Fix: Access Denied, You Don’t Have Permission To Access On This Server On Windows 10 & 11

Being unable to access a specific website due to an error is a frustrating and disruptive experience.

Unfortunately, that’s the result of having to deal with the “Access denied, you don’t have permission to access this website on this server” Windows error.

Like many other Windows errors, however, you can fix this one by applying the correct methods, and that’s what we’ll help you with within the following guide.

Without further ado, here’s what you need to know.

The Problem Explained

The “Access denied, you don’t have permission to access this website on this server” Windows error is a relatively common problem reported mostly by users who rely on a VPN to protect their online privacy.

As you may have heard before, many websites are against the use of VPNs, therefore they disable some features or completely block the access of users trying to enter the site with a VPN service.

This is likely because VPNs can often be used to manipulate geo-based prices and other similar services or bypass specific restrictions to access content that is otherwise unavailable in the user’s country.

For example, some Steam games cost less depending on where you’re accessing the platform from, so it often happened for users to abuse the system by activating a VPN, until the exploit got fixed. The same applies to buying plane tickets, Twitch subscriptions (as with the latest geo-based pricing system), and other websites and use cases as well.

Needless to say, the issue is mainly caused by the use of a VPN and sometimes a few other things, such as a pileup of cookies and cached data in your browser or not using a public DNS. Here’s what you can do to fix it.

Fix 1: Disable Your VPN Client Or VPN Browser Extension

One of the simplest fixes for this specific issue is disabling your currently-active VPN client or browser extension. It may sound daunting, as privacy is really important nowadays, but the truth is you won’t be able to access the website until you switch off the VPN.

A few users agreed that using a popular VPN instead of browsing without one also resolved the issue, but this doesn’t appear to be effective for everyone and all sites. Therefore, if you can use a higher-quality, famous VPN that may be acknowledged by the site, it might be worth trying this method.

If not, continuing without VPN protection could be the only way.

However, sometimes even this isn’t enough.

If this approach doesn’t fix your problem immediately, try the methods listed in the other sections below.

Fix 2: Fully Clear Your Browser’s Cached Data And Cookies

We visit dozens, if not hundreds of websites every week, and all of them have different cookies and data that we cache within our browsers.

Those who experienced the “Access denied, you don’t have permission to access this website on this server” error on Windows and couldn’t manage to fix it by disabling their VPN alone, reported success with this method, which is clearing the browser’s cache and cookies.

Here’s how to do that on the Chrome browser:

1. Open Chrome on your PC and click on the three vertical dots in the top right corner.
2. Click Settings.
3. Choose Privacy and Security from the menu on the left.
4. Click Clear Browsing Data.
   
5. In the “Time range” field, choose All Time, then select all three options, Browsing History, Cookies and Other Site Data, and Cached Images and Files.
6. Finally, click the Clear Data button.
   

Now, restart your browser, and with your VPN client (or expansion) disabled, try visiting the website you previously couldn’t reach.

This should fix the problem immediately, as the method has proven useful to many users.

If you still cannot access the website(s), try the last method, which is changing your DNS to Google’s public DNS.

Fix 3: Flush Your DNS And Switch To Google’s Public DNS

Your DNS Resolver Cache is similar to a phonebook with various numbers connected to individuals you’ve encountered, or in this instance, IP addresses of websites you’ve explored. Every time you navigate to a website, your computer stores its “contact details” so that it doesn’t need to solicit it from the DNS server on your next visit.

The point of this process is to make everything much faster when opening websites, but here’s the catch.

One of the reasons you may be unable to access the website(s) is that the website(s) changed/updated the “contact information,” but your computer hasn’t, as it still uses the same DNS cache from before. It’s like calling old and unused phone numbers written in your outdated phonebook.

Luckily, there’s an easy fix for this. It includes a simple DNS Resolver Cache flush – a process that rids off all outdated contact information for various websites you’ve visited so that your computer can replace them with new, valid ones.

Follow the steps below to flush your DNS Resolver Cache:

1. Simultaneously press the Windows + S buttons on your keyboard to open the Windows Search Box. Within it, type in Command Prompt, right-click the first result, and choose Run as Administrator, as shown in the image below. That will launch an elevated Command Prompt panel.
   
2. Within the Command Prompt window that just opened, type in and execute (by pressing enter after typing each one of them) the following commands, one by one:
3. netsh int ip reset
4. netsh winsock reset
5. ipconfig /release
6. ipconfig /renew
7. ipconfig /flushdns

Now, close the Command Prompt window and open one of the websites you previously couldn’t load.

If this doesn’t fix the issue, we recommend switching to Google’s Public DNS settings.

Here’s how you can achieve that:

1. Click the search icon on Windows located in the bottom-left corner of your taskbar. You can also use the Windows + S buttons on your keyboard as a shortcut to open it.
   
2. In the search box, type in Settings and then press Enter.
3. Click Network & Internet as shown in the image below.
   
4. Under the Advanced Network Settings category, click on Change Adapter Options.
   
5. From the list of network connections, right-click the one you’re using, then choose Properties.
   
6. Select Internet Protocol Version 4 and then click Properties in the bottom-right corner, as shown in the image below.
   
7. In the IPV4 settings panel, select the “Use the following DNS server addresses” option and then type in the values as shown in the image below.
   

Note: If you cannot see the image, the values are as follows:

• Preferred DNS Server: 8*8*8*8
• Alternate DNS Server: 8*8*4*4

Once you type them in, press the OK button at the bottom to save the changes.

You should now be able to load the websites you previously couldn’t. For many users, this method fixed the problem permanently. Hopefully, it’ll work for you too.

Conclusion

That’s everything you should know about the “Access Denied, You Don’t Have Permission To Access On This Server” Windows error.

Hopefully, the methods in this guide will help you resolve the problem and continue browsing the internet without further issues.