How to Turn Your Website Off

Updated 3 months ago by Adam Thacker

There are times when you may need to take your website offline, whether temporarily or permanently. This could be necessary for scheduled maintenance, applying important security updates, or resolving critical issues that require the site to be inaccessible to users. Whatever the reason, this guide will walk you through various methods to turn your website off safely and efficiently.

1. Disable with .htaccess IP Restriction

If you need to take the site offline but still need to access it yourself, you can block access to your website by allowing only specific IPs to view it.

Steps:

1. Open your .htaccess file in the root directory (usually /public_html/).
2. Add the following code:

Order deny,allow 
Deny from all 
Allow from YOUR-IP-HERE

1. • Replace YOUR-IP-HERE with your own IP address. (Check your IP here!)
   • To allow multiple IPs, add multiple Allow from YOUR-IP-HERE lines.

Result: Only specified IPs will be able to access the website; others will be blocked.

2. Remove Website Files

A direct method to take down your website is to remove or move its files from the public directory. This will cause your website to return a 404 error (or a custom error page if set up) to visitors.

Steps:

1. Log in to cPanel or FTP:
   • Access your hosting account (typically through cPanel or FTP).
     • If using cPanel: Navigate to File Manager.
     • If using FTP: Use an FTP client (e.g., FileZilla) to connect to your server.
2. Navigate to the Website Directory:
   • In File Manager or the FTP client, go to /public_html/. This is where your website’s files are stored.
     • If your website is in a subfolder or add-on domain, navigate to the appropriate subdirectory.
3. Create a Backup (Optional):
   • Before removing any files, create a backup in case you need to restore them later.
     • Select all the files in the website folder.
     • Click Compress in cPanel or download them using FTP.
     • Store the backup safely on your local computer or a cloud storage service.
4. Delete or Move Files:
   • In File Manager or the FTP client, select all files and either:
     • Click Delete to remove the files.
     • Or Move them to a different, non-public folder (e.g., /backup/).

Result: Once files are deleted or moved, anyone visiting your website will receive a 404 error. If you have a custom 404 page, that page will be shown instead.

3. Change DNS Settings

Disabling your site at the DNS level will prevent your domain from resolving.

Steps:

1. Log in to your domain registrar/Nameserver Provider (e.g., Krystal, GoDaddy, Namecheap).
2. Locate the DNS settings for your domain.
3. Change the A record to an invalid IP address, such as 127.0.0.1.
   • Alternatively, delete the A record to fully prevent DNS resolution.

Result: Your domain will no longer point to your server, effectively taking the site offline for all users.

4. Temporarily Disable via Maintenance Mode

If you just need to temporarily take your site down, maintenance mode is a good option.

Steps:

1. Create a maintenance.html file with a message for your visitors.
2. Redirect all traffic to this file by adding the following code to .htaccess:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/maintenance.html$
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /maintenance.html [R=307,L]

Result: All visitors will be redirected to the maintenance page until you remove the rule.

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