How to serve static files and folders in Laravel

When working on localhost (localhost:8000), Laravel serves static files correctly. However, after deploying the project to a live server, static assets (CSS, JS, images) may not load properly. This can negatively impact:

Common Causes of Static Files Not Loading

Incorrect Server Configuration → Apache/Nginx may not be set up to serve Laravel’s public directory correctly.

Wrong File Paths → Static assets may be incorrectly referenced.

Missing .htaccess Rules → Laravel requires proper URL rewriting.

Incorrect Index File Configuration → index.php may need adjustments.

Solution: Update you index.php and .htaccess files

File: laravelproject/index.php

  
  <?php

  use Illuminate\Http\Request;

  define('LARAVEL_START', microtime(true));

  // Determine if the application is in maintenance mode...
  if (file_exists($maintenance = __DIR__ . '/storage/framework/maintenance.php')) {
      require $maintenance;
  }

  // Register the Composer autoloader...
  require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

  // Bootstrap Laravel and handle the request...
  (require_once __DIR__ . '/bootstrap/app.php')
    ->handleRequest(Request::capture());

File: laravelproject/.htaccess

  <IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
  <IfModule mod_negotiation.c>
      Options -MultiViews
  </IfModule>
  RewriteEngine On
  # Handle Authorization Header
  RewriteCond %{HTTP:Authorization} .
  RewriteRule .* - [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization}]

  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d [OR]
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f
  RewriteRule ^ ^$1 [N]
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (\.\w+$) [NC]
  RewriteRule ^(.*)$ public/$1 
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f

  RewriteRule ^ index.php [L]

Why this helps?

Redirects all requests to Laravel’s public/ directory.
Fixes issues with missing assets (CSS, JS, images).
Ensures Laravel routes work correctly after deployment.