HTTP 403 Error: What it means and how to fix it

While we’re all so used to 404 Not Found pages, and even when we encounter one, we’re relieved by seeing a cute placeholder page, one of the more confusing errors is the 403: Forbidden response.

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What does this mean?

In short: the server has determined that you are not allowed to access the content you requested.

According to RFC 7231: The 403 (Forbidden) status code means that the server understood the request but refuses to authorize it... If authentication credentials were provided in the request, the server considers them insufficient to grant access. The 403 response falls into the 4xx range of HTTP responses: Client Error. It means that you or your browser did something wrong. If you encounter this, it usually means that you have authenticated with the server, that is, you are logged in, but the resource requested requires a higher privileged user to access. The most common case is that you may be logged in as a standard user, but you cannot access the management page.

How to solve it?

1. As a user without access to the server, you really only have a few options: Authenticate with a more appropriate account, Again, per RFC 7231: If authentication credentials were provided in the request, the server considered them insufficient to grant access. The client SHOULD NOT automatically repeat the request using the same credentials. The client MAY repeat the request with new or different credentials. This is the only solution that will give you an immediate resolution.

2. Notify the website owner: If you want to access a resource, but you still get a 403 error, then it would be wise to let the development team behind the site know that it might be their mistake. Once again, from RFC 7231: A request might be forbidden for reasons unrelated to the credentials. A common reason for this to happen unexpectedly might be that the server uses an allow list or deny list for specific IP addresses or geographic regions. They might have a good reason for blocking your access outside of strictly defined parameters, but it might also be an oversight.

3. Give up: Give up access to the resource.