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Troubleshooting The Events Calendar: Fixing 404 Errors and Missing Events

37 threads Sep 16, 2025 Plugin → The events calendar

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Why Are My Events Showing a 404 Error or Not Appearing?

If you're using The Events Calendar and find that your events are returning a 404 "Page Not Found" error or are completely missing from your calendar views, you're not alone. This is one of the most common issues reported by users after an update or migration. This guide will explain the most likely causes and provide step-by-step solutions to get your calendar back on track.

The Root Cause: The Custom Tables Migration

Starting with version 6.0, The Events Calendar introduced a new data storage system using custom database tables (wp_tec_events and wp_tec_occurrences). This change was made to improve performance and scalability. However, the migration process from the old postmeta-based system to the new custom tables doesn't always complete successfully. When this happens, events exist in the standard WordPress wp_posts table but lack the necessary corresponding entries in the new custom tables. The calendar views rely on these custom tables to find and display events, which is why events seem to "vanish" or result in 404 errors.

How to Diagnose the Problem

First, confirm that this is indeed the issue you're facing.

  1. Go to Events > Settings > Help in your WordPress dashboard.
  2. Scroll down to the System Information section.
  3. Look for the Custom Tables Health Check line. If you see warnings like "Missing Event Table Data" or "Missing Occurrences Table Data," your site has not completed the migration successfully.

Step-by-Step Solutions

Solution 1: Flush Your Permalinks

This is the simplest and fastest first step. Sometimes, WordPress's rewrite rules just need to be refreshed.

  1. Navigate to Settings > Permalinks.
  2. Simply click the "Save Changes" button at the bottom of the page. You don't need to change any settings.
  3. Check your events page again.

Solution 2: Manually Trigger the Migration

If flushing permalinks doesn't work, you likely need to force the data migration.

  1. Ensure you have at least one published event on the site.
  2. Go to Events > Settings.
  3. Click on the Upgrades tab. If you don't see this tab, you may need to first deactivate and reactivate the plugin.
  4. If a migration is needed, you should see an option to "Start Migration" or "Continue Migration". Run this process.
  5. Be patient, as this can take a while on sites with many events.

Solution 3: The Nuclear Option (Recreate Tables)

For some users, especially on multisite installations, the custom tables fail to be created during activation. If the System Info shows the tables are entirely missing, you can try this approach.

  1. Backup your database. This is a crucial first step.
  2. Deactivate and completely delete The Events Calendar plugin. (Don't worry, your event posts will remain in the database).
  3. Reinstall a fresh copy of the plugin from the WordPress repository.
  4. Reactivate the plugin. This should trigger the table creation process again.
  5. Follow Solution 2 to run the migration again for any existing events.

Solution 4: Code Snippet for Manual Table Repair

For advanced users, if the above fails, you can attempt to manually trigger the table creation and migration via code. Add the following to your theme's functions.php file or a code snippets plugin:

// Run this once, then remove the code.
add_action( 'admin_init', function() {
    if ( class_exists( 'TEC\Events\Custom_Tables\V1\Migration\Maintenance_Mode' ) ) {
        $migration_mode = tribe( 'TEC\Events\Custom_Tables\V1\Migration\Maintenance_Mode' );
        $migration_mode->activate();
    }
    if ( class_exists( 'TEC\Events\Custom_Tables\V1\Migration\Processor' ) ) {
        $processor = tribe( 'TEC\Events\Custom_Tables\V1\Migration\Processor' );
        $processor->process_chunk();
    }
});

Warning: Use code snippets with caution and always on a staging site first.

What If I'm Still Stuck?

If you've tried all these steps and the problem persists, the issue could be a conflict with another plugin or your theme. To test for this:

  1. Temporarily switch to a default WordPress theme like Twenty Twenty-Four.
  2. Deactivate all other plugins except The Events Calendar.
  3. Check if your events appear. If they do, reactivate your plugins and theme one by one to identify the culprit.

This migration to custom tables was a significant architectural change for The Events Calendar, and while it offers long-term benefits, it has caused understandable short-term headaches. Following this guide should resolve the issue for the vast majority of users experiencing 404s and missing events.

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