Ao3 Downtime
In short
Archive of Our Own is currently offline following a security incident detected on 29 October 2026. The site may remain unavailable for up to a month while operators work to restore services safely.
In plain words
A hack or security breach forced the website to shut down for maintenance. While user stories are safe, password data might have been exposed, so users should prepare for a site-wide password reset once it returns.
A simple example
A reader tries to log in to read a story but finds the website will not load because the servers are being secured.
Why it matters
AO3 is a vital repository for millions of fan-written stories. This long outage disrupts the community and highlights the risks of cyberattacks on non-profit digital archives.
Easy to mix up
Do not confuse this security outage with routine scheduled maintenance, which usually only lasts a few hours.