AO3 back online after two-week outage, some features disabled
Archive of Our Own is back after a security incident kept it offline for just over two weeks. Icons, imports and non-HTML downloads remain disabled.
Livefeed News DeskUpdated · 2 min read
Quick answer
Archive of Our Own (AO3) returned on 15 November after just over two weeks offline following a security incident. Icons, external work importing and non-HTML downloads are temporarily disabled, and AO3 says no data was deleted.
Key facts
- AO3 went dark on 29 October because of a security incident.
- The site returned on 15 November, earlier than the four-week mark first announced.
- Icons, external work importing and non-HTML downloads are disabled for now.
- AO3 hosts more than 18.8 million fan works.
- Draft deletion resumes on 29 November.
What happened to AO3
Archive of Our Own went offline on 29 October because of what it called a security incident. The AO3 team then said the site could stay offline for up to four weeks.
AO3 hosts more than 18.8 million fan works across hundreds of thousands of fandoms. It returned just over two weeks later, shortly after its seventeenth anniversary.
writers hating their readers this much will kill fandoms actually https://t.co/g3dae14ggl
— shadae (@softambrollins) November 2, 2026
people who don't contribute anything to the fandom (don't create artwork, fics, or support writers and artists) do not deserve to have an opinion on how the work is shared, and at this point don't even deserve the access to any of it. this will kill all fandoms.
— pyro 🔥🚒 (@applefuell) November 1, 2026
What is still switched off
The AO3 status site says some features were disabled so it could return before the four-week mark. User and collection icons are not displayed, importing external works is unavailable, and works can only be downloaded in HTML format. The team says these will be restored and that no icons have been deleted.
AO3 says no data has been deleted, and that works, bookmarks and kudos are safe.
Drafts and passwords
Draft deletion was paused while the site was down. It stays paused for two more weeks, and from 29 November drafts that are 30 days old will be deleted again. The deletion date shown on a draft will not reflect the new deadline, so AO3 advises users to save a copy or post their drafts.
The team says it has partnered with a security firm to review the incident, and will not share details of the fixes. It has no reason to believe the user database was compromised, but cannot rule it out, so it recommends changing passwords, including on any other site where the same password was used.
Fan reaction during the downtime
While AO3 was down, readers who had saved stories posted them to shared Google Drive libraries. WIRED reported that this angered some authors, who said their work was shared without permission, and raised fears about AI scraping.
One author told WIRED she found her work on mirror sites she had not posted to. She emailed them and the stories were removed. One of the mirror sites, AO3.Life, has since been taken down, and Squidge.org's president said it removes works posted without an author's permission.
Frequently asked questions
Is AO3 back online?
Yes, it came back on 15 November after just over two weeks offline, with some features disabled.
Why did AO3 go down?
The site went dark on 29 October because of a security incident. AO3 has not shared specifics.
Was any AO3 data deleted?
AO3 says no data has been deleted, including works, bookmarks and kudos.
Should AO3 users change their passwords?
AO3 recommends it, though it has no reason to believe the user database was compromised.
