How to Fix a WordPress Site with a 401 Error

If your WordPress site is showing a 401 error, try the following steps, checking after each step to see if the issue is resolved:

1. Clear your web browser’s cache.

2. Clear your web browser’s cookies for your WordPress site’s domain.

3. Restart your computer or device.

4. Reset your internet connection:

   • Turn off your modem.

   • Wait 30 seconds.

   • Turn on your modem.

5. Temporarily disable all WordPress plugins:

   • In your FTP app or cPanel’s File Manager, navigate into your WordPress site’s folder.

     For example, if your WordPress site runs on the domain example.com, the its folder would normally be the example.com folder located inside your public_html folder.

   • Navigate into the wp-content folder.

   • Rename the plugins folder inside the wp-content folder to plugins.backup.

   • If the 401 error persists, skip to the next step, Temporarily disable your WordPress theme.

     If this resolves the 401 error on your WordPress site, sign in to your WordPress admin dashboard and reinstall the plugins one at a time, checking each time to see if the 401 error reappears.

     This way, you can discover the offending plugin and remove it from the plugins folder.

6. Temporarily disable your WordPress theme:

   • In your FTP app or cPanel’s File Manager, navigate into your WordPress site’s folder.

     For example, if your WordPress site runs on the domain example.com, the its folder would normally be the example.com folder located inside your public_html folder.

   • Navigate into the wp-content > themes folder.

   • Rename the currently active theme folder from abc (assuming that’s the name of your theme) to abc.backup.

   • Rename one of the default theme folders to abc (or whatever the name of your actual theme was).

   • If the 401 error no longer shows up when you visit the website, that means it’s a theme-related issue.

   • If it’s a theme-related issue, try obtaining the latest version of the theme directly from the theme developers. If your theme’s developers aren’t providing you with the necessary support, it may be time to use a different theme.