Knowledgebase

A 403 error occurs when there is a problem with permissions on a website. This article will explain what causes a 403 error and how to resolve this error on your website.

What Is A 403 Error?

A 403 error indicates that the user cannot access certain web pages. It is a generic error that says: “You do not have permission to view this page”. Typically, the error is caused by an issue with the URL or with cached files within the browser.  

Solution 1: Correct Any URL Errors

By far the majority of 403 errors are caused by errors within the URL. Make sure that you have correctly spelled each part of the website in the URL bar, and that you are specifying an actual page on the website.

Solution 2: Clear Your Browser History And Cache

Your computer stores temporary files to help you connect to and navigate websites quickly. These files sometimes interfere with the website directory and could be causing a 403 error. If you are still encountering a 403, error clear your cookies and cache in the history page of your browser and try again.

Solution 3: Change The index.html File In The File Manager

Visitors may encounter a 403 error if you have blocked users from seeing the file directory of your site. You can change this feature in cPanel by following the steps below:

1. Navigate to cPanel going to [yourdomain.com]/cpanel.

2. Click on the File Manager button under the “Files” section.

3. "Create a file named index.html to serve as your homepage for your folder that is giving you a 403 error. Any of the below file names can be uploaded to your public_html folder and are in the order of what will appear first to last if these files exist:

index.html.var

index.htm

index.html 

index.shtml

index.xhtml

index.wml

index.perl

index.pl

index.plx

index.ppl

index.cgi

index.jsp

index.js

index.jp

index.php4 

index.php3

index.php

index.phtml

default.htm

default.html

home.htm

index.php5

default.html

default.htm

home.html

Solution 4: Verify That You Have Not Blocked Your Own IP

Sometimes a common cause of 403 errors is that the user has blocked their own IP using the IP Blocker feature in cPanel. Verify that you have not blocked your own IP by following these steps:

1. In cPanel, click on the IP Blocker application under the “Security” tab.

   

2. Check under the “Currently-Blocked IP Addresses” section to make sure your own IP address is not listed.

Solution 5: Submit A Support Ticket

If visitors to your website report that they are encountering a 403 error and you have attempted to solve the problem with the suggestions above with no success, we suggest you fill out a support ticket for our technicians. This can be done on the homepage of your CHI dashboard.

When submitting the ticket, make sure you include specific details about the error in the ticket including: exact URL of error, when the error started, and how it can be replicated.

If you have problems with any of the topics in this article, feel free to open a chat with someone from our technical support team at uk2.net/support