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Why Your Under Construction Page Won't Turn Off (And How to Fix It)

27 threads Sep 9, 2025 Plugin → Under construction

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One of the most common issues reported by users of the 'Under Construction' plugin is the inability to deactivate it. You click the toggle, save the changes, or even delete the plugin entirely, yet the construction page stubbornly remains. This can be a frustrating experience, but the solution is almost always the same.

The Most Common Culprit: Caching

Based on numerous community reports, the overwhelming majority of "can't deactivate" problems are caused by caching. Caching is a technology used to speed up your website by saving static copies of your pages. When you deactivate the 'Under Construction' plugin, these saved copies (the cached construction page) continue to be served to visitors until the cache is cleared.

Caching can exist in several places:

  • WordPress Caching Plugins: Plugins like WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache, or other performance optimization tools.
  • Server-Level Caching: Your web hosting provider may have its own caching mechanisms (e.g., Varnish, Nginx FastCGI Cache, or proprietary systems like A2 Optimized Cache).
  • Browser Cache: Your own web browser might be showing you an old, saved version of the page.
  • Content Delivery Networks (CDNs): Services like Cloudflare also cache content on their global networks.

How to Fix the "Can't Deactivate" Issue

Follow these steps to resolve the problem. Start at the top and work your way down.

Step 1: Clear Your Caching Plugin

If you use a caching plugin, find its settings in your WordPress dashboard and use its "Clear Cache," "Purge Cache," or "Delete Cache" function. After clearing it, open your site in a new incognito or private browser window to check if the construction page is gone.

Step 2: Clear Your Browser Cache

Sometimes, the issue is local to your computer. Perform a "hard refresh" by pressing Ctrl + F5 (Windows/Linux) or Cmd + Shift + R (Mac). For a more thorough clearance, clear your browser's cached images and files in its settings menu.

Step 3: Contact Your Web Host

If the problem persists after Step 1, the cache is likely at the server level. Contact your hosting provider's support and explicitly ask them to clear all server-level cache (including any proxy cache) for your domain. Mention that you have deactivated a plugin but the old cached version of the site is still being served.

Step 4: Check CDN Cache

If you use a CDN like Cloudflare, log into its dashboard and purge the cache there as well.

Step 5: The Quick Test

You can confirm it's a caching issue with a simple test. Add a random parameter to your website's URL. For example, try accessing your site like this: https://yourwebsite.com/?test=12345. If the normal site loads with this parameter but the construction page loads without it, you have confirmed a caching issue.

Other Potential Causes and Solutions

  • Multisite Configuration: The 'Under Construction' plugin manages settings per individual site in a WordPress Multisite network. Ensure you are adjusting the settings for the correct site within the network admin panel.
  • Google's Cache: If your site appears correctly to you but still shows under construction in Google search results, this is Google's own cache. You must wait for Google to re-crawl your site or request a re-index through Google Search Console.
  • Plugin Conflicts: In rare cases, other plugins can cause unexpected behavior. As a test, try temporarily disabling all other plugins to see if the 'Under Construction' plugin then deactivates correctly. One user reported a specific conflict with the SiteOrigin Page Builder, which was resolved by also installing the Enable jQuery Migrate Helper plugin.

What to Do If All Else Fails

If you have deleted the plugin and cleared every cache imaginable but the page remains, the issue is almost certainly that a cache somewhere hasn't been fully purged. Continue working with your hosting provider, as they are the only ones with access to the server-level caching systems.

For advanced users, the 'Under Construction' team has confirmed that the plugin's active status is stored in the WordPress database. The list of active plugins is in the wp_options table under the active_plugins option key. This is a serialized string, and manually editing the database should only be attempted with extreme caution and a full backup.

By methodically working through these caching layers, you should be able to successfully deactivate the under construction mode and restore access to your live website.

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