# Can't load the panel on MAMP installation

**URL:** <https://forum.getkirby.com/t/cant-load-the-panel-on-mamp-installation/35003>\
**Category:** Questions\
**Tags:** v5\
**Created:** [November 23, 2025, 3:52pm UTC](https://forum.getkirby.com/t/cant-load-the-panel-on-mamp-installation/35003 "2025-11-23T15:52:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![pippopelo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@pippopelo](https://forum.getkirby.com/u/pippopelo)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 3:52pm UTC](https://forum.getkirby.com/t/cant-load-the-panel-on-mamp-installation/35003/1 "2025-11-23T15:52:03Z")

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Good evening all,

I got curious about Kirby as I’m quite fed up with the WordPress transition to Block Themes and can’t stand the useless complexity of headless + Node based approaches for simple marketing websites.

However I downloaded the plain kit, unzipped in my MAMP root inside a folder named kirby\_cms, have set the RewriteBase /kirby\_cms in .htaccess and can’t access the panel. I just get “Not Found”. The base url says “Home”. Panel not there for me…

Excellent start I’d say! Can anyone please give me a hand? 🙂 Thanks very much!

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**Author:** ![jimbobrjames](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex017/user_avatar/forum.getkirby.com/jimbobrjames/32/5802_2.png) [@jimbobrjames](https://forum.getkirby.com/u/jimbobrjames)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 4:34pm UTC](https://forum.getkirby.com/t/cant-load-the-panel-on-mamp-installation/35003/2 "2025-11-23T16:34:58Z")

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Hi! Welcome to the community 😀

Recent versions of MAMP have mod\_rewrite disabled by default, which is a bit daft of them. You should not need need to set the rewrite base. You need to go into the PHP.ini and enable the mod\_write extension and reload MAMP. Then the default plainkit download with the default .htaccess file should work fine.

Are you using the free version of MAMP or the Paid version? I think the difference is that the paid for one allows you to setup multiple sites under the same installation? I think if you set up a distinct site in MAMP rather than using a subfolder in the root, anything should be fine, but its been a long while since i used MAMP. Personally I use Herd

> **[Laravel Herd](https://herd.laravel.com/windows)**
>
> Laravel Development perfected - One click PHP development environment.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pippopelo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@pippopelo](https://forum.getkirby.com/u/pippopelo)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 9:18pm UTC](https://forum.getkirby.com/t/cant-load-the-panel-on-mamp-installation/35003/3 "2025-11-23T21:18:17Z")

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Thanks very much James. This of course did it. Frankly it didn’t occur to me that mod\_rewrite module (in httpd.conf) could be disabled. As you very well say, it’s a bit daft of them.

Testing the CMS now and giving another shot to ExpressionEngine too (it’s been years since I last used it). WordPress at present is a mess and the whole Node ecosystem excellent if you need to build proper web apps, but simple content based websites… come on, ridiculous. Cheers! 🙂