Why Your Arbitrum Transaction Is Stuck in Pending and How to Cancel It

06 October 2026

An Arbitrum transaction stuck in "pending" usually means the Arbitrum sequencer has accepted your transaction but cannot execute it, or your wallet is waiting for a previous transaction to confirm first. The most common fix is to replace the stuck transaction with a new one that has a higher gas price, or to clear the nonce entirely.

How arbitrum transaction queuing works

Arbitrum processes transactions in order, using the same nonce system as Ethereum. Each address has a sequential nonce counter. Transaction 5 cannot execute until transaction 4 is confirmed. If transaction 4 is stuck - because of low gas, a failed gas estimation, or a wallet error - everything after it will also sit in "pending."

The sequencer does not drop transactions automatically. Once submitted, a transaction remains in the mempool until it is confirmed or explicitly replaced.

Common causes of stuck transactions

• Low gas price. You set a gas price below what the sequencer or the underlying Ethereum L1 calldata requires. Arbitrum fees have two components: the L2 execution fee and the L1 data fee. If either is too low, the transaction stalls.
• Stuck earlier transaction. A previous transaction with the same nonce is still pending. Your wallet will not send the next one until the earlier one clears.
• Wallet nonce mismatch. You manually set a nonce that does not match the next expected nonce for your address.
• RPC provider lag. The node you are connected to has not synced your pending transactions properly.

How to Cancel a Stuck Transaction

1. Identify the Stuck Transaction

Open your wallet (MetaMask, Rabby, or similar) and look at the activity list. Find the transaction marked "pending." Note its nonce number. You can also check Arbiscan for your address and look for pending transactions.

2. Send a Zero-Value Replacement Transaction

The standard way to cancel is to send a new transaction from the same address, with the same nonce, to yourself, with zero value, and a higher gas price.

Steps for MetaMask:

1. In MetaMask, go to Settings > Advanced > Advanced Gas Controls. Turn this on if it is off.
2. Go back to the activity tab. Click on the pending transaction.
3. Click "Speed up" if available. MetaMask will offer to resend with a higher gas price.
4. If "Speed up" is not available, click "Cancel." MetaMask will create a new transaction with the same nonce, sending 0 ETH to yourself, at a higher gas price.
5. Confirm the cancellation transaction.

Steps for Rabby:

1. Open Rabby and go to the transaction history.
2. Find the pending transaction and click "Speed Up" or "Cancel."
3. Rabby will estimate a higher gas price. Confirm.

If your wallet does not offer a cancel option, you can do it manually:

1. Create a new transaction to your own address with 0 value.
2. Set the nonce to exactly the nonce of the stuck transaction.
3. Set the gas price at least 10 - 20% higher than the original.
4. Send it.

Once the replacement transaction confirms, the original transaction is effectively cancelled.

3. If the Cancellation Itself Stays Pending

Sometimes the cancellation transaction also gets stuck. This usually means the gas price you set was still too low, or the network is congested. Repeat the process with a higher gas price. Check current gas prices on Arbiscan or through your RPC provider before sending.

4. Clear the Entire Nonce Queue

If you have multiple pending transactions in sequence, you may need to cancel each one starting from the lowest nonce. Cancel transaction 4 first, then 5, then 6. Do not skip a nonce - the sequencer will not process a later nonce until the earlier one is resolved.

5. Reset Your Wallet Activity (Last Resort)

If the stuck transaction is not showing in your wallet but the wallet still thinks it is pending, you can reset your account activity. This clears the local nonce cache.

In MetaMask:

1. Go to Settings > Advanced > Clear activity tab data.
2. This does not affect your funds. It only clears the local transaction list.
3. Reconnect to Arbitrum. Your wallet will sync from the blockchain and use the correct next nonce.

In Rabby:

1. Go to Settings > Clear cache.
2. Reconnect your wallet.

After resetting, your wallet will show the correct pending state from the chain.

When to just wait

Not all stuck transactions need cancelling. If the network is temporarily congested, the transaction may confirm after a few minutes. Check Arbiscan to see if the sequencer is running normally. If the transaction has been pending for more than 30 minutes and you need to move funds, cancellation is usually the right call.

What not to do

• Do not send the same transaction again with a different nonce. This will create a second pending transaction and make the situation worse.
• Do not manually set a very low nonce to "skip ahead." The sequencer will reject it.
• Do not assume the transaction will eventually fail on its own. The sequencer keeps pending transactions indefinitely unless replaced.

If Nothing Works

If you have tried cancellation with a high gas price and the transaction still will not clear, the issue may be on the RPC side. Switch to a different RPC provider. See the article on best Arbitrum RPC providers for options. If the sequencer itself is down, no cancellation will work until it resumes. See what happens when the Arbitrum sequencer goes down.

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