The error can have various causes and scopes. Depending on the cause, the Homepage of your WordPress website<\/a>individual subpages or even the entire website cannot be accessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To make your website accessible again as quickly as possible, I will describe the causes of errors and possible solutions below. If you apply the solutions, your website should be fully accessible again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Simply explained \ud83d\udca1: <\/b>The \"403 Forbidden\" error tells you that you are not authorized to access the requested resource.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 403 Forbidden error message is an HTTP status message. It occurs when a server (the basis of your hosting) denies a client (e.g. your browser) access to a certain resource. There are various causes for the error, the most common for WordPress are<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are other common reasons for a 403 error, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The exact reason why the error occurs on your website can vary. In most cases, it has to do with permissions and security measures. In our article, I provide you with specific steps to help you find and fix the error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The \"403 Forbidden\" error can occur in different variants, depending on the specific reason for the access denial and the configuration of the web server. Here are some of the most common variants:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Often you will only find the indication that it is a 403 Forbidden error as text in the tab at the top. At the bottom you will only find the text of one variant. Here is an example: <\/p>\n\n\n\n The error message on the \"white screen\" typically only shows the short text, which gives you little to no information about the cause of the error. To get more details about the error message, you can use the Logs in your WordPress hosting<\/a> check. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In most cases, the 403 Forbidden error can be fixed quickly and easily. To carry out the troubleshooting, you only need access to the root directory of your website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At WPspace, Managed WordPress host<\/a>you can access the root directory of your website via your hosting interface. Alternatively, you can use FTP access and a program such as FileZilla to access your root directory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We will explain the following 10 measures step by step so that your website is accessible again as quickly as possible: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Does that sound too simple? Sometimes it is trivial things that are the reason for an error message. In some cases, 403 errors are only temporary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the first step, make sure that you have written the URL correctly. Then reload the URL that you want to call up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your browser cache temporarily stores a website you have accessed. To empty this cache and see the current status of the website, empty your browser's cache. Below you will find instructions for the most common browsers: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Note that in addition to the browser cache, there is also a Wi-Fi cache and router cache. To test whether a cached version is displayed for you, you can access the desired website using your smartphone and mobile data (important: not Wi-Fi).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note \ud83d\udca1: <\/b>If your WordPress website is hosted on an nginx server, it will not have an .htaccess file. At WPspace, we rely on Apache servers. Therefore, websites hosted on WPspace have a .htaccess file by default. You can also simply ask your hoster's support team for this information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The .htaccess file is a configuration file for your website. You can use it to adjust settings for your website, set up redirects, control access to certain files and directories or block IP addresses, among other things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Incorrect entries in the .htaccess file can cause a Forbidden 403 error. You can try to look for the error in the .htaccess file, but this is usually like looking for a needle in a haystack. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I therefore recommend that you delete the current .htaccess and create a new .htaccess. To do this, proceed as follows: <\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. access the root directory (usually httpdocs) of your website. With WPspace, you can access it directly via the hosting interface. If you do not have this option, access it via FTP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. download the current .htaccess file as a backup locally on your PC \/ laptop<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. delete the current .htaccess file afterwards<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2705 Website accessible? <\/b>If you can now access the pages of your website affected by the 403 Forbidden error, the .htaccess file was the cause of the error message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regardless of whether you were able to fix the 403 forbidden error or not, I now recommend that you create a issue new .htaccess<\/strong>. You can either create a new .htaccess via your WordPress dashboard or upload a clean .htaccess file. We'll show you both options step by step:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4a. Log in to your WordPress Dashboard<\/strong> as admin<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5a. Navigate under \"Settings\" \u2192<\/strong> \"Permalinks\"<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 6a. Save without adjusting the permalink structure <\/strong>via the button \"Save changes\"<\/strong>. You change your permalink structure <\/a>so not!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2705 Your new clean .htaccess file has been generated and is automatically available in your root directory<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4b. Open on your PC a Text editor program<\/strong>. For example, you can use the \"Editor\" installed by default on Windows - simply search for it using the native search on your PC or laptop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5b. Add to the file following text<\/strong> and save them: <\/p>\n\n\n\n 6b. Save<\/strong> the file under the name .htaccess <\/strong>from<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7b. Load the file in your Root directory<\/strong> (usually httpdocs) high<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note \ud83d\udca1: <\/b>If you have individual configurations in your .htaccess file, these will be added again by the plugins<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2705 Your new .htaccess file is available again<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your website accesses many different files and folders. These files and folders are regulated by access permissions. There are these three different permissions: <\/p>\n\n\n\n These rights can be assigned to owners, groups and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The different authorization levels are indicated by a three-digit number combination. Alternatively, you can also choose between the terms \"Read\", \"Write\" and \"Execute\". <\/p>\n\n\n\n If there is an error in the file permissions, for example because you have applied too strict security measures, this can lead to a 403 Forbidden error. WordPress itself provides an overview of the recommended file permissions on this website<\/a> before. In a nutshell, WordPress itself recommends the following: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Note that the wp-config.php should have an authorization of 440 or 400.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I recommend that you check the most important files and directories on your website for their permissions. This includes <\/p>\n\n\n\n The permissions for the individual files \/ directories can be as follows: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Note \ud83d\udca1: <\/b>Authorizations vary from website to website. These are only recommendations!<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the screenshot below, you can see the permissions in the root directory of a clean WordPress instance. You can also use this as a guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tip \ud83d\udca1: <\/b>You can find out more about the website Chmod Calculator<\/a> the authorizations can also be displayed in different formats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you noticed that there is an error in your authorization structure? You can edit this in your WPspace hosting interface as follows: <\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Log in to your hosting interface<\/a> a 5. adjust the authorizations as desired in the new window <\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. confirm with the button \"Save\"<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2705 Website accessible? <\/b>If you can now access the pages affected by the 403 Forbidden error again, the authorization structure was the cause of the error message. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Plugins supplement the functions of WordPress for you. Since not every plugin is compatible with every WordPress core version, other plugin and \/ or PHP version, these can also be the cause of the 403 Forbidden error. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To test whether one of your plugins is the cause, I recommend you proceed as follows: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Tip \ud83d\udca1: <\/b> You can also follow the steps below on a Staging website<\/a> test - this will save you a possible downtime of your website.<\/p>\n\n\n\nExplanation of the \"403 Forbidden\" error<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Variants of the \"403 Forbidden\" error<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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![\"403](\"https:\/\/wp-space.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/403ForbiddenScreenshot.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nFixing the \"403 Forbidden\" error message<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Check URL and reload<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Delete browser cache<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Reissue .htaccess<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Download](\"https:\/\/wp-space.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/htaccessdownload.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Delete](\"https:\/\/wp-space.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/htaccessloeschen.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCreate .htaccess via WordPress Dashboard<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"Reissue](\"https:\/\/wp-space.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/htaccessneuausstellenpermalinks-1024x853.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nReissue .htaccess yourself<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
# BEGIN WordPress\n\nRewriteEngine On\nRewriteBase \/\nRewriteRule ^index\\.php$ - [L]\nRewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f\nRewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d\nRewriteRule . \/index.php [L]\n\n# END WordPress<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nAdjust file permissions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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All directories in wp-content should have 655 (rwx - r-x r-x) <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n![\"WordPress](\"https:\/\/wp-space.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/DateiverzeichnisBerechtigungen.png\")
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2. select in the menu \"Files\"<\/strong> from
3. navigate in the file manager of your website to the root directory, which is usually httpdocs <\/strong>means
4. click on the assigned permissions of the file \/ directory<\/strong>for which you want to adjust the authorizations<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Change](\"https:\/\/wp-space.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Berechtigungenaendern-1024x487.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Customize](\"https:\/\/wp-space.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/berechtigungenspeichern.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nDeactivate plugins<\/h3>\n\n\n\n