You’re not alone if you’ve struggled with an annoying 403 forbidden error when trying to access your WordPress website. Even though these errors can make an online experience unbearable, this blog post can help. It’ll break down everything that you need to know about How to fix 403 forbidden error in WordPress.
If you receive a 403 forbidden error, it can look pretty bad. But WordPress errors aren’t as scary as they might seem.
However, before I get started fixing the error, let’s take a closer look at it so you’ll understand what caused it and ways to stop this from happening in the future.
The 403 Forbidden Error
This HTTP status code appears when a user tries to access a forbidden resource. This error code indicates permission errors and can be caused by poorly coded plugins or an empty site directory.
Causes of the 403 Forbidden Error
A common cause for the 403 forbidden error is that it’s usually caused by improper configuration of a resource in the system which denies access.
A few specific reasons:
- A broken .htaccess file.
- The file permission that’s not correct.
- Plugin with poor coding.
There are a few versions of 403 forbidden errors
You may encounter 403 forbidden errors with different names, some of these are the following:
- HTTP error 403 – forbidden
- 403 forbidden
- Error: 403
- 403 forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request
- You don’t have permission to access [directory] on this server: Forbidden
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How to Fix 403 Forbidden Error in WordPress (7 Easy fixes)
The 403 error can be tricky to correct because the server doesn’t allow your browser to load the scripts. However, there are several ways to resolve the error in WordPress websites. Let’s discuss them!
The below section has quick fixes that can help you find the error and fix it, so please follow them in chronological order.
By Clearing Your Browser Cache
Clearing your browser’s cache is the easiest solution to the 403 forbidden error, and a hard refresh of your browser is always recommended for WordPress errors.
You might be experiencing a 403 error because you’re using outdated cache settings. It might be worthwhile to clear your browser cache and cookies or to visit your website in incognito mode to see if that fixes the issue.
Rollback WordPress to a Running Version Using The Backup
If you have access to an application or server-level backup, you should revert the changes and go back to the last running version. This can help bypass the 403 error that is preventing your website from loading.
For example, your website may have been working fine on October 31, but by November 1st it stopped working for some reason. In that case, you can revert back to an earlier version of the site by restoring the backup.
You can restore your data using the built-in backup function, or use the backup feature if you have configured the plugin.
.htaccess file check
One of the most common reasons that a 403 forbidden error in WordPress may occur is due to a corrupted .htaccess file. You could fix it in a matter of seconds by using any FTP manager, no matter what operating system you’re using.
- First, open FileZilla and connect the FTP client.
- Make your way to the Public_HTML folder and find the .htaccess file.
- Once you found the file, Right-Click on it and download it as a backup for the safe side.
- After the backup now please delete the .htaccess
- Now open your website on the Incognito browser window and check if the 403 Forbidden error has been resolved.
If deleting the .htaccess file resolves the error, then it confirms that the error was caused by a corrupt file.
Now it’s time to generate a new and clean .htaccess file, Using the below steps you can create it easily.
- Now please login to your WordPress website admin.
- After logging in Go to Settings > Permalinks, You will be redirected to the setting page of permalinks.
- At the bottom of the page, you can see the Save Changes button, Click on the button to generate a new .htaccess file.
- Now please open your FileZilla or FTP client to check if the .htaccess file has been generated.
Try the below-mentioned troubleshooting steps if the error persists.
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