If you encounter a 403 error in WordPress , it is best to start by applying the generic solutions that we have discussed in the previous section, because surely you can solve the problem.
1. Check the plugins you have installed
Begins with check if any of your add - ons is interfirie NDO in the proper functioning of your website. The most frequent cause of a WordPress 403 error is a badly configured security plugin : many can block an IP address (or an entire range) if they consider it suspicious.
How to check if any of your plugins is to blame for status code 403 ? To know if it is worth making a more thorough diagnosis or, on the contrary, to rule out that your supplements have nothing to do with it, it is best to deactivate them all at once.
However, if after deactivating the plugins the error does not appear again, it will be time to re-activate them all and start deactivating them 1 to 1 to find the specific complement that is causing the status code 403 .
2. Correct file and directory permissions
The permissions of your WordPress files and folders , in short, tell the server who can read, execute or modify the files hosted on your account. WordPress needs to have those permissions to be able to manage files and create folders on your web server, so if they are incorrect your WordPress will block you certain actions and even be in danger of being infected.
In general, the correct permissions for WordPress are:
- Directories and subdirectories: 755
- All types of files: 644
It's easy to check (and change, if necessary) the WordPress folder and file permissions. You can do it through your FTP client. We, for example, usually use Filezilla :
- Access the files on your site through FTP.
- Right-click on the public_html folder and click on File Permissions.
- If it is not already, indicate the value 755, check the box Include all subdirectories and then the option Apply only to directories.
- Click OK.
Now, repeat the operation to check the permissions of the files :
- Once again, right-click on the public_html folder and click on File Permissions.
- Enter the value 644, check the box Include all subdirectories and then the option Apply only to files.
- Click OK.
With this, the permissions of your folders, subfolders and files will already be correct. Try entering your website to see if it already works correctly.
3. Check and regenerate the .htaccess file
As with any other type of web, your site created with WordPress may be working with an incorrect .htaccess file. Therefore, it is best that you download a backup of this file, delete it and check if your pages now work as it should be. We repeat how it is done so you don't have to go up to look at it:
- Sign in to cPanel and go to Files > File Manager.
- Find the .htaccess file, which is in the public_html folder. If you don't see it, click on the Settings button (upper right corner of the window), check Show hidden files (dotfiles) and click Save.
- Download the .htaccess file to your device to have a copy before deleting it.
- Now: right click on the .htaccess file and press Delete.
Enter your website to check if the 403 error is already history. Once this check is done, whether you still see error 403 or if the problem has already been fixed, you can generate a new .htaccess file from your backend in just 3 steps :
- Sign in to your WordPress.
- Go to Settings > Permanent links .
- Without making any changes, click Save. A .htaccess file will be created automatically without you having to do anything else.
If you have made the checks recommended in the post and you still get an error 403 , leave a comment and we will check if we can reproduce it and help you.
