Documentation

View as published returns 404 for unpublished pages in AEM

Last update: Wed Apr 08 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

In AEMaaCS, using the View as Published feature for pages that are not currently published shows a 404 error when the page has an offTime set in the past. AEM treats the page as invalid based on its configured onTime and offTime properties, which causes the request to fail when wcmmode=disabled is used. To fix this issue, remove or update the offTime so the page remains valid.

Description description

Environment

  • Product: Adobe Experience Manager as a Cloud Service (AEMaaCS) – Sites
  • Constraints: Applies to pages with onTime and offTime properties set on Author

Issue/Symptoms

  • Viewing an unpublished page as published in AEM Author using wcmmode=disabled returns a 404 error.
  • The issue occurs when the page’s offTime property is set to a past date or time.

Resolution resolution

To fix this issue, follow these steps:

  1. Identify the pages in AEM Author that return a 404 error when viewed as published.
  2. Open the page properties for each affected page.
  3. Locate the offTime property.
  4. Remove the offTime value or update it so it is not set to a past date or time.
  5. Save and close the properties dialog.
  6. Use View as Published again for the same page.
  7. Confirm that the page now loads correctly without returning a 404 error.

Notes:

  • This behavior is expected when wcmmode=disabled is used because AEM evaluates page validity based on onTime and offTime.
  • Dispatcher configuration does not affect this behavior in Author environments.
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