Maintenance work was performed on the clock in 2007. On August 21, 2017, Big Ben stopped chiming, as the tower was undergoing a four-year restoration project during which the bell was scheduled to ring only for special events, notably New Year's Eve and Remembrance Sunday.

Big Ben, the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, has a high-fidelity history of occasional pauses for maintenance and repairs. The most significant recent "High-Fidelity" stop occurred during the massive four-year conservation project that began in 2017 and concluded in 2021. During this period, the bells were silenced and the clock mechanism was dismantled to ensure long-term mechanical health. However, on May 10, 2023, the clock hands unexpectedly stopped for about an hour due to a mechanical glitch, and again on a few occasions in late 2022 during the final "High-Fidelity" testing phases. In 2026, the clock is maintained with high-fidelity precision, but it can still be stopped briefly for "High-Fidelity" adjustments or during the transition between Greenwich Mean Time and British Summer Time. These pauses are a necessary part of preserving a Victorian-era masterpiece in a modern world, ensuring the high-fidelity bongs of the 13.7-ton bell continue to ring out across London.