{"id":2273,"date":"2007-04-27T00:23:46","date_gmt":"2007-04-26T18:53:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2007\/04\/errors-with-htaccess-site-down-with-403-forbidden-errors\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T15:57:30","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T10:27:30","slug":"errors-with-htaccess-site-down-with-403-forbidden-errors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2007\/04\/errors-with-htaccess-site-down-with-403-forbidden-errors\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Fix 403 Forbidden Error in WordPress and .htaccess (2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"

In April 2007, while travelling between cities, I checked my site and found a 403 forbidden error<\/strong> on every page. My hourly statistics<\/a> showed the site had been down for 15 hours. My host, Dreamhost, had emailed to say Googlebot was overloading the server and they had blocked it in .htaccess, but the rule took down the whole site. Here’s how I fixed it then, and a full checklist for fixing 403 errors in 2026.<\/p>\n

\"Fix<\/p>\n

Quick answer:<\/strong> A 403 Forbidden error means the server understood the request but refuses access. On WordPress the usual causes are a bad .htaccess rule, wrong file permissions (folders should be 755, files 644), a security plugin or firewall blocking your IP, or a CDN rule. Rename .htaccess to test, reset permissions, and check your security and CDN settings.<\/p>\n

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Table of Contents<\/p>\n