A website hosted in Plesk is not accessible: 401 Authorization Required

Kuzma Ivanov

Updated January 13, 2026 19:02

Plesk for Windows Plesk for Linux kb: technical

Applicable to:

Plesk for Linux
Plesk for Windows

Symptoms

A website is asking for a username and a password. When clicking Cancel, one of the following errors appear in a web-browser:

PLESK_INFO: Authentication required

PLESK_INFO: 401 Authorization Required
When opening the phpinfo() page at Domains > example.com > PHP Settings > View the phpinfo() page, the following error message is shown in Plesk:

PLESK_ERROR: Error: Unable to retrieve information about the PHP configuration.

Cause

The website's Document Root ("/") is protected either at Domains > example.com > Password-Protected Directories or in the .htaccess file (Linux).

As a result, website visitors unable to see the website content without authorization.

Resolution

Apply one of the following solutions:

Solution I: Disable the password protection for the Document Root ("/") of the website

Log in to Plesk.
Go to Domains > example.com > Password-Protected Directories.
Select the document root directory and click Remove Protection:

On a Linux server, if the password protection directory for "/" does not exist, open the .htaccess file via Plesk File Manager and remove the following lines:

CONFIG_TEXT: AuthType Basic
AuthName "Secure Content"
AuthUserFile /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/.htpasswd
require valid-user

Solution II: Add a user in Plesk and allow him to access the website with the password

Add a user in Plesk and allow him to access the website with a password using the steps from this KB article.