The most common cause for the 403 Forbidden error in WordPress is due to poorly configured security plugins. Many WordPress security plugins can block an IP address (or a whole range of IP addresses) if they believe them to be malicious.
Another possible cause could be a corrupt .htaccess file or incorrect file permissions on your server.
1. Fixing 403 Forbidden Error Caused by a WordPress Plugin
First thing you need to do is to temporarily deactivate all WordPress plugins. This includes any security plugins that you may have installed on your site.
If this resolves your problem, then this means one of the plugins on your website was causing this error.
You can figure out which plugin was causing the error by activating all your plugins one at a time until you are able to reproduce the 403 forbidden error.
2. Fix 403 Forbidden Error Caused by Corrupt .htaccess File
Often the 403 error is caused by a corrupt .htaccess file in your WordPress site. Repairing this file is quite easy.
First you need to connect to your website using a FTP client or file manager in cPanel.
Next, locate the .htaccess file in the root folder of your WordPress site.
You need to download the .htaccess file to your computer so that you have a fresh backup of it. After that, you need to delete the file from your server.
Try accessing your website. If 403 forbidden error is resolved, then this means that your .htaccess file was corrupt.
You can generate a fresh .htaccess file by logging into your WordPress admin area and going to Settings » Permalinks page.
Simply click on the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page and WordPress will generate a fresh .htaccess file.
3. Fix 403 Forbidden Error Caused by File Permissions in WordPress
All files stored on your website have file permissions. These file permissions control who can access files and folders on your website.
Incorrect file permissions can cause 403 forbidden error. It makes your web server thinks that you do not have permission to access those files.
If the above two solutions do not solve the 403 forbidden error on your site, then incorrect file permissions can be the most likely cause.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact our Support Team. TFhost is very supportive, we wouldn’t mind and will probably fix that for you.
