Why do uploaded images return 404 in Laravel and what does storage:link do?

Files stored on the public disk live in storage/app/public, which is not web-accessible. php artisan storage:link creates a symlink public/storage pointing to it, so the browser can reach the files.

php artisan storage:link

Then generate URLs with the Storage facade rather than hardcoding paths:

$path = $request->file('photo')->store('photos', 'public');
$url  = Storage::disk('public')->url($path);   // /storage/photos/abc.jpg

Common reasons it still 404s

• The link was created on your laptop and not on the server. Run the command on every environment (the symlink is not part of Git, public/storage should be in .gitignore).
• APP_URL is wrong, so url() points at another host or lacks the port. Set it correctly.
• On Windows or Docker, the symlink made on the host is broken inside the container. Run the command inside the container.
• Shared hosting that disallows symlinks or has public_html separate from the app: either create the link with a tiny PHP script using symlink(), or define a custom disk whose root is inside the web root:

// config/filesystems.php
'disks' => [
    'uploads' => [
        'driver' => 'local',
        'root'   => base_path('../public_html/uploads'),
        'url'    => env('APP_URL').'/uploads',
        'visibility' => 'public',
    ],
],

• Nginx: a location ~ /\. rule or missing try_files can block it; check the actual file exists by listing the target folder.

Private files (invoices, IDs) should stay on the local disk and be served through a controller or a temporary signed URL, never through the public symlink.

See the signed temporary download URL snippet for the private case.