How to Fix Cloudflare Error 1015 "You Are Being Rate Limited"

You’re in the middle of something important—maybe researching, shopping, or working—and boom, you're hit with a frustrating message: "Error 1015: You are being rate limited." No warning, just a roadblock.

Sound familiar?

It happened to me recently while digging through sources for a client. After encountering the error on several sites, I rolled up my sleeves and took a closer look. It turns out, this message pops up when Cloudflare thinks you're sending too many requests too quickly—and temporarily bans your IP.

The silver lining? It's usually fixable, and often temporary. Whether you’re just trying to access a site or you run one and want to make sure users don’t hit this wall, I’ll walk you through practical, easy-to-follow steps to solve—and prevent—Cloudflare Error 1015.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• What triggers this rate-limiting error
• Quick fixes for visitors
• Long-term prevention tips for website owners
• Smart strategies to avoid it altogether

Why You Can Trust This Guide

The problem: Cloudflare Error 1015 is a common headache. It blocks access to websites—sometimes unfairly—and can even impact business if left unchecked.

The solution: This guide brings together field-tested tips that work whether you're a casual browser or managing your own site.

Why it matters: I’ve worked with dozens of site owners to fine-tune their Cloudflare setups, and I’ve seen firsthand what causes these errors—and how to fix them. The solutions you’ll find here come from real experience, not guesswork.

Step 1: Understand What's Happening

Before you dive into fixes, let’s decode the error itself.

Cloudflare Error 1015—aka "You are being rate limited"—shows up when a site thinks you’re making too many requests in too short a time. This rate-limiting feature is there to protect sites from being overwhelmed by:

• DDoS attacks that flood servers with fake traffic
• Web scrapers pulling tons of data
• Brute-force attacks hammering login pages

You might’ve triggered it by:

• Refreshing a page repeatedly
• Using an automated tool or script
• Sharing an IP with someone who’s browsing aggressively
• Connecting through a flagged VPN or proxy

Heads up: Once the error appears, your IP is temporarily blocked. The key is figuring out why so you can apply the right fix.

Step 2: Wait It Out (The Simplest Solution)

It may not be what you want to hear, but often the smartest move is to just pause.

Most rate limits are temporary. They usually reset within a few minutes, though longer blocks can happen if you keep triggering the system.

General wait times:

• Minor cases: 5–15 minutes
• Repeat offenders: 30–60 minutes
• Severe abuse: Could be several hours—or rarely, permanent

What not to do while waiting:

• Don’t keep refreshing the page
• Don’t switch browsers hoping to sneak in
• Don’t hammer the site from different devices

Pro tip: Every failed attempt can reset the timer. Better to wait than risk extending the block.

Step 3: Clear Your Browser Cache and Cookies

If you're stuck at a CAPTCHA or the error persists longer than expected, clearing your browser data might help.

How to clear cache and cookies:

Google Chrome

1. Click the three-dot menu → "Settings"
2. Go to "Privacy and security" → "Clear browsing data"
3. Select "All time" → Check "Cookies" and "Cached files"
4. Click "Clear data"

Firefox

1. Click the menu icon → "Settings"
2. Navigate to "Privacy & Security"
3. Scroll to "Cookies and Site Data"
4. Click "Clear Data" → Check both boxes → "Clear"

Safari

1. Click "Safari" → "Preferences"
2. Go to "Privacy" → "Manage Website Data"
3. Click "Remove All" → Confirm

Bonus tip: Restart your browser after clearing everything, then try accessing the site again.

Step 4: Disable VPN or Proxy Services

Using a VPN or proxy? That might be what’s triggering the block.

Cloudflare uses threat intelligence to flag certain IPs—especially from known VPN exit nodes or data centers.

Try this:

1. Disconnect from your VPN
2. Wait about 30 seconds
3. Reconnect to the site with your normal IP

If you need to stay on a VPN:

• Use a provider that offers residential IPs
• Pick a server close to your physical location
• Avoid free or shady VPN services—they’re often blacklisted
• Experiment with different server locations

Heads-up: Some school and work networks have proxies built in. If you're unsure, check with your IT department.

Step 5: Slow Down Your Browsing Activity

Even if you’re not doing anything shady, your behavior might look automated to Cloudflare’s filters.

Smart browsing tips:

• Pause for a couple seconds between actions
• Avoid rapid-fire clicking or refreshing
• Double-check forms before submitting (to avoid retries)
• Don’t open a bunch of tabs to the same site at once

Developers and power users, take note:

• Add delays (at least 1 second) between API calls
• Use exponential backoff for retries
• Follow robots.txt and rate-limit headers
• Use the site’s official API if available

Tip: Doing research or scraping data? Spread your activity out—don’t hit the site all at once.

Step 6: Contact the Website Owner

Still locked out? It might be time to reach out for help.

If you're a real user mistakenly blocked, the site owner might whitelist your IP.

Info to include when you reach out:

• Your IP address (use whatismyipaddress.com)
• The time and timezone when the error happened
• A description of what you were doing
• A screenshot of the error page
• Your location (city, country)

Where to find support:

• Check the site’s "Contact" or "Help" section
• Peek at the footer for contact links
• Look up the company on social media
• Use a WHOIS lookup if all else fails

Message template:

Subject: Error 1015 - Request for IP Whitelist

Hello [Website Name] Support,

I'm experiencing Error 1015 "You are being rate limited" when trying to access your website. I believe I'm being incorrectly flagged as a bot.

Details:
- IP Address: [Your IP]
- Time of error: [Date and time with timezone]
- Activity: [What you were doing]
- Location: [City, Country]

I'm a legitimate user and would appreciate if you could whitelist my IP address or investigate this issue.

Thank you,
[Your name]

Step 7: Fix Rate Limiting as a Website Owner

If you run the site and users are hitting this error unfairly, here’s how to fix it.

Short-term solutions:

Twek your rate limiting tools:

Your settings might be too aggressive. Try loosening them a bit:

1. Log into Cloudflare
2. Go to Security → WAF → Rate limiting
3. Review rules and thresholds
4. Extend the time window (aim for 10 seconds or more)
5. Use requests per minute instead of per second

Adjust threshold based on traffic types:

A single page load might generate 50+ requests, especially on cache misses.

• Minimum setting: 50 requests/10 seconds
• Media-heavy sites: 100+ requests/10 seconds
• Apps or tools: May need even higher limits

Whitelist known – good IPs:

In Cloudflare:

1. Go to Security → WAF → Tools
2. Add trusted sources:
   • Your office IPs
   • Key clients or vendors
   • Payment systems and APIs
   • Search engine crawlers (like Googlebot)

Longer-term improvements:

Optimize your site:

• Turn on browser caching
• Compress and shrink image files
• Merge CSS and JS files
• Use a CDN to spread out the load

Create smarter rules:

Fine-tune access limits using:

• URLs: Give different paths different limits
• User agents: Separate limits for bots, desktop, and mobile
• Countries: Adjust by region if needed
• Login status: Allow higher usage for logged-in users

One last warning: Sometimes, rate limit rules remain active even if you think you’ve disabled them. Always double-check that your changes were applied.

Final Thoughts

Cloudflare Error 1015 is there for good reason—it helps protect websites. But it can still be a pain when it hits the wrong people.

The good news? In most cases, it’s easily fixed with a little patience and the right steps.

Quick recap:

• Visitors: Wait, clear cache, slow down, or contact support
• Site owners: Fine-tune your rules, whitelist key IPs, and monitor usage patterns

Finding the balance between tight security and smooth access is key. You want to protect your site—but not at the cost of locking out real users.