How To Fix The 403 Forbidden Error In Wordpress

Did you just try to access your WordPress site only lớn be hit by some message telling you something is “Forbidden” or that you don’t have sầu permission khổng lồ access something on your site? If so, you’ve sầu likely run inlớn the 403 Forbidden error on WordPress.

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Seeing an error on your WordPress site can be frustrating and deflating, which is why we’ve sầu created this detailed guide to lớn help you fix the 403 Forbidden Error on WordPress & get your site functioning again as quickly as possible.

Let’s get started without any further introduction because we’re sure you just want to fix your site!

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What is the 403 Forbidden Error?

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) defines the error 403 Forbidden as:

The 403 (Forbidden) status code indicates that the hệ thống understood the request but refuses khổng lồ authorize it. A server that wishes khổng lồ make public why the request has been forbidden can describe that reason in the response payload (if any).

Like many other comtháng WordPress errors, the 403 Forbidden error is an HTTP status code that a website hệ thống uses khổng lồ communicate with your web browser.

403 forbidden error in Chrome

Quiông chồng background on HTTP status codes – whenever you connect to lớn a trang web with your browser, the website hệ thống responds with something called an HTTPhường header. Usually, this all happens behind the scenes because everything is working normally (that’s a 200 status code, in case you were wondering).

However, if something goes wrong, the server will respond back with a different numbered HTTP.. status code. While these numbers are frustrating lớn encounter, they’re actually quite important because they help you diagnose exactly what’s going wrong on your site.

The 403 Forbidden error means that your web hệ thống understands the request that the client (i.e. your browser) is making, but the server will not fulfill it.

In more human-friendly terms, it basically means that your VPS knows exactly what you want to lớn vì, it just won’t let you vì chưng it because you don’t have sầu the proper permissions for some reason. It’s kind of lượt thích you’re trying to get inkhổng lồ a private sự kiện, but your name got accidentally removed from the guestdanh sách for some reason.

Other HTTPhường status codes mean different things. We’ve sầu written guides on fixing issues with 404 not found errors, 500 internal hệ thống errors, 502 bad gateway errors, và 504 gateway timeout errors.

What Causes the 403 Forbidden Error on WordPress?

The two most likely causes of the 403 Forbidden Error on WordPress are:

Corrupt .htaccess fileIncorrect file permissions

It’s also possible that you’re seeing the error because of an issue with a plugin that you’re using at your site. In this article, we’ll show you how to troubleshoot all of these potential issues.

403 Forbidden Error Variations

Like many other HTTPhường status codes, there are a lot of different variations for how this error code presents itself.

Here are some common variations that you might come across:

“Forbidden – You don’t have permission lớn access / on this server”“403 – Forbidden: Access is denied”“Error 403 – Forbidden”“403 – Forbidden Error – You are not allowed khổng lồ access this address”“403 Forbidden – nginx”“HTTP. Error 403 – Forbidden – You vì chưng not have sầu permission to lớn access the document or program you requested”“403 Forbidden – Access to this resource on the server is denied”“403. That’s an error. Your client does not have permission to lớn get URL / from this server”“You are not authorized lớn view this page”“It appears you don’t have permission lớn access this page.”

If you’re on an Nginx server, it will look like this below. Basically, if you see any mention of “forbidden” or “not allowed khổng lồ access”, you’re probably dealing with a 403 Forbidden error.

What the 403 Forbidden Error looks lượt thích at web5s.com.vn

How lớn Fix 403 Forbidden Error on WordPress

To help you fix the 403 Forbidden Error on your WordPress site, we’ll cover five separate troubleshooting steps in detail:

1. File Permissions

Each folder & file on your WordPress site’s server has its own quality file permissions that control who can:

Read – see the data in the file/view the contents of a thư mục.Write – modify the file/add or delete files inside a folderExecute – run the tệp tin and/or exexinh tươi it as a script/access a thư mục and perform functions & commands.

These permissions are indicated by a 3-digit number, with each digit indicating the cấp độ of permission for each of the 3 categories above.

View tệp tin permissions in FileZilla

Of course, manually checking the permissions for each tệp tin or folder isn’t really an option. Instead, you can automatically apply tệp tin permissions to all the files or folders inside of a folder.

According to the WordPress Codex, the ikhuyến mãi file permissions for WordPress are:

Files – 644 or 640Directories – 755 or 750

One exception is that your wp-config.php tệp tin should be 440 or 400.

To phối these permissions, right-cliông chồng on the folder that contains your WordPress site (the thư mục name is public at web5s.com.vn). Then, choose File Attributes:

Bulk edit file permissions in FileZilla

Enter 755 or 750 in the Numeric value box. Then, choose Recurse inkhổng lồ subdirectories và Apply khổng lồ directories only:

File permissions for WordPress directories

Once you’ve applied the correct permissions for directories, you’ll repeat the process for files. Only this time:

Enter 644 or 640 in the Numeric value boxChoose Recurse inlớn subdirectoriesChoose Apply to files only

File permissions for WordPress files

To finish the process, you just need khổng lồ manually adjust the permissions for your wp-config.php file to make them 440 or 400:

If tệp tin permissions issues were causing the 403 Forbidden Error, your site should now start working again.

2. .htaccess File

web5s.com.vn uses the NGINX website hệ thống, so this potential issue doesn’t apply if you’re hosting your site at web5s.com.vn because web5s.com.vn sites do not have sầu a .htaccess file.

However, if you’re hosting elsewhere and your host uses the Apache web hệ thống, one common cause of the 403 Forbidden error is a problem in your site’s .htaccess tệp tin.

The .htaccess tệp tin is a basic configuration file used by the Apabịt website VPS. You can use it to lớn mix up redirects, restrict access to all or some of your site, etc.

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Because it’s so powerful, even if a little mistake can cause a big issue, like the 403 Forbidden error.

Rather than trying khổng lồ troubleshoot the .htaccess file itself, a simpler solution is to lớn just force WordPress khổng lồ generate a new, clean .htaccess file.

To vì that:

Connect to lớn your server via FTPFind the .htaccess file in your root folderDownload a copy of the file khổng lồ your computer (it’s always a good idea khổng lồ have sầu a backup just in case)Delete the .htaccess tệp tin from your hệ thống after you have a safe backup copy on your local computer

Now, you should be able lớn access your WordPress site if your .htaccess tệp tin was the issue.

To force WordPress to lớn generate a new, clean .htaccess file:

Go khổng lồ Settings → Permalinks in your WordPress dashboardCliông chồng Save sầu Changes at the bottom of the page (you bởi vì not need khổng lồ make any changes – just cliông chồng the button)

And that’s it – WordPress will now generate a new .htaccess tệp tin for you.

3. Deactivate & then Reactivate Your Plugins

If neither your site’s file permissions nor .htaccess file are the problems, the next place khổng lồ look is your plugins. It could be a bug in a plugin or a compatibility issue between different plugins.

No matter what the issue is, the easiest way khổng lồ find the problematic plugin is with a little trial và error. Specifically, you’ll need to lớn deactivate all of your plugins & then reactivate them one by one until you find the culprit.

If you can still access your WordPress dashboard, you can perkhung this process from the normal Plugins area.

If you cannot access your WordPress dashboard, you’ll instead need to lớn connect lớn your WordPress site’s hệ thống via FTP/SFTP. (here’s how lớn connect via SFTP. at web5s.com.vn).

Once you’re connected khổng lồ your server via FTP:

Browse to lớn the wp-content folderFind the plugins thư mục inside of the wp-content folderRight-clichồng on the plugins folder và choose RenameChange the name of the folder. You can name it anything different, but we recommkết thúc something lượt thích plugins-disabled lớn make it easy lớn rethành viên.

By renaming the thư mục, you’ve sầu effectively disabled all the plugins at your site.

Now, try accessing your site again. If your site is working, you know that one of your plugins is causing the 403 Forbidden error.

To find the culprit, reactivate your plugins one-by-one until you find which plugin is causing the issue.

After changing the tệp tin name of the plugins folder, you should see a number of errors that say plugin tệp tin does not exist when you go to the Plugins area on your site:

To fix this issue & regain the ability lớn manage your plugins, use your FTPhường program to change the name of the thư mục baông chồng khổng lồ plugins. So, if you renamed it khổng lồ plugins-disabled, just change it baông xã lớn plugins.

Once you bởi that, you’ll see the full list of all your plugins again. Only now, they’ll all be deactivated:

Use the Activate button lớn reactivate them one-by-one.

Once you find the plugin that’s causing the issue, you can either reach out lớn the plugin’s developer for help or choose an alternate plugin that accomplishes the same thing (we’ve collected the best WordPress plugins here).

4. Deactivate CDN Temporarily

If you’re getting 403 forbidden errors on your assets (images, JavaScript, CSS), it could be a problem with your nội dung delivery network (CDN). In this case, we recommend temporarily disabling your CDoanh Nghiệp và then checking your site to see if it works. If you’re a web5s.com.vn client, clichồng into lớn your site và then on the “web5s.com.vn CDN” tab. Once there, toggle the “web5s.com.vn CDN” button off.

5. Check lớn See If Hotlink Protection Is Misconfigured

Hotlinking is when someone adds an image to their site, but the hosted liên kết is still pointed to someone else’s site. To prevent this, some will mix up what is called “hotlinks protection” with their WordPress host or CDoanh Nghiệp provider.

When hotlink protection is enabled, it will typically return a 403 forbidden error. This is normal. However, if you’re seeing a 403 forbidden error on something you shouldn’t be, check to lớn make sure hotlinks protection is configured properly.

Still Having Issues? Reach Out to lớn Your Hosting Provider

If none of the above sầu solutions worked for you, then we recommend reaching out khổng lồ your hosting provider. They can most likely help you pinpoint the issue và get you bachồng up và running. If you’re a web5s.com.vn client, open up a support ticket with our team. We are available 24/7.

Summary

The 403 Forbidden error means that your hệ thống is working, but you no longer have sầu permission to view all or some of your site for some reason.

The two most likely causes of this error are issues with your WordPress site’s tệp tin permissions or .htaccess file. Beyond that, some plugin issues might also cause the 403 Forbidden error. Or it could be that something is misconfigured with hotliên kết protection or your CDN.

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By following the troubleshooting steps in this guide, you should be able khổng lồ get your site baông chồng to lớn working in no time.

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