Error 403 on Bumble means access denied. Bumble's help page says you may be trying to reach something you do not have permission for. Its fix has two steps: make sure you are logged into the correct account, and if the error keeps coming back, log out and log in again.

Check which account you are in

The first thing Bumble tells you to check is whether you are logged into the account you think you are.

That sounds obvious, but it is an easy thing to get wrong. If you have ever had more than one Bumble account, or you use Bumble on a phone or tablet someone else has used, check which account the app actually has open before you try anything else.

Look at the account you are in. If it is not yours, or not the one with your conversations in it, log out and sign in the way you normally do. You can see and manage your login methods in Settings, under Security and privacy, then Ways you can log in.

Log out and back in

If you are in the right account and the 403 keeps appearing, Bumble's next step is a fresh login.

Tap the profile icon, tap the gear icon, scroll to the bottom and tap Log out. Close the app completely, open it again and log back in.

Make sure you can get back in before you log out. Your phone number has to still be yours, since Bumble sends the code to it, or you need one of the other login methods set up. When you log out, Bumble also offers you the chance to add new login methods to the account, which is worth doing if you only have one.

What the other codes mean

Error 403 is one of several codes Bumble explains on the same page, and it helps to know which one you are looking at.

  • Error 404, not found. Something you tried to open is not available, which may be a broken link or a removed profile. Refresh the app or try a different feature.
  • Error 500, server error. Usually a temporary problem on Bumble's end. Wait a few minutes and try again, then restart the app or check for an update if it carries on.
  • Error 503, service unavailable. Bumble's servers are under heavy load or being maintained. Try again in a little while.
  • Internal error 0030. Bumble has noticed unusual behavior while you were using the app. It recommends a short break and trying again in 24 to 48 hours.
  • "Something went wrong" and similar messages. General errors from a network problem or a bug. Wait a moment and restart the app.

Of those, 403 is the one where Bumble's advice is about your login. For the rest, its advice is about the connection, its servers, or the app itself.

If the error will not go away

If you have checked the account and logged in again and 403 is still there, go through Bumble's general troubleshooting steps. Check your connection, update the app, force close it and open it again, and restart your phone.

Then contact Bumble through the Help Hub. Open your Profile, tap the question mark icon in the top right, scroll down and tap Start Chat. Bumble asks for the exact error code or message, a screenshot if you can take one, your phone model and operating system, and a short description of what you were doing when the error appeared.

Do not start a second account

When an app locks you out, the tempting shortcut is to make a fresh account and carry on. Resist it.

Bumble's help page on personal details advises against making a second account even to fix your date of birth. Its reason applies to any second account. When someone sees the same person turn up more than once, they are less likely to swipe on them again, and may assume something has gone wrong with the app. A second account also leaves your first one, and every conversation in it, sitting there unanswered.

Bumble treats a 403 as a login problem. Fix the login and you are back in the account you already had.

While you sort it out

A day stuck on an error screen still counts against your matches. Bumble says a match expires if neither of you sends a message within 72 hours of matching.

So once you are back in, go to your chats before anything else. Answer any woman who wrote to you while you were locked out, and send an opening message to each new match. Keep it specific to her. A line about something she actually wrote tells her you read it, which gives her a real reason to answer a man she matched with two days ago.