403 Forbidden Error Demystified: Solutions and Fixes

By Maggie On Jun 13, 2023

How to fix 403 forbidden?

Visit an empty website directory or a page with a permission error to get the 403 prohibited error. Most websites disable directory browsing to prevent hackers from accessing sensitive data.

If you or your visitors encounter this problem on your site, repair it or risk losing traffic. 403 errors have various causes and solutions.

We will discuss 403 prohibited errors, their causes, and eight ways to solve them.

What’s 403 forbidden?

The 403 Forbidden Error occurs when your web browser attempts to open a restricted site. The webserver’s HTTP status code for that issue is 403.

This error frequently occurs for two reasons. First, the webserver owners have appropriately set up access rights, and you’re not permitted to access the resource. The second explanation is that the website owners misconfigured permissions and refused you access.

Website designers can personalize 403 errors like 404 and 502 failures. Thus, 403 pages may vary between websites. This mistake may have other names on websites. Such as:

403 Forbidden
403 forbidden
HTTP Error 403—Forbidden
HTTP Error 403.14—Forbidden: This server restricts access to [directory].

Usually, you can’t change things. Either you can’t access the resource or there’s a server fault. It may be a transient error or not. There are still options

Page refresh.

Try refreshing the page. Refreshing often fixes the 403 error. Most browsers have a Refresh button in the address bar and utilize Ctrl+R or Cmd+R to refresh.

Verify Address.

Mistyped URLs cause most 403 errors. Make sure you are accessing a web page or file, not a directory. A directory URL ends with “/,” while a conventional URL ends in.com,.php,.org,.html, or just an extension.

Most servers disable directory browsing for security. You’re routed when they’re set up. If not, a 403 error may appear.

Clear your browser’s cookies and cache.

Your browser may have cached the error page, but the website link may have changed. Clear your browser’s cache and cookies to test this.

Clearing the cache won’t harm your surfing experience, but some websites may take a few seconds to load as they re-download cached data. Most websites require re-registration after clearing cookies.

This detailed article will show you how to clear the cache in Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Safari.

Verify URL access.

If you’re trying to access a website that requires you to log in before viewing content, that may be the problem. Servers usually display an error message requiring you to log in.

However, poorly configured servers may return a 403. If feasible, log into the website to see whether the issue disappears.

Retry Later.

You can wait and try again if none of the basic solutions work. 403 Errors are usually caused by website difficulties, so someone is probably fixing them.

Website contact.

Contact the website owner directly. Contact them on their website about the page. If there’s no contact form, try the website’s social media.

ISP contact.

If the website works for others but not you, your ISP may have blocked your public IP address or your entire ISP. Notify them of the issue. Though unlikely, they could help.

Disconnect VPN.

Some websites prohibit VPNs and display a 403 Forbidden notice. Try connecting to the website without your VPN if you think this is the issue. If you’re unfamiliar with VPNs, you’re probably not using one.

You may choose to switch to a different VPN server or provider if a website doesn’t ban all VPN servers.

What Makes the 403 Forbidden Error?

Client-side configuration issues cause HTTP 403 prohibited errors, which you can address yourself. Folder or file settings are frequently the cause of a 403 prohibited error. These control who can read, write, or execute that folder or file.

The site owner may have changed the settings and blocked your access to relevant information.

Missed permissions.

Another typical cause is incorrect or faulty htaccess file settings. Changing a file may cause this. You can easily fix this problem by creating a new server configuration file.

Other prohibited 403 error causes:

inaccurate IP address:

A domain name points to an obsolete or inaccurate IP address hosting a site, preventing access.
Incompatible or poorly configured WordPress plugins.
New page link: A site owner changes a link, that differs from the cached version.
Malware: To restore a.htaccess file, you must first remove the malware.
No index page: Your homepage isn’t titled “index.php” or “index.html”.
These could trigger your site’s 403 prohibited error.

What causes the 403 Forbidden Error in WordPress?

The most common cause of the 403 Forbidden error in WordPress is poorly-configured security plugins. Many WorditPress security plugins can block an IP address (or a whole range of IP addresses) if they believe them to be malicious.

This is why we use Sucuri to improve the security of all our WordPress sites.

Another possible cause could be a corrupt.htaccess file or incorrect file permissions on your server.

Your WordPress hosting company can sometimes make accidental changes to their server settings. This may result in a 403 Forbidden error on your site.

WordPress 403 Forbidden Fix

Start by backing up your WordPress website. See our WordPress backup guide.

Before proceeding, check your automatic WordPress backup plugin for the latest backup.

WordPress Plugin 403 Forbidden Error Fix

First, temporarily deactivate all WordPress plugins. This contains site security plugins.

If this fixes your issue, a plugin on your website caused it.

Activate each plugin until you get the 403 disallowed error to find the culprit. Then, uninstall the faulty plugin and find a replacement or contact the developers.

Fixing Corrupt.htaccess File 403 Forbidden Error

A faulty WordPress.htaccess file often causes the 403 error. Fixing this file is simple.

First, connect to your website using FTP or cPanel’s File Manager.

Find the WordPress root folder’s.htaccess file. If the.htaccess file is missing from your WordPress folder, follow this approach.

For a fresh backup, download the.htaccess file to your PC. After that, delete it.

WordPress 403 Forbidden Error Fixing File Permissions.

All files on your website have file permissions, so wrong file permissions may be the cause of the 403 prohibited error if other alternatives fail. These file permissions restrict access to WordPress files and folders.

403 prohibited errors might result from file permissions. They tell your web server you can’t access certain files.

WordPress hosting providers can verify file permissions. Some hosts are quite accommodating and will likely remedy that for you.

Self-permissioning files can be dangerous. If you’re not sure, get a friend or a pro.

You can check file permissions yourself.

FTP into WordPress. WordPress files are in the root folder.

All WordPress directories should be 744 or 755.

WordPress files must be 644 or 640.

Root folder permissions can be 744 or 755. Check “Recurse into subdirectories” and “apply to directories only” as well.

Click “OK”. FTP will set rights for all subdirectories in that folder.

Repeat for all files afterward. Use file permission 644 or 640 and select “Recurse into subdirectories” and “apply to files only” this time.

Click “OK” to set file permissions for all selected files in your FTP client.

Your website should now load without the 403 prohibited error.

Conclusion

You know how irritating it is when a site you use regularly gives you a “403 forbidden” message when you try to access it. File permission problems are a common cause of these problems, while buggy plugins and malware infestations are also possible causes.

Even if you can’t put your finger on what’s causing those pesky 403 problems, the eight solutions we cover here should get your site back up and running in no time.

The 403 prohibited error is only one of many HTTP status codes, though. Client- and server-side failures, such as 404 and 504 gateway timeouts, are possible for website owners.

Learn as much as you can about these and other failures in advance to improve your response time if they affect site operation. Weirdnewsera that you might not find any other platform which gives you all content about health sports business technology and entertainment.

FAQs

Why am I receiving a 403 Forbidden?

This could be because the website owner changed the permissions or didn’t set them. Corrupt.htaccess settings are the second-most prevalent cause.

How do I fix 403 Forbidden in Chrome?

Clearing Google Chrome’s cache fixes most 403 Forbidden errors. Open the browser, click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner, and select Settings. Select Clear browsing data under Privacy and security.

What is the 403 client error prohibited for URLs?

The server understands the request but denies it with the HTTP 403 Forbidden response status code. Re-authenticating doesn’t help with 403 Forbidden, unlike 401. Application logic, like insufficient resource rights, controls access.

Does getting a “403 Forbidden” message mean I have been blocked?

403 prohibited error messages are easier to fix than they seem. The website’s content is banned for a predefined reason.