How to Fix “403 Forbidden Error” in WordPress

Was your online experience interrupted by an annoying 403 error? Don’t worry! You’ve landed on the right page, as this blog unravels everything about the 403 errors on WordPress sites.

A 403 forbidden error looks critical enough to cause panic. However, WordPress errors aren’t as scary as they might appear.

But, before I move ahead with the fixes, let’s learn a bit about this error and its causes, so you can understand the underlying causes and fix those ahead of time. Short on time? Jump right ahead to the fixes.

What is 403 Forbidden Error?

This HTTP status code appears when you try to access a forbidden resource. This error code indicates a permission error and is commonly caused due to indexing issues, badly coded plugins, an empty site directory, or ownership issues.

What Causes the 403 Forbidden Error?

A major reason why the 403 error appears on WordPress sites is the improper configuration that denies access to the requested resource.

Other reasons include:

• A corrupt .htaccess file.
• A poorly coded plugin.
• Incorrect file permissions.

What Are the Different Versions of 403 Forbidden Errors?

You may encounter 403 forbidden errors in different versions; some of these are:

• 403 Forbidden
• HTTP Error 403 – Forbidden
• Forbidden: You don’t have permission to access [directory] on this server
• 403 forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
• Forbidden
• Error 403

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How to Fix the 403 Forbidden WordPress Error (Easy Fixes)

The 403 error can be a bit tricky to resolve because the server doesn’t allow your browser to load the scripts. That said, there are several ways to resolve the 403 forbidden error on WordPress sites.

The below section shares the easy fixes, and I recommend following the fixes chronologically to detect and fix the error sooner.

Note: Before trying any troubleshooting method, it is highly recommended to back up your entire website. Because if something goes wrong while troubleshooting, it will help you recover your website without any hassle.

1. Clear Your Browsing Cache

Clearing your browser’s cache is the simplest solution to the 403 error, and a hard refresh is always recommended whenever you encounter a WordPress error.

The 403 error might simply be down to the browser cache. So, clearing your browser cache and cookies or visiting your website in incognito mode might fix your issue.

2.  Rollback to a Running Version From Your Hosting Backup

If your hosting provider offers an application or server-level backup, you can revert the changes and roll back to the previous running version. Reverting to the last working version can help you bypass the 403 error.

For example, your website worked fine on  August 31 but stopped on September 1. In that case, you can go back to the previous working version with a few clicks.

If you are a Cloudways user, rolling back to a previous version is incredibly simple. Follow the steps below:

• Log in to the Cloudways platform
• Select your application
• Go to Application Management > Backup and Restore

• Roll back to the previous version by selecting the date from the drop-down menu

• And that’s it. Following the steps above will help you roll back to previous versions on the Cloudways platforms in minutes.

3. Check .htaccess File

Another reason why a 403 forbidden WordPress error may occur is a corrupted .htaccess file. You can fix a bad .htaccess file in a few seconds with any FTP manager.

• First, log in to your server using an FTP client.
• Go to the .htaccess file located in the public_html

• Right-click on the .htaccess file and download the file to remain safe.

• Once you’ve downloaded the file, delete the .htaccess file.

• Now go to your browser and refresh your website to check if the 403 error has been resolved.

Note: Don’t forget to upload the .htaccess file you previously downloaded to your server.

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If the issue is resolved by deleting the .htaccess file, it confirms that the error was due to a corrupted .htaccess file.

To generate a clean .htaccess file, follow these steps:

• Log in to your WordPress dashboard
• Go to Settings > Permalinks

• You’ll be redirected to the permalink settings page

• Click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page to generate a new .htaccess file.

• Open your FTP client to verify if the .htaccess file has been regenerated.

If the error still persists, move to the next troubleshooting method outlined below:

4. Check File Permissions

Many files in WordPress require access permissions. And if those permissions are incorrect, the server will give a 403 permission denied error, indicating you don’t have the requested file.

• Connect to your WordPress website using an FTP client.
• Navigate to the root
• Right-click public_html and click the file permissions

• Ensure that the numeric value in the Permission box is set to 744 or 775
• Check the box next to ‘Recurse into subdirectories‘
• Check the option that says ‘Apply to directories only‘
• Click OK

• Repeat the same process for all the files
• Set the file permission to 644 or 640
• Don’t forget to select Recurse into subdirectories > Apply to files only
• Click OK

• Check again to see if the 403 forbidden WordPress error is resolved. If it still appears, then perform the next step, i.e., deactivating the plugins.

5. Deactivate All Plugins

Sometimes poorly coded plugins can cause a 403 forbidden error on WordPress sites. Therefore, we can deactivate all our plugins and check whether the issue is resolved or not.

To deactivate your plugins:

• You must again access your WordPress files using an FTP client like FileZilla.
• Go to public_html > wp-content
• Change the plugins folder name (I’ve changed it to plugins-old)

• Go back to your browser and refresh.
• If the website starts working fine, then the plugins were causing the error.
• Change your plugins-old folder name to plugins.

• Once you’ve changed the folder name, go to the WordPress Dashboard > Plugins > Installed Plugins.

• You will see that all plugins are deactivated by default.
• Activate each plugin and check if your website works after activation, and you’ll find the problematic plugin.

6. HotLink Protection

Hotlink protection prevents other websites from using your site images. You can use hotlink protection if you don’t want to allow Google Images, Pinterest, or any other site to display your images. Also, it helps you with site bandwidth and server resource consumption.

Sometimes, enabling hotlink protection on your CDN/hosting can trigger a 403 error if it is not set up properly. Therefore, it’s highly recommended to carefully configure it and then check the site’s status.

7. Contact Your Hosting Support

If you have performed all the above steps and are still seeing the 403 error, the last resort is to contact your hosting provider. Many managed hosting providers offer prompt help with these issues.

Cloudways has 24/7 live chat & ticket support assistance and offers cloud-based WordPress hosting starting from $10/month. So, with a host like Cloudways, you’re in good hands, even in the world of scary errors like 403.

Note: you can also check our guides to fix other errors such as the 404 error, 500 internal server error, and the white screen of death.

Summary

I hope you found this guide helpful and were able to solve the “WordPress 403 error” via the shared fixes.

Have you figured out any other ways to get rid of this problem? Please share your solutions with us in the comments below for people facing similar issues.

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