How to Fix 403 Forbidden Error on Your Website

A 403 Forbidden error means the server is denying access to the requested resource. This is usually a permissions issue.

Steps

In iPanel, open File Manager and navigate to the file or directory causing the error.

[screenshot: file manager navigation]
Check the file permissions. Files should be 644 and directories should be 755.

[screenshot: checking file permissions]
If permissions are wrong, update them to the correct values.

[screenshot: correcting file permissions]
Check if a .htaccess file contains deny rules that are blocking access.

[screenshot: checking htaccess for deny rules]
If ModSecurity WAF is enabled, check the Security tab for WAF logs — the request may be blocked by a security rule.

[screenshot: checking WAF logs]
Verify there is an index file (index.html, index.php) in the directory. If directory listing is disabled and no index file exists, you will get a 403.

[screenshot: checking for index file]

Tip: If the 403 appears after enabling ModSecurity, try switching to Detection Only mode to identify if a WAF rule is causing the block.

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