PERMISSION
The 403 error means that you do not have permission to access the page, link, or image. The causes of the 403 error page are usually related to the permissions of the file that you are accessing. To look at the permissions of the the file, you will need to go into the File Manager that is located in the cPanel.
Once in the file manager you will need to go the directory that contains the file that gave the 403 error message. For those who do not know where the file is located, you should navigate to the folder listed in the address bar path for where you received the 403 error.
Once the folder or file has been located that is giving you the 403 you will need to look to the far right of it and under the column that says Permissions. The default permission for a folder needs to be 0755 and for a file 0644. If it is not set to the default, you will need to update it by selecting the file/folder and clicking on permissions on the top bar.
DENY RULE
The other possibility of the 403 error is that there is a deny rule that is either blocking or restricting access to the file/folder. In these cases, the best place to start will be to look for the .htaccess file that can be located in the top website folder (for example: for some sites it will be located in the public_html or a folder that has your website name).
If the .htaccess file does not show up, you may need to enable the dot files to be shown by clicking on settings on the top right. A pop up will show up saying Preferences. Near the bottom of the Preferences box there is an option called “Show Hidden Files (dotfiles)” that you must check, and then select Save. This will enable you to see dotfiles, including the .htaccess file.
You are now able to open the .htaccess file to see if there are any deny rules that are creating the 403 error. The most common deny rules will say:
order allow, deny
deny from all
If you delete the deny rule from within your .htaccess file, you will likely stop seeing the 403 error.