Powered By Network Solutions: How to Fix a WordPress 403 Error

Understanding 403 Errors

Your website can contain various types of information, such as texts, images, videos, documents, and many others. When visitors browse your website, you must ensure that all its components have the correct permissions for them to access and transact without any issues. This article helps you understand 403 errors and provides troubleshooting steps to resolve them.

If you encounter a 403 Forbidden error on your WordPress website, it could mean that you are not authorized to view the page, resource, or file you requested.

Here are some examples of 403 errors:

• Error 403
• Error 403 – Forbidden
• Forbidden: You don’t have permission to access this resource
• 403 Forbidden
• HTTP Error 403 – Forbidden
• HTTP 403

In this article, we will discuss:

• Quick Fixes
• Common Fixes to Issues Causing 403 Errors
  • Fixing Incorrect File Permissions
  • Fixing Issues with the .htaccess File
• Fixes to Other Possible Triggers

Quick Fixes

If you are experiencing a 403 Error, we have listed some quick fixes below to try to resolve the issue.

1. Restart your browser by closing the current window and opening a new one. Try browsing your website using the new window.
2. Another solution is to clear your cache or double-check the URL to ensure you have entered the correct website address.
3. Try opening the website using a different device or another browser. If this works, try clearing the cache of the device you previously used.
4. Another option is to use private browsing mode or incognito, which does not retain cache and cookies and displays a renewed website page version.
5. In case the error persists, follow the troubleshooting steps in the Common Fixes to Issues Causing 403 Errors section.

Common Fixes to Issues Causing 403 Errors

There are some common underlying issues that might be causing a 403 Forbidden error. Here are a couple of solutions you can try out:

• Fixing Incorrect File Permissions
• Fixing Issues with the .htaccess File

Fixing Incorrect File Permissions

One possible issue could be incorrect file permissions. Permissions control who can view or access the files or folders on your site. To fix this, you'll want to update your file permissions.

The files and folders of your website each have their own permission. Permissions can control who can access and view those files or folders. The 403 Forbidden error could mean your file has incorrect or bad permissions.

The following list will show you the correct File and Folder permissions:

• WordPress site files should be 644 or 640.
• WordPress folders should be 755.
• Executable scripts inside the cgi-bin folder should be 755.
• Images, media, and text files like HTML should be 755 or 644.

You can check our article on how to set File and Folder Permissions for proper guidance.

Fixing Issues with the .htaccess File

Another issue could be with your .htaccess file. To fix this, you'll want to connect to your FTP application using your FTP login credentials. Then, follow the steps below:

1. Locate the folder containing your WordPress website.
2. Find the existing .htaccess file.
3. Right-click on the .htaccess file and select Rename.

4. Rename your .htaccess file.
5. Go back to your website and refresh it, or check it using private browsing mode.

If neither of these solutions works for you, note that there are other triggers that may cause a 403 error. Please follow the troubleshooting steps in the Fixes to Other Possible Triggers section of this article.

Fixes to Other Possible Triggers

If you are experiencing a 403 error on your website, there may be other triggers causing this issue other than the common ones.

1. An Issue with Index Page. Issues within your index file can trigger a 403 error. To fix this, follow these steps:
   1. Connect to your FTP application using your login credentials.
   2. Locate the folder containing your WordPress website.
   3. Check your directory to see if your index file is spelled as index.php (all lowercase).
      • If it is misspelled, rename it to index.php.
      • If you have an index.html file, delete it, as this will break your WordPress website. Right-click on the file, then click Delete.
      • If you want to ensure that the WordPress installation reads your index.php file, you can use the code below and add it at the top of your .htaccess file. Right-click on the file, then select View/Edit.
         

        DirectoryIndex index.php
         

2. An Issue with Plugins. WordPress plugins that are not configured correctly or are incompatible with other plugins can cause a 403 Forbidden error. To fix this, please follow these steps:
   
   Remember not to go to the plugins page within your WordPress dashboard while your plugins are renamed. Doing this will disable all renamed plugins in your database, and you will have to activate them again, even if you rename them back to their original name.
    
   1. Connect to your FTP application using your login credentials.
   2. Locate the folder that contains your WordPress website.
   3. Find the wp-content folder and look for the plugins folder.
      
      
       
   4. Right-click on the folder of the plugin you want to disable, then click Rename.
      
      
       
   5. Rename the selected folder to deactivate the plugin.
   6. Go back to the website and refresh it to see if the error is still there. Make sure to check the website in private browsing mode as well.
   7. Repeat steps 2.d to 2.f for each plugin. Check the website for each plugin you rename until the website loads correctly. Note that the last plugin you rename is the one causing the error.
   8. Once the defective plugin has been identified, rename all the plugin folders to their original names except for the folder causing the error.

3. Incorrect IP Address. The 403 error could be because the domain points to the wrong IP address. To fix this, double-check if the domain is pointing to the correct IP address.
    
   • Visit the article How to Manage DNS and Advanced DNS Records for instructions on how to check or update the IP address or A record.
   • Additionally, check out the DNS Lookup tool to confirm the correct IP address for the domain.

4. Malware Infection. A 403 error could be related to a malware infection. Malicious software can inject unwanted code into your .htaccess file. To prevent this, use security plugins with WordPress like Wordfence.
   
   You can also learn about SiteLock as an add-on security product that can help monitor, detect, and remove malware.