Apache: Enable compression

To enable compression in Apache, you have two options; The first is to insert the directives into the .htaccess file, and the second is to place these directives directly in the declaration of your vhost. &lt;ifModule mod_gzip.c&gt; mod_gzip_on Yes...

Written by Thomas Bourdin Published on May 15, 2014 Updated on August 20, 2026 1 min read

To enable compression in Apache, you have two options;
The first is to insert the directives into the .htaccess file, and the second is to place these directives directly in the declaration of your vhost.

&lt;ifModule mod_gzip.c&gt;
mod_gzip_on Yes
mod_gzip_dechunk Yes
mod_gzip_item_include file .(html?|txt|css|js|php|pl)$
mod_gzip_item_include handler ^cgi-script$
mod_gzip_item_include mime ^text/.*
mod_gzip_item_include mime ^application/x-javascript.*
mod_gzip_item_exclude mime ^image/.*
mod_gzip_item_exclude rspheader ^Content-Encoding:.*gzip.*
&lt;/ifModule&gt;

``` Please replace `

&lt;ifModule mod_gzip.c&gt;
mod_gzip_on Yes
mod_gzip_dechunk Yes
mod_gzip_item_include file .(html?|txt|css|js|php|pl)$
mod_gzip_item_include handler ^cgi-script$
mod_gzip_item_include mime ^text/.*
mod_gzip_item_include mime ^application/x-javascript.*
mod_gzip_item_exclude mime ^image/.*
mod_gzip_item_exclude rspheader ^Content-Encoding:.*gzip.*
&lt;/ifModule&gt;

Compatibility context

This procedure documents a PHP or Apache environment from its time. PHP 5.x and 7.x branches no longer receive standard support from the PHP project: do not deploy this configuration as is on a new server.

First identify the versions actually installed and the loaded modules.
Prepare a configuration backup and a rollback procedure.
Validate the syntax, then the critical paths, on a version of PHP that is still maintained.

Reference: currently supported PHP versions.