PrestaShop has a built-in setting to enforce SSL, found under Shop Parameters → General, with separate toggles for enabling SSL and enforcing it across the entire site rather than just checkout.
Steps
- Confirm your certificate is installed and working at the server level first.
- In the admin panel, set both "Enable SSL" and "Enable SSL on all pages" to Yes.
- Regenerate the .htaccess file from the same settings page — PrestaShop writes its own redirect rules here, and skipping this step is the most common reason the setting doesn't take effect.
After enabling
Clear PrestaShop's cache (and any separate server-level cache like Varnish, if used) before testing — cached pages can serve old absolute http:// URLs briefly after the change.
Why regenerating .htaccess is the step people most often skip
PrestaShop's SSL settings page includes a specific button to regenerate the .htaccess file after enabling SSL — simply toggling the SSL settings without also regenerating this file is the single most common reason the setting appears not to take effect, since PrestaShop writes its actual redirect logic into that file rather than applying it dynamically.
What to check in PrestaShop's multistore configuration specifically
A PrestaShop installation running multiple stores has independent SSL settings per shop and per shop group — confirming each individual store's settings, not just the default or first store, is necessary for a multistore installation to be fully and correctly migrated.
What to do if HTTPS still isn't enforced after following the standard steps
If enabling SSL and regenerating .htaccess doesn't resolve the issue, check for a caching layer, either PrestaShop's own cache or a separate tool like Varnish, that might be serving a stale, pre-change version of the page — clearing every caching layer, not just PrestaShop's internal one, is a common remaining step.
Why clearing the Smarty template cache specifically sometimes resolves lingering issues
Beyond PrestaShop's general cache, its Smarty templating engine maintains its own compiled template cache that can occasionally serve stale, pre-migration output even after clearing PrestaShop's standard cache — clearing this separately, or using the dedicated cache-clearing option in the back office, resolves this specific, less commonly known caching layer.
What PrestaShop's multi-language configuration means for the migration checklist
A PrestaShop store configured with multiple language versions maintains separate content and sometimes separate URL structures per language — confirming HTTPS enforcement and any content search-and-replace covers every active language version, not just the default one, avoids leaving secondary language versions only partially migrated.
How to confirm module-injected content isn't reintroducing mixed content
Third-party modules that inject their own HTML, scripts, or widgets onto storefront pages can reintroduce hardcoded http:// references independently of your core theme and configuration — reviewing each active module's output specifically in DevTools console after migration catches this separately from the core platform check.
Why self-hosted platforms like PrestaShop require more active attention than fully managed ones
Unlike the fully managed platforms covered elsewhere in this category, PrestaShop's self-hosted nature means HTTPS configuration genuinely depends on your own server setup and active configuration steps — worth factoring into a platform choice if minimizing ongoing technical maintenance is a priority alongside PrestaShop's other capabilities.
What server requirements PrestaShop assumes for HTTPS to work correctly at all
PrestaShop assumes a standard Apache or Nginx web server with mod_rewrite (or equivalent) enabled and a valid certificate already installed at the server level — the platform's own SSL settings control enforcement, not certificate issuance itself, which remains a server or hosting-panel responsibility.
How PrestaShop's version differences affect the specific steps in this guide
The core SSL settings and .htaccess regeneration steps covered in this guide apply consistently across recent PrestaShop 1.6 and 1.7/8 versions, though the exact admin panel navigation and wording can differ slightly between major versions — worth confirming against your specific version's documentation if the interface doesn't match exactly.