There are few situations more than alarming than being locked out of your ain WordPress admin dashboard. If you've encountered a message reading "Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page" when trying to log in, you lot know the feeling first hand.

Fortunately, at that place are several solutions at your disposal for troubleshooting this error. With a niggling patience, you can articulate upward the mistake and get back to managing your WordPress site in no fourth dimension.

In this post, nosotros'll dig into the "Pitiful, you are non immune to access this page" mistake and what causes it to occur. And then we'll walk yous through the many potential solutions to aid you observe the one that addresses your specific situation.

Let's bound right in!

Agreement the "Sorry, Yous Are Non Allowed to Access This Folio" Error

Although we're referring to it as an "error" for the purposes of this mail service, the "Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page" message in WordPress is meant to be a helpful security measure.

Ultimately, seeing this notification simply ways there's a permissions setting that'southward blocking you from a certain area.

This becomes a trouble when you're locked out of a part of your site that you should have permission to enter which, every bit an Administrator, is anywhere on the backend. When this state of affairs arises, it is often following a recent update to a theme, plugin, or WordPress core.

You may run across the "Deplorable, you are non immune to admission this page" message for a variety of reasons. It might be that WordPress doesn't recognize you as an Ambassador. In other situations, the information contained in your site'south core code or in a theme or plugin may not match what's in your database.

Additional causes include incorrect information in your wp-config.php file or a site that's running an outdated version of PHP. Whatever the source, this mistake may preclude you lot from accessing the entire admin area or just a portion of it.

Since it's likely that y'all will not be able to admission key settings via the dashboard, you'll need to use File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or phpMyAdmin to resolve this issue. Make sure to back up your site and brush upwardly on using these platforms before you swoop into the troubleshooting process.

The most frustrating matter about encountering the "Sad, you are not allowed to access this folio" notification is that it tin can be hard to pin down which of its causes are at play. Fortunately, at that place are many solutions you tin test out to find the root of the problem.

How to Fix the "Distressing, You Are Non Immune to Admission This Page" Fault in WordPress (11 Potential Solutions)

Due to its many possible causes, the "Sorry, you lot are not allowed to access this page" error takes quite a bit of patience to resolve. This long list of solutions may exist intimidating merely it likewise covers a diversity of situations to help you detect the right one for your site.

ane. Restore a Previous Version of Your Site

The simplest and often the fastest mode to get back into your WordPress dashboard is to restore your site to an earlier version. A recent change, such equally an update, might be the cause of the error you're seeing. Undoing your latest modification should enable you to access your site again.

Kinsta clients have it easy in this regard. You lot can restore a WordPress fill-in in your hosting account with a single click:

Restoring a backup in MyKinsta
Restoring a fill-in in MyKinsta

The drawback to this solution is that you lot may lose your recent changes and will have to find a way to attain your goals without causing the aforementioned error again.

For this reason, you may want to restore your fill-in to a staging site instead. Yous can then exam different modifications to determine what caused the problem. Later on uncovering the root of the issue, you tin can disengage the troublesome change to regain access to your site.

2. Disable All of Your Plugins

A specific change that may be causing the "Sorry, yous are not allowed to access this page" bulletin on your site is the recent addition or upgrade of a plugin. If you suspect that this is the case, your all-time course of action is to disable your plugins ane by one.

In the event that you disable a plugin and the bulletin goes away, yous've institute the source of the problem. You can then troubleshoot the issue with that plugin (or exercise without it, if information technology's not crucial to your site's functionality).

Of course, if you're locked out of your dashboard entirely, this process gets a little tricky. Y'all'll demand to access your site using SFTP via a client such every bit FileZilla. Once you've done so, navigate to wp-content and observe the sub-directory labeled plugins:

Disable all plugins by renaming the folder
Disable all plugins past renaming the folder

Enter this folder, and then rename your most recently-added plugin to something like "plugin-name_old". Get back to your site and check to see if the error is resolved. If non, change the plugin'south name back and repeat the procedure with the next one.

3. Actuate a Default Theme

Even so another potential cause of this error is that you've recently updated or installed a theme. Your best bet for resolving this problem is to activate a default WordPress theme such every bit Xx Xx or Twenty Nineteen.

To practice and so without access to your admin area, you'll need to utilise FTP over again. Connect to your server with FileZilla and so navigate to wp-content > themes:

Disable your current theme by renaming the folder
Disable your current theme by renaming the folder

The residuum of the process is fairly similar to the ane described higher up for disabling your plugins.

Rename the binder for your active theme, and so return to your site and log in. You should see a notification telling you that the active theme is cleaved, and a default theme has been reactivated.

Then yous can troubleshoot the theme. Your site should at least be accessible, albeit with the wrong theme activated.

4. Make Sure Yous're an Administrator

Another possibility is that your user role has been inadvertently changed and yous are no longer listed equally an Administrator. This is a common trouble with multisite installations. To determine if this is the case, you'll need to access phpMyAdmin and look for the wp_users table:

The WP users table
The wp_users table in phpMyAdmin

Find your username and notation your ID. Then, navigate to the wp_usermeta tabular array and find the wp_capabilties row:

The wp_usermeta table in phpMyAdmin
The wp_usermeta tabular array in phpMyAdmin

If you have Administrator privileges, the meta_value in this row volition read:

a:i:{s:13:"ambassador";south:i:"1";}

If your wp_usermeta table says something else, you can click on the Edit link and change it. Alternatively, you can also create an entirely new Ambassador account from phpMyAdmin. To accept this route, return to the wp_users table and click on the Insert tab at the top of the table:

Change user information in wp_users table
Modify user data in wp_users tabular array

Then, fill up in the fields with your new user information. Once you're done, click on the Get button and your new user should announced in the tabular array. Next, you'll need to make a notation of the ID for this business relationship and head back to the wp_usermeta table.

Click on Insert once again, and fill in the resulting fields with the following data:

  • Unmeta_id: Leave this field blank; information technology will be filled in automatically for you.
  • User_id: Use the ID from the WP Users table.
  • Meta_key: Gear up this value as "wp_capabilities".
  • Meta_value: Add the line mentioned above.

You should now be able to use your new credentials to log in to your WordPress admin expanse. Delete your former account or change its user role back to Administrator from the dashboard and delete the new one instead.

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5. Check Your Error Log to Pinpoint the Crusade

A smart way to streamline troubleshooting any trouble on your site is to cheque your server'southward mistake log. This may signal plugin or theme compatibility problems, database errors, or issues with your site's files that are causing the "Sad, you are not allowed to access this folio" bulletin to appear.

How you view your server'due south fault log volition vary depending on who your hosting provider is. For Kinsta customers, this process is as simple as logging into your MyKinsta dashboard. There, select the site that's experiencing problems and navigate to Logs:

MyKinsta logs tab
MyKinsta logs tab

Cull fault.log from the driblet-down card. If you see 1 of the causes of the alert in your log, then you can go about fixing it. Otherwise, yous'll need to try another solution on this list.

vi. Ensure That Your Database Prefix Is Correct

Every MySQL database has a prefix. If this one listed in your website's files doesn't friction match the i listed in phpMyAdmin, then y'all may see the "Distressing, you are non allowed to admission this folio" bulletin.

This tin can occur when migrating your site, including if you lot've used a local staging site for development and are now moving to a alive server. To check for discrepancies, you'll need to access your wp-config.php file.

You can do this via SFTP every bit we've described in previous solutions. Once you're in your wp-config.php file, you should look for your database's prefix (the default is "wp_"):

Database prefix
Database prefix

Then, log in to phpMyAdmin and await at the prefixes for your database's tables. They should friction match the ones listed in your wp-config.php file, similar in the image below:

Prefixes should match those in your wp-config.php file
Prefixes should match those in your wp-config.php file

If they don't match the prefix in your wp-config.php file, then you lot'll need to edit information technology so that they do.

vii. Expect for Changes in Your wp-config.php File

On a like annotation, you should likewise look for whatever changes to your WordPress configuration file. This is especially true if you were editing this file shortly before you lot received the "Sorry, you are not allowed to admission this page" bulletin or if you suspect that your WordPress site has been hacked.

You can admission your wp-config.php file using SFTP and look for anything that seems amiss. However, this process is much easier if you have some kind of file integrity monitoring or modify detection characteristic in place.

8. Upgrade to the Latest Version of PHP

If your WordPress site is running an outdated version of PHP, this could be the source of your troubles. With that said, even if upgrading PHP doesn't solve this result for you, it should better your site'southward overall security and operation.

Before you first the upgrade procedure, create a fill-in of your site. You lot can do this manually or from your MyKinsta dashboard, even if y'all're locked out of your admin surface area. Once you've saved your fill-in, you'll want to exam to encounter whether your account is uniform with the latest version of PHP. One way to do this is with a WordPress staging site.

Assuming that all goes well, you can run the update. Kinsta customers tin hands practise so by logging into the MyKinsta dashboard and navigating to the relevant site. Then go to Tools > PHP Engine > Alter, and select the newest version from the drib-down card:

How to upgrade PHP version in MyKinsta
How to upgrade PHP version in MyKinsta

If you're with another provider, you may be able to follow a similar process via your own control panel. It's recommended that you contact your web host for more than information.

9. Evaluate Your File Permissions

Information technology's also possible that your site's file permissions have been tampered with. In this case, WordPress may consider you unauthorized to view certain areas of your site, even if you're even so listed as an Administrator.

To check your site'southward file permissions, you'll demand to utilize SFTP to access your server. In one case you lot're logged in, enter the public_html directory and bulk-select wp-admin, wp-content, and wp -includes. Right-click on these folders and cull File Permissions:

Checking file permissions
Checking file permissions

In the resulting window, brand sure the following options are selected:

  • The Numeric Value is ready to 755.
  • Recurse into subdirectories is checked.
  • Apply to directories just is selected.

Click on OK when you're washed. Then, highlight all the other files in public_html, right-click on them, and select File Permissions once more:

Setting new file permissions
Setting new file permissions

This time, set the options in the permissions window to the post-obit:

  • The Numeric Value should exist 644.
  • Recurse into subdirectories should still be checked.
  • Apply to files only should exist selected.

Then, return to your site to run across if this solves the problem and the "Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page" message is gone.

10. Create a New .htaccess File

If none of the above strategies have worked, you lot may need to reset your .htaccess file. To do and then, launch FTP and navigate to your public_html folder. Yous should run into your .htaccess file there, but if you lot don't, follow instructions for showing hidden files in FileZilla.

Adjacent, you'll demand to rename your existing .htaccess file, similar to how we renamed plugin and theme files in before solutions. Something recognizable such every bit .htaccess_original or .htaccess_backup is ideal.

Then, right-click on the file and select Download. Open the file in a text editor and replace its contents with the following:

          #Begin WordPress  RewriteEngine On  RewriteBase /  RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f  RewriteCOnd %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d  RewriteRule . /index.php [L]  #END WordPress        

Rename this file .htaccess and upload it to your server. If this file was the source of the "Pitiful, you are not allowed to access this page" error, then it should now exist fixed.

11. Reset Your WordPress Site

In the worst-example scenario, there may be an installation issue. To fix information technology, you'll take to reset your WordPress site. It's vital that yous have a recent backup you can restore subsequently this process is complete, as resetting your site will crusade you to lose all posts, pages, and user comments.

There are several methods for doing this, including via your MyKinsta dashboard, using a WordPress plugin, and by using WP-CLI (the WordPress command line). It'due south best to salvage this route as a concluding resort, so yous don't take chances losing your site'southward content.

Are you getting the awfully alarming *Sorry, Yous Are Not Allowed to Access This Page* bulletin? Attempt one of these methods to become your access dorsum! 🙅‍♂️🔑 Click to Tweet

Summary

Being locked out of your admin dashboard in WordPress is nerve-wracking, to say the least. Quickly finding the right solution to the "Sad, you are non allowed to admission this page" error is vital to both your site and your peace of mind.

In this post, nosotros covered a broad range of possible causes and fixes for this result. Let's recap them quickly:

  1. Restore a previous version of your site.
  2. Disable all of your plugins.
  3. Actuate a default theme.
  4. Brand certain you lot're an administrator.
  5. Check your error log to pinpoint the cause.
  6. Ensure that your database prefix is correct.
  7. Look for changes in your wp-config.php file.
  8. Upgrade to the latest version of php.
  9. Evaluate your file permissions.
  10. Create a new .htaccess file.
  11. Reset your WordPress site.

Happy fixing!


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