GitHub Actions Workflow Stuck in Queued / Waiting for a Runner

How to fix it

Try these in order — the most common fix is first.

1. 1. Check runs-on labels

   Copy steps
   1. Compare runs-on in the workflow with the labels shown in Settings > Actions > Runners
   2. For self-hosted runners include every custom label
   Did this fix it? Yes No

2. 2. Check the self-hosted runner

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   1. Confirm it shows Idle or Online
   2. Update it to the latest runner version and restart the service
   3. Verify the runner group allows this repository
   Did this fix it? Yes No

3. 3. Check GitHub Status

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   1. Open githubstatus.com and look for Actions or hosted-runner incidents
   2. If one is open, wait for mitigation
   Did this fix it? Yes No

4. 4. Check billing

   1. Open Settings > Billing and licensing and look for failed payments or a $0 spending limit
   Did this fix it? Yes No

5. 5. Cancel and re-run

   1. Cancel the run and use Re-run all jobs; community reports say this clears many stuck jobs
   Did this fix it? Yes No

Symptoms

Workflow runs show Queued or 'Waiting for a runner to pick up this job' and never start, sometimes for hours.

Why it happens

• The runs-on label matches no runner
• Self-hosted runner is offline, outdated or not in the runner group the repo can use
• Hosted runner capacity or a GitHub incident
• Actions billing blocked by a $0 spending limit or failed payment
• Concurrency group holding the job back

This guide also covers

• github actions stuck queued
• waiting for a runner to pick up this job
• github actions not starting
• github actions self-hosted runner queued

Other GitHub errors

• GitHub Permission Denied (publickey) Error
• GitHub 'Password Authentication Was Removed' Error
• GitHub Push Rejected: Updates Were Rejected (Non-Fast-Forward)
• GitHub Push Blocked: Repository Rule Violations (GH013 / Secret Detected)
• GitHub Push Rejected: File Exceeds 100 MB Limit
• GitHub 'Permission Denied' or 403 When Pushing Over HTTPS
• GitHub Locked Out: Lost 2FA Device or Recovery Codes
• GitHub Actions: 'Recent Account Payments Have Failed or Spending Limit Needs to Be Increased'