How can I resolve a 403 forbidden error on my website?

Shopify Discussion

Topic summary

A Shopify store owner encountered a 403 forbidden error when accessing their website (www.wheatsthematter.co.uk). The site displays a security error indicating a missing or expired TLS/SSL certificate, which is essential for encrypting customer data and enabling secure HTTPS connections.

Key points:

  • The certificate may take up to 48 hours to be issued after connecting a third-party domain to Shopify via A and CNAME records
  • During this period, an “SSL Unavailable” error may appear in Shopify admin under Settings > Domains
  • A security warning may also display in browsers when customers visit the store

Recommended actions:

  • Wait 48 hours for the certificate to be automatically issued
  • If the error persists beyond 48 hours, contact Shopify Support through the Help Center for further investigation
  • Update the certificate with a valid one to resolve the issue

The discussion remains open with no confirmation that the issue has been resolved.

Summarized with AI on November 19. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

Hi, I checked my site today today to update some of the pages and found that it was getting a ‘403 forbidden’ error – does anyone know how to fix this please? I haven’t changed a thing…

My URL is www.wheatsthematter.co.uk

Thanks in advance!

2

Hi there, @wheatsthematter .

Welcome to the Shopify Community.

When navigating to your website www.wheatsthematter.co.uk I’m seeing an error message which I will share below.

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This error message indicates that your domain is experiencing issues based on a missing TLS (Transport Layer Security) or SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate. The certificate encrypts communication between your store and external content and publishes the content securely using HTTPS instead of HTTP. It helps add a layer of security by encrypting customer data and builds your customers’ trust by displaying a padlock icon beside your online store’s URL.

You can acquire a TLS certificate when connecting your third-party domain to Shopify and changing your A record and CNAME record to point to Shopify. It may take up to 48 hours for the TLS certificate to be issued. During that time, an SSL Unavailable error might be displayed in your Shopify admin under Settings > Domains. A security error may also be displayed in your browser when customers visit your online store.

If the security error is present after 48 hours, I recommend contacting our support team via the Help Center to further investigate.

Let us know if any other questions come to mind.

3

Hi @wheatsthematter ,

This is Ricardo from InventoryHero app, as per I can see your TLS certificate must be expired, you will need to update it using a valid one so the error will not be shown anymore.

If you already did it then try to contact Shopify Help Center and they will help you out.

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