Google Search Console

“Blocked due to access forbidden (403)”: meaning and how to fix it

What it means

The server refused Googlebot's request with 403 Forbidden.

Is it a problem?

Yes if the page is public. Often a firewall, CDN or bot-protection rule is blocking Google itself.

Common causes

• A WAF, CDN or anti-bot rule blocking Googlebot's user agent or IPs
• Country or rate-limit blocking
• Server permissions on files or folders

How to fix it

1. Allow verified Googlebot in the firewall/CDN (verify by reverse DNS, not just user agent)
2. Check server and file permissions
3. Test with URL Inspection → Test live URL

How to check the fix

Validate fix once the live test returns 200.

All indexing statuses

• Discovered – currently not indexed
• Crawled – currently not indexed
• Duplicate without user-selected canonical
• Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user
• Alternate page with proper canonical tag
• Page with redirect