How to Fix 401 Error | HTTP Error 401 [Solved]

Users visit thousands of websites on a daily basis. Subsequently, they sign up and subscribe to some of these sites. However, users can often face errors while visiting such websites. The 401 Error is one of the common errors faced by these users. 

What is 401 Error Code?

Usually, the 401 Error is considered to be a Wi-Fi problem which is not true. This error is an HTTPS Response Status Code. It states that the user trying to access the website is unauthorized. 

Therefore, the HTTP Error 401 simply means that the user requires authorization to access the site or the resources on the website. Or, the user may have simply entered the wrong login credentials to access the webpage. 

In Windows 10, you can face this error when trying to launch an app. Most of the time, it can be easily resolved by signing in to the site. 

What are the Causes of 401 Error? 

Entering wrong login credentials is the most common cause of 401 Error. Furthermore, there are other reasons that could cause this error. You can find them in the list below. 

• The URL of the site may be incorrect 
• DNS Error in the computer system 
• Blocked by the security software 
• Firewall issues 
• WordPress plugins or Themes issue  

How to Fix HTTP 401 Error Code? 

The HTTP 401 Error is usually a client-side error. This means that it is a problem for the clients requesting and accessing the website. In other cases, it could be a server-side error such as in the case of WordPress. 

Before you learn how to fix error 401, try the following quick solutions. 

• Refresh the Webpage 
• Verify that you’re entering the correct login credentials 
• Try to access the site using a different browser 
• Check the URL 

Solution 1 – Sign up for an Account or Reset your Password 

Generally, the 401 Error is caused due to wrong login credentials. Therefore, you need to reset the password for the site you’re trying to access. 

Similarly, you may need to sign up for a new account if you don’t have an account on that site. You can easily do both of these by visiting the main page of the website. 

Solution 2 – Clear App Caches

Windows 10 has introduced an App store to easily access your favorite websites. In this case, you have to clear the app caches if you’re facing 401 Error. 

Follow these steps to do so – 

1. Click on the magnifying glass icon at the bottom left of the desktop. Type ‘apps’ in the search field. 
2. Click on Apps & Features. Find and select the apps which are having this error. 
3. Select its Advanced Options and then click on Reset. 
4. In rare cases, you may not find such an option for certain apps. Therefore, you need to navigate to its installation folder. Here, you have to delete the AppData folder. 

Solution 3 – Reinstall App 

You can reinstall the said app if resetting it doesn’t work. Follow the steps as given below. 

1. Press the Windows logo button and the letter ‘R’ at the same time. Type ‘appwiz.cpl’ and press Enter. 
2. Find the app and uninstall it from your system. 
3. Restart your computer. Afterward, go to the App Store and install the app again. 
4. Try to launch it now. 

Solution 4 – Fix DNS Errors 

Sometimes, you can face 401 Error if your system has critical DNS misconfigurations. Thus, you need to fix this to access the sites properly. You can do this in a few simple steps given below. 

1. Click on the Start button. Next, type and search ‘cmd’. 
2. Right-click and select ‘ Run as Administrator’. 
3. Type ‘ipconfig /flushdns’ 
4. Press Enter. 
5. Try to access the website that you were trying to access before. 

Solution 5 – Clear Browser Caches & Cookies  

If you’re still facing 401 Error, then it’s time to clear your browser caches and cookies. This is similar to clearing an App’s cache. It will perform a soft reset for the browsers. 

Here, we have discussed the steps to clear them for Google Chrome and Firefox. You can easily find the steps for other browsers on the internet. Generally, these steps follow a similar pattern. 

Google chrome 

1. Click on the three dots in the top left of the window. Next, click on Settings. 
2. Type ‘cache’ in the search field. Here, you will see a result for ‘Clear Browsing Data’. Click on it. 
3. Choose ‘Cached Image and Files’ and ‘Cookies and other Site Data’. 
4. Again, click on ‘Clear Browsing Data’. 

Mozilla Firefox

1. Click on the three bars in the upper right corner of the window. Next, click on Options. 
2. Head over to Privacy and Security on the left side. 
3. Here, go to Cookies and Site Data and click on Clear Data. 
4. Choose both Cache and Cookies options and then click on Clear.  

Solution 6 – Reset Browser Cookies 

Resetting your browser is considered a last resort to resolve the 401 Error Code. Here, you will be logged out of all the websites. Furthermore, it will delete and remove extensions, themes, history, cookies, and caches. 

You can do this by following the instructions below. 

Google Chrome 

1. Open the menu by clicking on the three dots. Next, click on Settings. 
2. Scroll down until you see Advanced Settings. Simply click on it. 
3. Scroll further down and you’ll see an option called Reset. Select this option. 
4. You’ll see a prompt asking for confirmation. Just click on Reset once again. 

Mozilla Firefox 

1. Open Firefox’s menu by clicking on the three bars. Select Help from the given list of options. 
2. Next, click on Troubleshooting Information and you’ll find an option called ‘Refresh Firefox’. Click on this option.
3. Here, A new window will appear and it will ask for confirmation. Click on ‘Refresh Firefox’ once again and you’re good to go. 

Conclusion 

As a result of the above solutions, you may be able to resolve 401 error code by now. It could be a server-side problem if you’re still facing this issue. Therefore, you can try to wait for the admins to fix it or contact them yourselves.