Error code 403 on a directory on an Apache server is usually caused by one of these three conditions:
- The Apache server has not been granted the read and execute permissions on the directory, which are needed in order for the server to read the directory listing.
- The directory contains a
.htaccess
file, but the Apache server has not been granted read access to this file.
- Directory listings are disabled in the Apache configuration, for example it could have been disabled through
Options -Indexes
If the directory contains an index.html
file, it will be shown instead of a directory listing. In that case the Indexes
option and read permission on the directory are not needed, but read access on index.html
is needed.