How to Prevent 403 Forbidden Error

INTRODUCTION

The 403 Forbidden error is an HTTP status code which means that access to the page or resource is absolutely not allowed for some reason.

This article contains basic troubleshooting instructions for 403 Forbidden error.

ERROR MESSAGE

You get the following error when you try to visit a web page:

403 Forbidden
Figure 1.

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Causes and Solutions

403 Forbidden errors is caused by three common causes. Here they are listed from most likely to least likely.

Make sure that your website content has been uploaded to the correct directory on your server. Remember to replace example.com with your own domain name.

If this folder does not exist, feel free to create it.

No index page

The home page for your website must be called index.php or index.html.

To resolve this error, upload an index page to your directory.

If you already have a home page called something else – home.html for example – you have a couple of options:

1. Rename your home page to index.html or index.php.
2. Set up a redirect on the index page to your real home page.
3. Set a different default home page in your file.

If you don’t want a single page to display, but instead want to show a list of files in that directory, see .

The errors

A 403 Forbidden error can also be caused by incorrect ownership or permissions on your web content files and folders.

Permissions

Rule of thumb for correct permissions:

Follopw the folders or files new rules

• Folders: 755
• Static Content: 644
• Dynamic Content: 700