What if my wudu breaks during Jumu'ah?

If your wudu breaks during Jumu'ah, quietly leave, make wudu again, and come back. During the khutbah you simply rejoin. During the prayer, you rejoin the imam, and whether you complete it as Jumu'ah or as Dhuhr depends on how much of the prayer you catch.

Prayer needs wudu

The Prophet ﷺ said that Allah does not accept the prayer of someone whose wudu has broken until they make wudu again (Sahih al-Bukhari 135). Allah lays out the steps in the Quran:

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِذَا قُمْتُمْ إِلَى ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ فَٱغْسِلُوا۟ وُجُوهَكُمْ وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ إِلَى ٱلْمَرَافِقِ وَٱمْسَحُوا۟ بِرُءُوسِكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُمْ إِلَى ٱلْكَعْبَيْنِ "O you who have believed, when you rise to [perform] prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles..." Quran 5:6

So continuing to pray without wudu isn't an option, even if leaving feels embarrassing. For a reminder of what breaks it, see What breaks wudu?

If it breaks during the khutbah

Get up calmly, go and make wudu, and return. Try not to step over people's shoulders on your way back; sit in the nearest free space. You miss part of the sermon, but your Jumu'ah is still valid once you pray with the congregation.

If it breaks during the prayer

Leave the row discreetly. Scholars mention that you can hold your nose as you leave, so people assume a nosebleed and you avoid embarrassment.
Make wudu and rejoin the imam in whatever position he's in.
If you catch at least one full rak'ah (you join before the imam rises from bowing in the second rak'ah), add one rak'ah after he finishes and your Jumu'ah is complete. This is the view of the majority, based on the hadith that whoever catches a rak'ah has caught the prayer (Sahih al-Bukhari 580).
If you catch less than that, the majority say you pray four rak'ahs of Dhuhr. The Hanafi school says joining at any point before the final salam is enough to pray two rak'ahs of Jumu'ah.

For the structure of the prayer, see How many rakat is Jumu'ah prayer?

Just a doubt?

If you only suspect your wudu broke, don't leave. The Prophet ﷺ said not to leave the prayer unless you hear a sound or notice a smell (Sahih al-Bukhari 137). Certainty isn't removed by doubt.

Key points

Never keep praying once you know your wudu is broken.
Leave quietly, renew wudu and rejoin the congregation.
Catch one full rak'ah to complete it as Jumu'ah (majority view).
Ignore mere doubts about your wudu.

Tip: Use the toilet and make wudu shortly before leaving for the mosque, and sit near the back or the side if you often need to step out. It makes leaving and returning much easier. See also What happens at Friday prayer?

What if my wudu breaks during Jumu'ah?

Prayer needs wudu

If it breaks during the khutbah

If it breaks during the prayer

Just a doubt?

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