How to disable your website in Plesk

Last Updated March 6, 2018//
Websavers Inc

This article will describe how to disable your website so it is not visible to anyone attempting to access it. You only should proceed with these steps in extreme cases, such as if your website is hacked and acting maliciously.

  • Begin by logging in to Plesk
  • Once in Plesk, choose “Websites & Domains” from the left, if you’re not already viewing the list of them
  • Find the domain you wish to disable in the list
  • Near the top of the domain’s configuration options, you’ll see a bunch of controls like Hosting Settings, Open, and Preview. Further to the right you’ll find two options: Suspend and Disable
    • Choose Suspend if you wish to only disable the website and keep email working. This is usually preferred, unless you’re disabling the domain because one of your email account passwords has been guessed.
    • Choose Disable if you wish to completely disable the domain in terms of both web and mail.

With both options, you’ll find SFTP/FTPS and the Plesk File Manager continue to work, so you can still work on the site from the back-end if you need to repair, replace or update files.

When you click on either option, you should find your website is no longer accessible to anyone attempting to access it.

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Jordan Schelew

Jordan has been working with computers, security, and network systems since the 90s and is a managing partner at Websavers Inc. As a founder of the company, he's been in the web tech space for over 15 years.
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4 Comments

  1. Beth on February 8, 2022 at 2:47 pm

    if i do this, i can use this domain to another website on another webhost?

    Reply
    • Jordan Schelew on February 11, 2022 at 1:47 pm

      Hi Beth,
      You don’t need to disable the hosting in Plesk to point the domain to a web host — that action is either done with the DNS records (in which case you need the domain enabled in Plesk) or via name servers at the registrar.

      Reply
  2. Alice Ledbetter on August 16, 2019 at 6:18 pm

    Hi I’m trying this, but i can still access the website, and so can other people I’ve had check on it. Is there a step I’m missing?

    Reply
    • Jordan Schelew on August 16, 2019 at 7:23 pm

      Hey Alice, the website is still available as normal even after disabling it in Plesk? Typically that means there’s something up with the web server and it’s not reloading its config properly. If you’re hosted with us, open a ticket and we’ll fix it up! If not, you’ll need to reach out to your web host for the same fix.

      Reply

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