Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page in WordPress: the causes

The short answer: you log in to the dashboard as an administrator and, on opening a page, WordPress says “Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page”. It is almost always one of five cases: the user does not have the role you think, the address no longer exists, a plugin blocks the page, the tables do not match wp-config.php after a change, or the site address is wrong.

The causes, in order

Cause How to recognise it
1. Address of a page that no longer exists A plugin or theme was deactivated or deleted, and the menu or bookmark points to its page.
2. The user has another role The user is an “Editor” or “Author” and the page is for administrators only.
3. A security or management plugin It hides or limits dashboard pages to certain users.
4. Different table prefix After importing a database or changing the prefix, WordPress cannot find the user roles and nobody has permissions, not even the administrator.
5. Site address badly set After a change of domain, the dashboard answers from one address and the site from another.

Step by step

1 Confirm the path: if the page belongs to a plugin, check it is active. If not, reactivate it, or remove the link from the menu.
2 Look at the user’s role under Users. If it is the administrator and shows as something else, that is the sign for step 4 below.
3 Deactivate the security and management plugins one by one to see whether one is the cause: Disabling plugins.
4 Compare the prefix: in wp-config.php, the line $table_prefix; in phpMyAdmin, the table names. They must match: Finding out which database this WordPress uses.
5 Confirm the two addresses under Settings > General, or in wp-config.php: Changing the WordPress site address.
Do not touch the role tables without a backup. If the prefix does not match, that is why nobody has permissions; the careful fix is to put the right prefix in wp-config.php, or rename the entries that use it, which needs a backup and attention. If in doubt, ask for help: What to back up before you update.
If you cannot even log in, see The six usual causes. To see the underlying error: Debug mode. After a change of domain: Moving to a new domain.

Still no permission on pages of your own dashboard? Open a ticket with the address and the role the user shows.

Open a support ticket

SEE ALSO

Adding a WordPress user, and which role to give them

Disabling plugins, including when you cannot get in

Changing the WordPress site address, and what breaks when it goes wrong

Cannot get into the WordPress dashboard: the six usual causes

Moving WordPress to a new domain without losing anything

Finding out which database this WordPress uses

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