

</IfModule>