AO3 Down? Archive of Our Own Outage: What to Do

Short answer: AO3 has been offline since October 29, 2026 after a security incident. The OTW says no works, bookmarks or kudos were deleted, and expects the site to be down for at least two weeks and possibly up to four.

TL;DR: quick fix

Check @AO3_Status on X and the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) news page for official updates; the outage is on AO3's side, so clearing your cache or reinstalling an app won't bring it back.
Change your password on any other site where you reused your AO3 password; the OTW says it can't rule out that the user database (usernames, emails, IP addresses and hashed passwords) was taken.
Don't panic about your fics: the OTW says no AO3 data was deleted, and works, bookmarks and kudos are safe.

Is AO3 (Archive of Our Own) down?

Before you change settings, check @AO3_Status on X and the OTW news page. If there's an outage, wait it out.

How to fix it: step by step

Check @AO3_Status on X and the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) news page for official updates; the outage is on AO3's side, so clearing your cache or reinstalling an app won't bring it back.
Change your password on any other site where you reused your AO3 password; the OTW says it can't rule out that the user database (usernames, emails, IP addresses and hashed passwords) was taken.
Don't panic about your fics: the OTW says no AO3 data was deleted, and works, bookmarks and kudos are safe.
Expect a gradual return: AO3 may come back in a degraded or read-only state first, and could go down again unexpectedly during recovery.
Be careful with "AO3 login" or "AO3 mirror" sites and messages asking for your password while the real site is down; only trust links from AO3's official accounts.
Ask before you re-share someone else's work elsewhere during the outage; many authors have said they did not agree to having their fics reposted on other sites.

FAQ

Is AO3 down for everyone?

Yes. The OTW took AO3 offline on October 29, 2026 after detecting a security incident; it is not a problem with your device or connection.

When will AO3 be back?

The OTW's October 30 update says a minimum of two weeks and possibly up to four, with a possible earlier read-only or limited return.

Were my AO3 works deleted?

No. The OTW says no AO3 data was deleted; works, bookmarks and kudos are safe.

Should I change my AO3 password?

The OTW recommends changing your password on any other site where you used the same password as on AO3. AO3 itself is offline, so follow its official instructions once it returns.

Last checked Nov 1, 2026 against the official help page: Organization for Transformative Works. Menus can differ by app version; follow the official page if a step doesn't match.