When a user requests to view a webpage with a web browser and the web server denies the access, the user receives the 403 Forbidden error.
This error usually appears when a website tries to block unwanted access to private data because of a permission problem or an empty website directory.
Causes of the 403 Forbidden Error?
1. Cached outdated webpage: If the page link has changed and is now not the same as the cached version, a 403 error will appear.
2. Missing index page: There is no index.html or index.php for the homepage of the website.
3. Faulty .htaccess file: Important website configuration settings are stored in the .htaccess file, which may be corrupted.
4. Malware infection: Malware-infected files have the ability to continuously corrupt the .htaccess file.
5. Faulty plugin: Improperly configured WordPress plugins or their incompatibility could trigger the 403 error.
How to Fix the 403 Forbidden Error ?
1. Clear Your Browser Cache and Cookies:
- Clearing your browser’s cache and cookies can sometimes resolve this issue. This forces the browser to re-request all the site files and log you out from all websites.
2. Create a New .htaccess File:
- Keep the backup of original .htaccess file. Rename/delete it.
- Go to your web page. If the 403 error is not showing, it means the .htaccess file was corrupted.
- Log in to your WordPress dashboard and select Settings >> Permalinks >> click on "Save changes". And then go to your website to see if the error has been resolved.
3. Try uploading an Index Page:
- When you visit your website, website’s homepage name should be named index.html or index.php.
- If not, resolve this by uploading an index page to your httpdocs or public_html directory.
- Open the .htaccess file. Insert the following code snippet to redirect index.php or index.html to your existing homepage. Make sure the name of your page appears in lieu of homepage.html.
Redirect /index.html /homepage.html
- Try to view the homepage of your website after adjusting the web server settings to check if the issue has been fixed.
4. File and Directory Permissions:
- Check the Directory and Files permissions, it should be 755 for directories and 644 for files.
5. Checking Wordpress Plugin:
- Navigate to public_html >> wp-content. And disable the folder "plugins" by renaming it. e.g plugins.bk.
- Now access your website, if its not showing any error then there is an issue with one of the plugin.
- To activate all of the plugins again, rename the folder "plugins".
- Go through your WordPress dashboard and disable each plugin one at a time to see if the site is operating properly. This can help in identifying the problematic plugin. Once found, update the plugin or think about removing it to resolve the problem.
6. Scan for Malware:
- Malware-infected WordPress websites can constantly upload unwanted code into the.htaccess file, which results in the 403 Forbidden error. Therefore, no matter how hard you attempt to fix the .htaccess file, the issue will still occur.
7. Contact our Support:
- If you're unable to identify the problem after all these steps, please get in touch with us by clicking Support on the left and opening a support request.
Important Note: Always make backups before making changes to your website, so you can easily restore it to a previous state if necessary.