A small text file that sits at the root of your server and controls certain aspects of your website (such as 301 redirects).
‘htaccess’ refers to a text file that is read by your server and controls certain aspects of your site. Within WordPress, the ‘.htaccess’ file is usually used to change URLs, helping to make them more readable by visitors and search bots.
WordPress usually writes the file automatically with a new website, but some plugins might require some settings to be changed. If this is the case, a developer would access the file via FTP and change the details required, if possible.
They would need to use FTP to access the file as it lives at the root of your website server – meaning it can’t be accessed through your WordPress site directly.