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What is error 403 and how to fix it?
WordPress is a powerful tool that used as content management system around the world. Those who are not familiar with the WordPress errors, then you have not used it to the extent yet. Even the most popular CMS has its flaws and problems.
Have you faced 403 forbidden error before? A lot of the WordPress have faced this problem at least once.
Did you know that more than 30% of the existing websites today is based on the WordPress? Probably not, but do you know that the popularity comes with wide-range of solutions to the problem.
What is error 403 and how to fix it?
We are going to help you fix 403 forbidden access is denied or 403 forbidden error in short.
We have three solutions ready for you to fix 403 forbidden so that you can resume your work smoothly.
A WordPress Plugin
It is common that a plugin has caused this problem, which is frustrating, but it happens to everyone, and it is common.
We know that a lot of you are running multiple plugins on your site, it is kind of difficult to find out which is causing the issue.
There are two ways to find out, and we will tell you how you can find out which plugin is causing the error.
1 – First option is to disable all plugins to confirm that a plugin causes the problem. It will clear the doubt and help you get back your site.
2 – Disable plugin one by one, which does consume a lot of time considering the number of plugins you have activated.
Usually, newly installed, updated plugins or recent update of WordPress version can trigger the problem.
In case, if you are not able to access your website admin panel, then you can manually disable the plugin from the hosting account.
Go to file manager from the hosting account.
Click on Plublic_HTML or access root folder of your website.
Find the folder “Wp-content.”
And you have to rename the plugin folder to plugin.old and it will disable every plugin you’ve installed on your WordPress site.
Windows will pop and you have added .old to it.
To disable each plugin one-by-one, you have to click on the plugin folder and add .old to every plugin folder, which will disable it.
Fix 403 Forbidden Error by deleting .HTACCESS File
Corruption is part of every file system, and there is no denying that WordPress is no exception.
We recommend you to use your cPanel to access file manager to reach the .htaccess file.
First, create a backup, or you can simply download the .htaccess file to restore when this method does not work for you.
To fix the HTTP error 403 issue, you can delete .htaccess file from the file manager.
Sometimes the file is hidden from the file manager, but you can view hidden files as well.
Step 1: Click on the gear icon (Settings) from the top menu.
Step 2: A window will pop up.
Step 3: You have to select “show hidden files (dotfiles).”
Step 4: Click on save, then refresh the file manager.
Do not panic that you’ve got no replacement file for it because you can create a fresh one from the WordPress dashboard.
Go to your Dashboard > Settings > Permalinks, then select custom permalink, then click on save.
It will create a new .htaccess file in an instant, so you save time as well. It should fix the problem 403 forbidden access is denied, and website will function normally.
Note: You have to download the existing file to restore when things don’t have a plan.
Fixing Error 403 by making changes in File Permissions in WordPress
Error 403 has many causes, but one of the rare causes is in file permissions. Every file and folder in the WordPress have permissions, which prevents hacking and present there for the better protection from unauthorized users.
What is the appropriate solution for the error 403?
There are many solutions, but the most effective solution comes from your hosting provider.
Every reputed company has a dedicated customer support team so they can be a big help if you contact them to fix it.
They have a technical team, so make sure to ask them when they are available because even they have shift timings.
If you are non-techie or non-programmer, then we recommend you to stay away from these settings or else, you will find whole website itself.
Conclusion
The error 403 forbidden access is denied many causes, but if you implement the above solution, then it will be fixed. Let us know which solution has worked for you, and we have missed any solution, then mention it in the comment section.