401

401 Unauthorized Error

Category: HTTP Errors | Platforms: apache nginx wordpress

What This Error Means

The 401 Unauthorized error indicates that the request has not been applied because it lacks valid authentication credentials for the target resource. It is similar to 403 Forbidden, but specifically for authentication issues.

Common Causes

  • Invalid username or password.
  • Restricted access to a specific URL.
  • Security plugin blocking access.
  • Corrupted .htaccess password protection.

How to Fix It (For Users)

  1. 1 Double-check your login credentials.
  2. 2 Reset your password if necessary.
  3. 3 Clear browser cache.

For Site Owners / Developers

  1. Verify password protection settings on directories.
  2. Check security plugins for aggressive blocking rules.
  3. Ensure the authentication mechanism is working correctly.

When It Is NOT Your Fault

If your account has been suspended or disabled by the administrator.

Check if this outage affects everyone globally

This error often indicates a wider problem. Use our tool to verify if the site is down for everyone.

Check Website Status →

Recommended Tool to Prevent This Error

Prevent server timeouts and resource exhaustion with scalable cloud infrastructure.

High-Performance Cloud Hosting