---
title: "423 Locked — what it means and how to fix it"
description: "The resource is locked by someone else and cannot be changed right now. What causes an HTTP 423, what to try as a visitor, and what to check if it is your own site."
url: https://atoneplace.net/error/423/
site: "At One Place"
---

# HTTP 423 — Locked

**HTTP 423: Locked**

The resource is locked by someone else and cannot be changed right now.

## What 423 actually means

A WebDAV code for explicit locking. Someone — possibly you, from another device — holds a lock on the file or collection, and the server will not accept a write until it is released or you present the matching lock token. It also appears outside WebDAV in systems that borrowed the semantics, notably some hosting control panels that lock an account during maintenance.

## Common causes

- A WebDAV LOCK held by another user or another session
- A document open for editing in an office suite that locks server-side
- A stale lock left behind by a client that crashed or lost its connection
- A hosting provider locking an account during maintenance or a security review

## If you're just trying to view the page

1. Close the file wherever else it is open, including on other devices
2. Wait for the lock to expire — most have a timeout measured in minutes
3. Ask whoever holds the lock to close the document, or ask an administrator to break it

## If it's your site

1. Include the lock owner and expiry in the response so clients can show something useful
2. Set finite lock timeouts; infinite locks plus a crashed client means manual cleanup forever
3. Support the `Lock-Token` header on write requests, and expose a way for administrators to break a stale lock

## Reference

- **Status code:** 423
- **Reason phrase:** Locked
- **Category:** 4xx — Client Error
- **Defined in:** RFC 4918 §11.3

## Common questions

### What does HTTP 423 mean?

The resource is locked by someone else and cannot be changed right now. A WebDAV code for explicit locking. Someone — possibly you, from another device — holds a lock on the file or collection, and the server will not accept a write until it is released or you present the matching lock token.

### How do I fix a 423 error?

Close the file wherever else it is open, including on other devices

### Is 423 a client error or a server error?

423 is in the 4xx range, which means client error. The request itself was the problem, so retrying it unchanged will usually return the same code.

## Related pages

- [404 Not Found](https://atoneplace.net/error/404/)
- [403 Forbidden](https://atoneplace.net/error/403/)
- [401 Unauthorized](https://atoneplace.net/error/401/)
- [429 Too Many Requests](https://atoneplace.net/error/429/)
- [400 Bad Request](https://atoneplace.net/error/400/)
- [413 Content Too Large](https://atoneplace.net/error/413/)
- [422 Unprocessable Content](https://atoneplace.net/error/422/)
- [405 Method Not Allowed](https://atoneplace.net/error/405/)
- [409 Conflict](https://atoneplace.net/error/409/)
- [415 Unsupported Media Type](https://atoneplace.net/error/415/)
- [408 Request Timeout](https://atoneplace.net/error/408/)
- [410 Gone](https://atoneplace.net/error/410/)

## Sources

- Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) Status Code Registry — IANA (https://www.iana.org/assignments/http-status-codes/)
- RFC 9110: HTTP Semantics — IETF (https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9110.html)