To enable maintenance mode in Joomla, open System → Global Configuration, stay on the Site tab, set Site Offline to Yes, choose an offline message (and optional image), then Save. Guests see the offline page with a login form. The administrator stays available. This is core Joomla. You do not install a plugin. The same switch works on Joomla 4, 5.4, and 6. Joomla calls it Site Offline, not “maintenance mode.” Searchers use both names.
The 2019 version of this page stopped at “set Yes and Save.” That is still the click. In 2026 you also need Offline Access for staff who are not Super Users, a message that is not a language-file hack, and a way back in if Global Configuration will not save.
Site Offline hides the frontend from guests. It does not lock you out of administrator.
What you will learn
- Where Site Offline lives on Joomla 4, 5, and 6
- How to set a custom message and an offline image
- Who can still log in on the frontend while the site is offline
- How to grant Offline Access without making everyone a Super User
- How to restyle the offline page in a child template
- How to force the site online if
configuration.phpis stuck
Official walkthrough: Taking the website temporarily offline. User manual: Site Offline.
Site Offline versus a real outage
| Situation | Use |
|---|---|
| Planned update, template work, extension install | Site Offline in Global Configuration |
| White screen, 500, or you cannot open administrator | That is a break, not maintenance. Start with diagnostics, not this switch |
| You want HTTP auth in front of Joomla | Directory privacy on the host. The Joomla guide covers that as a separate “all users” lock |
| You only want a banner, site still public | A module or a custom message, not Site Offline |
Site Offline is a flag in configuration.php (public $offline). When it is 1, the frontend layout is the offline view. Administrator is unchanged.
Step 1: Open Global Configuration
Log in to administrator.
On Joomla 4, 5, and 6 go to System → Global Configuration. The Home Dashboard also has a Global Configuration icon. Both open the same form.
Stay on the Site tab. That is the first tab. If you landed on Server or Permissions, click Site.
Step 2: Set Site Offline to Yes
Find Site Offline. Set it to Yes.
Joomla then shows the offline-related fields: Offline Message, Custom Message, Offline Image.
Do not Save yet if you still need to write the visitor-facing text. An empty custom message with “Use Custom Message” selected looks broken.
Save last. Test the frontend in a private window after Save.
Step 3: Choose the message and image
Offline Message has three useful values:
| Setting | What visitors see |
|---|---|
| Site language default | The string from the site language file. English is “This site is down for maintenance. Please check back again soon.” Other languages use their own translation |
| Use custom message | The text in Custom Message |
| Hide | No message block. The login form can still appear |
Prefer Use custom message for a dated note: what you are doing, when you expect to return, a status URL if you have one. Do not promise a clock you cannot keep.
Offline Image is optional. The help screens still advise keeping it under 400px wide. Upload through Media, then select it here. A huge PNG on a maintenance page is a bad first impression.
If you only need to change the default English sentence and you are not using a custom message, use a language override for that string. Do not edit core .ini files.
Step 4: Save and test as a guest
Click Save or Save & Close.
Open the public site in a private window, or another browser, not the session that is already logged in as Super User. Super Users with frontend access will not see what guests see.
You should get the offline page and a login form. Administrator at /administrator/ must still load.
If Global Configuration refuses to save, configuration.php is not writable. Fix permissions or the FTP layer, then try again. Joomla documents this under Cannot save Global Configuration changes.
Step 5: Decide who may enter while it is offline
The user manual is explicit: Site Offline does not apply to administrator. People who can log in to the backend can still log in to the frontend. Frontend login is denied by default to Registered, Author, Editor, and Publisher.
Staff who are not Super Users need Offline Access.
- System → Global Configuration → Permissions
- Select the group (for example Manager, or a custom “Editors on call” group)
- Set Offline Access to Allowed
- Save
Do not grant Super User to “let them see the site during maintenance.” That is the wrong permission.
Step 6: Customize the offline page without editing core
The default offline layout is a PHP view. To change markup, copy the layout into a child template html/ override. Do not edit Cassiopeia or components/ in place. Same rule as every other file Joomla will overwrite: customize Joomla without editing core.
CSS for the offline page belongs in that child’s user.css, not in a compiled template sheet.
If the job is a full branded holding page and you do not want to own the override, Joomla design services.
Step 7: Turn maintenance mode off
When the work is done:
- System → Global Configuration → Site
- Site Offline → No
- Save
Test as a guest again. If you still see offline, you are looking at cache (Joomla page cache, Cloudflare, or the browser). Purge those layers.
If you are locked out of the switch
If administrator is up but you cannot save Site Offline, or you need the site public from the server:
- Backup
configuration.php. - Open it in a file manager or SFTP.
- Find
public $offline. - Set it to
'0'for online,'1'for offline. - Save. Confirm the file is not left world-writable.
Only do this when the admin form cannot save. A typo in configuration.php takes the whole site down.
Key takeaways
- Joomla maintenance mode is Site Offline in Global Configuration on the Site tab.
- No extra extension is required on Joomla 4, 5, or 6.
- Save, then test in a private window. A Super User session is a bad test.
- Custom Message plus an optional image under 400px is the visitor-facing layer.
- Grant Offline Access to staff groups. Do not promote them to Super User for this.
- Override the offline layout in a child template. Leave core files stock.
- If the form will not save,
$offlineinconfiguration.phpis the emergency switch.
Need this done during an upgrade window? Joomla support and maintenance.
Frequently asked questions
How do I enable maintenance mode in Joomla 5 or 6?
Open System → Global Configuration → Site tab, set Site Offline to Yes, set the message, then Save. The administrator stays online.
Is Site Offline the same as maintenance mode?
Yes, for Joomla. The product name is Site Offline. Searchers say maintenance mode. It is one switch.
Can visitors still log in when the site is offline?
Only groups with Offline Access (and users who can already use the backend). Registered, Author, Editor, and Publisher cannot, unless you change Permissions.
Does Site Offline hide the Joomla administrator?
No. /administrator/ stays available. Use host-level directory protection if you need to hide that too.
Why do I still see the live site after setting Site Offline to Yes?
You are logged in with access, or cache is serving the old HTML. Use a private window and clear Joomla plus CDN cache.
Can I change the offline page HTML?
Yes. Put an override in a child template. Do not edit core PHP. See Joomla child template.
What if Global Configuration will not save?
Make configuration.php writable long enough to save, or set public $offline by hand, then lock permissions down again.