Easy Tech TutsHow to Pause Cloudflare, Stop it from Blocking Websites Easily 2026
By Impran M N
If Cloudflare's security layer is mistakenly blocking legitimate visitors, pausing it gives you a quick way to restore access while you investigate. This guide covers pausing the whole zone, or unproxying just the affected records instead.
01Open your domain overview
In Cloudflare, click into the specific website domain that's affected.
02Find the Advanced Actions panel
Scroll down the overview screen to locate the pause control.
03Pause Cloudflare on Site
Click the pause link and confirm the security warning, noting the roughly five-minute delay before it fully applies.
04Or unproxy specific records instead
If you only want to stop blocking for certain paths, go to DNS Records and switch relevant entries to the gray-cloud 'DNS Only' mode instead of pausing everything.
05Verify traffic is unblocked
Refresh the overview page to confirm the paused status, then run a terminal ping test to confirm requests reach your origin server directly.
Frequently asked questions
Should I pause the whole domain or just unproxy one record?
Pausing affects your entire zone at once, while switching a single record to DNS Only lets you resolve a specific blocking issue without losing protection elsewhere.
Will pausing Cloudflare fix a false-positive security block right away?
Yes, since pausing stops the proxy from evaluating traffic, but expect roughly a five-minute window before the change is fully live.
What should I check on my origin server while Cloudflare is paused?
This is a good window to run diagnostics directly against your server to confirm it's healthy and responding correctly without Cloudflare in front of it.
Does pausing affect my DNS records permanently?
No, your DNS records and configuration stay intact; pausing only disables the proxy layer until you turn it back on.
Watch the full walkthrough
The same steps, demonstrated on screen from start to finish.
