AO3 down: when it’s coming back and how to stay safe

ByEliani Posted on Updated on
AO3 outage timeline: offline October 29, security incident confirmed October 30, fake mirror warning November 1, change reused passwords

AO3 is down because of a security incident, and the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) expects Archive of Our Own to stay offline for at least two weeks and possibly up to four. The site went dark at about 3:13 AM ET on October 29, 2026. Counting from that date, a return somewhere between roughly November 12 and November 26 fits the estimate, though the OTW has not given a date.

Your works, bookmarks and kudos were not deleted, according to the OTW. What is unclear is whether account data was taken. This guide covers the official timeline, what that means for your password, which “AO3 access” offers are scams, and how to keep reading in the meantime.

Before you start

  • Status as of November 2, 2026: AO3 offline, listed as “Major Outage” on otwstatus.org
  • Estimated downtime: minimum two weeks, possibly four (OTW, October 30)
  • Your fanworks: not deleted, per the OTW
  • Do now: change any password you reused from AO3 on other sites

Why AO3 is down

The outage started as maintenance. The OTW status page logged “AO3 is down for maintenance” at 07:13 UTC on October 29 and later warned it would take at least 12 hours. That evening the estimate became “around 2 weeks but it could be up to 4 weeks.”

In its October 30 update, the OTW explained why: “Earlier today, we detected evidence of a security incident on AO3.” It said it was still in the early stages of working out the scope. It has not said how attackers got in or what they touched.

Some fans linked the outage to the PHP security bugs that took the separate Fanlore wiki offline on October 21. The OTW told CNET the AO3 outage is not related to that PHP issue, because AO3 runs on Ruby on Rails, as 404 Media reported.

When will AO3 be back up?

The OTW’s wording is: “Our current expectation is that AO3 will be down for a minimum of two weeks; however, it could take up to four weeks.” It also warned that the site may come back in a reduced or read-only state first and could go offline again during recovery.

Date (2026)What happened
October 29, 3:13 AM ETAO3 goes offline for what is announced as maintenance
October 29, afternoonOTW estimates around two weeks, up to four
October 30OTW confirms evidence of a security incident
November 1OTW posts safety advice and warns about fake mirrors and scams
About November 12–26Two-to-four-week window counted from October 29 (our estimate, not an OTW date)

For real progress, check otwstatus.org and the OTW’s official news site rather than third-party “is AO3 down” trackers. The OTW has said it may not be able to answer individual questions while the team works.

Is my AO3 account data safe?

Nobody can say yet. The OTW wrote: “While we currently don’t believe that the user database was stolen, we are also unable to rule it out.” The account database can include your username, email address, IP address and a hashed version of your password. AO3 does not collect real names, and the OTW says donor information is kept in a separate system that was not exposed.

A hashed password is not stored in plain text, but weak or common passwords can still be cracked from a hash. That is why the OTW’s main request is about other sites, not AO3 itself.

What to do about your password

  1. List every site where you used the same password as on AO3. Email accounts come first, then social media, then shopping.
  2. Change the password on each of those sites to a new, unique one. A password manager makes this practical.
  3. Turn on two-step verification wherever it is offered. Our guide to two-step verification for Google and Microsoft accounts walks through the two most common ones.
  4. Plan to change your AO3 password itself once the site is back and the OTW confirms it is safe to log in.
  5. Check whether your email address shows up in known data breaches so you know what else may already be exposed.

AO3 mirrors, apps and “access” offers are scams

The OTW’s November 1 safety post is blunt: “Any website or source claiming that it can help you access AO3 is lying.” It adds that there are no mirrors of AO3’s servers or database until the site is back.

  • No official app exists. Any “AO3 app” in an app store or shared as a download is not from the OTW.
  • No private access. Be wary of anyone offering early or private access in exchange for your details.
  • No private donation requests. OTW volunteers will not message you asking for money. Donations go only through the OTW’s own donation page.
  • No public tester recruitment. Requests for personal information to become a “tester” are scams.

The OTW also said reading fanworks on other archives or social media is safer than downloading files, private drives or .zip archives that strangers share. A .zip that claims to contain “the whole archive” is a classic way to deliver malware.

How to keep reading fanfic while AO3 is offline

Works you downloaded before October 29 as EPUB, PDF, MOBI or HTML are copies on your own device, so they open without AO3. The OTW has not commented on downloads, but nothing about the outage reaches files already saved locally.

Readers and writers have also moved to other places for now, according to 404 Media’s coverage: Tumblr posts, Sufficient Velocity and SpaceBattles, FanFiction.net and Wattpad. Some authors are sharing works directly on social media, which the OTW encouraged. The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine holds snapshots of some AO3 pages, though coverage is patchy and recent chapters are often missing.

If you are a writer, keep local copies of your drafts in the meantime. Losing access for a month is a reminder to back up your files somewhere you control.

What we could not verify

  • The cause of the incident and whether the user database was copied. The OTW has not disclosed either.
  • A firm return date. The two-to-four-week range is the OTW’s estimate; the calendar dates above are our arithmetic.
  • Whether the October 23–24 email and search delays logged on the status page were related. The OTW has not linked them.

We read the OTW status page, the OTW’s October 30 update and its November 1 safety post, plus coverage from TechCrunch, 404 Media and Dexerto, on November 2, 2026. No newer official update had been posted at that time.

FAQ

Did AO3 lose my fics and bookmarks?

No, according to the OTW: “All your works, bookmarks, kudos, etc., are safe.” The OTW says no AO3 data has been deleted.

Should I delete my AO3 account?

You can’t while the site is offline, and deleting it later would not undo any exposure that already happened. Changing reused passwords elsewhere protects you more right now.

Is Fanlore down for the same reason?

Fanlore, a separate OTW wiki, went offline on October 21 over unpatched PHP vulnerabilities. The OTW has said the AO3 outage is not related to that PHP issue.

Where do official AO3 updates appear?

On otwstatus.org, the OTW news site at transformativeworks.org, and the OTW’s verified social accounts, including AO3_Status. Treat updates that only appear in screenshots or reposts with caution.

Next step

Spend ten minutes today changing any password you reused from AO3, starting with your email account. Then bookmark otwstatus.org so you hear about the relaunch from the source.

Related guides

Sources

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Eliani runs The Solo Toolbox and writes and checks its guides to the software that freelancers and one-person businesses rely on: Windows, Apple and Android devices, AI assistants, email, payments and backups. Every guide is checked against the software maker's own documentation and current version before it's published, links to its sources, and says plainly whether it's based on hands-on use or on research. Eliani uses AI tools for research and drafting, and reviews every article's facts and instructions before it goes live. You can reach Eliani through the contact page, and read how articles are checked and corrected in our editorial standards.

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