How to Fix 403 Forbidden Error on Web Server?

The 403 Forbidden error is an HTTP status code that means that for some reason, access to the page or resource you are trying to access is absolutely forbidden. Different web servers report 403 forbidden errors in different ways, and we list most of them below. Sometimes website owners will customize the HTTP 403 Forbidden error of the website, but this is not common.
Alibaba Cloud Simple Application Server:  Anti COVID-19 SME Enablement Program
$300 coupon package for all new SMEs and a $500 coupon for paying customers.

403 error display mode

403 Forbidden
HTTP 403
Forbidden: You do not have permission to access [directory] on this server
forbidden
Error 403
HTTP Error 403.14-Forbidden
Error 403-Forbidden

HTTP error 403-forbidden

The 403 forbidden error is displayed in the browser window, just like a web page. 403 Forbidden errors may be seen in any browser on all operating systems, such as all such errors.

In Internet Explorer, websites that refuse to display the webpage message indicate a 403 forbidden error. IE title bar should display 403 Forbidden or similar.

403 I received a forbidden error message when opening the link through the Microsoft Office program. The information you requested cannot be downloaded in the MS Office program.

Windows Update may also report an HTTP 403 error, but it will display as error code 0x80244018 or the following message: WU_E_PT_HTTP_STATUS_FORBIDDEN.

Reason for 403 Forbidden Error
The 403 error is almost always caused by you trying to access content that you do not have permission to access. The 403 error is actually saying "go away and don't come back here again".

The Microsoft IIS Web server provides more specific information about the cause of the 403 forbidden error by adding a number after 403, such as HTTP error 403.14-Forbidden, which means that the directory listing is rejected. You can view the complete list at Microsoft.

How to fix 403 forbidden error
Check for URL errors and make sure that you specify the actual web file name and extension, not just the directory. Most websites are configured to prohibit directory browsing, so it is normal for a 403 forbidden message to appear when trying to display a folder instead of a specific page.

So far, this is the most common reason why websites return 403 Forbidden errors. Before taking the time to troubleshoot the following, make sure you fully explore this possibility.

If you run a problematic website and want to prevent 403 errors in this case, please enable directory browsing in the web server software.
 
Clear the browser's cache. There is a problem with the cached version of the page you are viewing, which may cause a 403 forbidden issue.

Suppose it is possible and log in to the website. The 403 forbidden message may mean that you need additional access rights to view the page.

Usually, when special permissions are required, the website will generate a 401 Unauthorized error, but sometimes 403 Forbidden is used.

Clear your browser’s cookies, especially if you usually log in to the site and log in again (the last step) that does not work.

Contact the website directly. The 403 Forbidden error is probably an error that everyone else has seen, and the website is not aware of the problem.

If the 403 error still occurs, please contact your Internet service provider, especially if you are sure that the website in question is currently being used by other users.

Your public IP address or your entire ISP may have been blacklisted. This situation usually results in a 403 forbidden error on all pages of one or more sites.

Come back later. Once you have confirmed that the page you are visiting is the correct page and not just the HTTP 403 error you see, you can revisit the page regularly until the problem is resolved.

Forbid 403 errors
The following messages are also client errors, so they are related to the 403 Forbidden error: 400 Bad Request, 401 Unauthorized, 404 Not Found, and 408 Request Timeout.

There are also some server-side HTTP status codes, such as the popular 500 Internal Server Error. You can find other codes in this HTTP status code error list.