How to Find & Fix 403 Forbidden Error in WordPress?
Admin ~ January 14, 2025 ~ 9 Minutes Reading
Are you searching online to find & fix 403 forbidden error in WordPress? This frustrating error can stop you and visitors from accessing your WordPress site. Moreover, it can impact visitors’ experience, resulting in a negative impact on SERP ranking. However, the good news is that fixing this error does not require any dedicated technical expertise. Let’s delve deep into it to uncover how to solve 403 forbidden error in WordPress using 20 instant solutions.
We have crafted this digital column in such a manner that a person from a non-technical background can fix this 403 forbidden error swiftly. Additionally, we have explained 12 instant ways to overcome your problem with each method explained in detail. The common issues behind the error could be corrupted .htaccess file, insufficient permission, wrong security settings, etc.
However, before moving forward to our quick fixes it is equally important for us to know what is 403 forbidden error in WordPress and its common causes. This foundational knowledge will help us to resolve the problem easily and prevent future occurrences.
What is 403 Forbidden Error in WordPress?
The 403 forbidden error in WordPress refers to the context in that your server is getting the request to access the page. However, the server refused to load it due to insufficient permissions or wrong security settings. This error may prevent visitors and WordPress admin from accessing the content and key pages. It may include pages such as WordPress admin and Admin dashboard.
Common Variations of 403 Forbidden Error in WordPress
- 403 Forbidden – Access Denied
- 403 Forbidden – You don’t have permission to access this resource
- HTTP Error 403 – Forbidden
- 403 Forbidden – Access to this resource on the server is denied
- Error 403 – Forbidden: The server understood the request but refuses to authorize it
- 403 Forbidden – You are not authorized to view this page
- WordPress 403 Forbidden error on wp-admin or wp-login.php
- 403 Forbidden error when accessing wp-content or wp-includes
- 403 Error – Access Denied on WordPress Media Library
- 403 Forbidden – Request Forbidden by administrative rules
- 403 Forbidden – Access Denied by security plugin
- 403 Forbidden – The website declined to show this webpage
- 403 Forbidden – Hotlink protection active
- 403 Forbidden – IP blocked by security settings
- 403 Forbidden – Access forbidden by .htaccess rules
- 403 Forbidden – Permission denied on uploads directory
- 403 Forbidden – Forbidden access after a WordPress migration
- 403 Forbidden – ModSecurity rule violation
- 403 Error – Connection blocked by Cloudflare or CDN
- 403 Forbidden – Error caused by incorrect file and folder permissions
Best Solution to Find 403 Error in WordPress Site
If you don’t require to see such errors on your WordPress site then you can use the Sitemap Buddy Sitemap Generator specialized solution regularly to prevent these errors. This future-sighted application is carved to analyze and crawl your WordPress site to show you the errors. You need to simply enter the URL of your WordPress site and command it to crawl.
How to Find 403 Error in WordPress Site Using Expert Utility?
- At the start, download and run the suggested utility on your desktop.
- Now, enter the domain URL of your WordPress Website in the URL section.
- After that, switch to the settings tab and check all settings are in off mode.
- Then, switch back to the crawler tab and click on the Crawl button.
- Finally, when the crawling is complete click on the status code to group pages with a 404 error.
Note: You can directly save this crawl data on this utility for further use. Secondly, users can also use the Export As >> Export Crawl Data option. For storing crawling data on their computer storage.
How to Fix 403 Forbidden Error in WordPress 12 Instant Ways?
Till now you have understood what is the 403 forbidden error in WordPress and the proven approach to find such errors. Now let’s move to the central section of this blog to discover how to solve 403 forbidden error in WordPress. Below we will explain the 20-instant solution to restore access to your WordPress site. Moreover, these quick methods do not require any necessary expertise level. The methods to fix 403 error in WordPress are:
- Update permissions
- Deactivate plugins
- Remove .htaccess
- Disable hotlinking
- Scan for malware
- Disable firewalls
- Check CDN settings
- Disable proxies
- Review error logs
- Increase the PHP limit
- Reinstall WordPress
- Contact hosting
#1 Solution Update Permissions to Solve 403 Error in WordPress
Files and folder permissions play a very crucial role in managing access to your WordPress Site. Wrong file permissions may result in a 403 forbidden error. To fix this you need to update the file permissions using an FTP client like FlashFXP.
How to Solve 403 Forbidden Error in WordPress by Updating Permissions in FlashFXP?
- Initially, launch the FlashFXP FTP client on your desktop.
- Now, enter your WordPress site credentials & click on Connect.
- Then, go to the folders like wp-admin, wp-includes, wp-content in your root directory.
- After that, right-click on these folders or files and select Attributes (CHMOD).
- Next, set permissions to 755 and exit from the CHMOD window.
- Finally, refresh the page to check the 403 error in WordPress solved.
#2 Solution Deactivate Plugins to Fix 403 Error in WordPress
Sometimes WordPress plugins especially security plugins may cause conflicts leading to 403 error in WordPress. To solve such an error, you may be required to deactivate these plugins and check them again. After disabling the plugins try to refresh the page and if it works it means the plugins are the real culprits for the error.
#3 Solution Remove .htaccess File from the FTP Client
The .htaccess file is the configurational file that is used by web servers to manage redirects and permissions. A corrupted or misconfigured .htaccess file is the common cause of 403 forbidden error in WordPress. Try to remove the .htaccess file from the server and refresh the page. If it works check your file and regenerate it carefully.
#4 Solution Disable Hotlinking to Get Rid of 403 Error in WordPress
Hotlinking refers to the scenario when some other website is using images and other file format links from your WordPress site. It results in consuming your bandwidth without permission. Some server configurations may restrict hotlinking resulting in 403 forbidden error. To resolve edit your .htaccess file present in the root directory with the following rule. Ensure to replace the yourwebsite.com with the actual domain.
# Disable hotlinking
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^https://(www\.)?yourwebsite\.com/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteRule \.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif|bmp|pdf|webp)$ - [F,NC,L]
#5 Solution Scan for Malware to Solve 403 Error in WordPress
Malware or infectious code may result in unexpected behavior in your website content. Sometimes these infectious codes may alter files and folder permissions settings which may cause 403 forbidden error in WordPress. To overcome such issues scan the WordPress site with some malware scanner.
#6 Solution Disable Firewall or Security Settings
Firewalls or security rules may cause to block access to files and folders. Temporarily disabling them from your hosting control panel may solve the 403 error for your WordPress site. If it works contact your hosting provider and ask them to resolve the issue while providing essential firewall protection.
#7 Solution Check CDN Settings to Get Rid of 403 Error in WordPress
If you use a content delivery network (CDN) for your WordPress site like Cloudflare. Misconfigurations in CDN can cause 403 forbidden error in WordPress, and block access to certain resources. Try to fix it and refresh your WordPress page to check whether WordPress 403 forbidden on some pages solved or not.
#8 Solution Disable Proxies on Your Browser to Solve 403 Error in WordPress
Proxies can cause 403 forbidden error by masking your IP address and adding extra layers of filtering. Due to this your WordPress or hosting provider may incorrectly flag this proxy as suspicious it may deny access. Go to the settings menu in your Browser and find network settings. Finally, switch the setting to no proxy and save the settings. Hopefully, this method may resolve your 403 error in the WordPress site.
#9 Method Review Error Logs to Fix 403 Forbidden Error in WordPress
Error Logs are the essential troubleshooting tool that can help to find the root cause of the 403 error in WordPress site. This error contains all the information related to the file and permissions causing the issue. Simply access the error log file from the FTP to find the root cause error and fix it.
#10 Method Increase the PHP Limit to Solve 403 Error in WordPress
The PHP memory limit is the maximum amount allowed to be used by scripts in your WordPress site. Sometimes the WordPress runs out of limit triggering the 403 forbidden error. Increasing the PHP memory limit will solve the error. To increase the limit edit the wp-config.php file by accessing it from FTP. Add the following line of code in the file and reupload it to FTP as mentioned below.
define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M');
# 11 Method Reinstall WordPress to Fix 403 Error in WordPress
Sometimes core WordPress files may become corrupted due to accidental changes or failed updates. Download the latest version of WordPress and delete core WordPress files using FTP but keep wp-content and wp-config.php intact. Extract the WordPress file you downloaded and upload all files to FTP except the wp-content folder and the wp-config-sample.php file. This method will be going to solve 403 error in WordPress.
#12 Contact the Hosting Provider to Get Rid of 403 Error in WordPress
If you are unable to fix these issues from any of the above-listed methods then the last step is to contact your hosting provider to resolve some server-side issues. There is a possibility that there may be some error on the server side that is triggering the 403 forbidden error in the WordPress site. In such instances, the only way to resolve this is by contacting the hosting provider.
Final Thoughts
To sum up, the above blog is on the topic of how to find and fix 403 forbidden error in WordPress. Initially, we have gained some knowledge about the 403 error and its common variations that are meant to be the same. Thereafter we have discussed the best solution to find and list 403 error in the WordPress site along with its working guide. However, just finding the 403 error on the WordPress website is not sufficient. So, to learn how to solve 403 forbidden error in WordPress we have discussed 12 quick solutions to overcome the problem.
