Why am I getting a 403 Error?

In most circumstances, ORCA requires all staff and students to be logged into their school profile on Chrome. If you are trying to access an assignment, join a meeting or complete a task on Canvas and are suddenly met with the 403 error when clicking on a link or tab, there is a solution. 

A 403 error is an indicator that the request to view a page was acknowledged, but the user does not have permission to do so as Chrome cannot verify the user. In order to fix this, you need to make sure you are signed into the ORCA domain using your assigned email address and password. If you are using a personal device to access ORCA programs on Canvas, you can review the support article on getting logged in using the specific device you are on: 

How Do I Log Into Canvas On A Personal Device? 

If you are getting this error on a school provided device such as a Chromebook or Macbook, it could be that you are logged out of the Chrome Browser. 

To sign into your Chrome Browser, you will need to open the Chrome app on your computer dock: 


Once Chrome opens, look in the upper right corner for the little circle icon. If you see the icon visible with the profile picture you previously chose, that indicates that you are logged in successfully and synced to the ORCA domain. 

If you do not see your profile picture listed, or you see an empty grey profile icon (that says "sign in" while hovering your mouse over the icon), that will indicate that you are not signed in. 


Please follow the steps below to access your account: 

1. On your computer, open Chrome.
2. At the top right, select Profile .

3. Select Turn on sync....

   • If you're not signed into your Google Account, you'll be prompted to sign in.

   4. Select Yes, I'm in.
(Source: Sign In and Sync To Chrome) 

Once logged in, you can refresh your browser or clear your cache and try accessing the page once again. The 403 error should be gone!