It is a configuration file placed on directory level. And contain certain instructions. These instructions tell you how incoming traffic to your website will be handled. For example, accessing a website, this can be for URL redirect. URL shortening or an access control. Moreover, There are a number of things that can be recorded in the .htaccess file. In addition,You can create a it using any good text editor such as TextPad, UltraEdit, Microsoft WordPad and similar (you cannot use Microsoft NotePad)