Troubleshooting Guide

Why Is My Website Down?
Complete Fix Guide

Whether you're a visitor who can't reach a site, or a site owner watching your traffic drop to zero — this guide covers every cause and fix.

Visitor troubleshootingServer up but site downSSL issuesDNS problemsCDN outagesFAQ
First: confirm it's actually down
Enter any URL at WebsiteDown.com for a live HTTP probe plus an AI source scan.
Check a URL →

For Visitors: Can't Load a Website

Work through these steps in order — most issues resolve by step 4.

1
Confirm it's actually down
Before doing anything else, check WebsiteDown.com. If the site shows as 'Up' from our servers, the problem is local to your device or network.
Check now →
2
Test your own internet
Open google.com or another site you know works. If that fails too, the issue is your internet connection — not the website.
3
Clear browser cache
Press Ctrl+Shift+Delete (Cmd+Shift+Delete on Mac). Select 'All time', tick 'Cached images and files' plus 'Cookies', then click Clear. Reload the page.
4
Try a different browser or incognito
Open the site in an incognito/private window, or try a different browser entirely. If it works there, a browser extension or corrupted profile is the culprit.
5
Flush your DNS cache
Windows: Open Command Prompt → ipconfig /flushdns Mac: sudo dscacheutil -flushcache && sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder Linux: sudo systemd-resolve --flush-caches
6
Change your DNS server
Your ISP's DNS may be returning stale or wrong results. Change to Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) or Google (8.8.8.8) in your network adapter settings.
7
Disable VPN or proxy
VPNs and corporate proxies route traffic differently and can cause connection failures. Temporarily disable yours and test again.
8
Try mobile data
Switch your phone to LTE/5G and load the site. If it works on mobile data, the issue is your home ISP or router — restart your router and contact your ISP.

For Site Owners: Diagnosing Your Outage

Your monitoring fired but you don't know where to look? Start here.

Server is up, site is down
The most confusing scenario — your monitoring shows the server is running, but users can't reach the site.
  • ›Check web server process: SSH in and run `systemctl status nginx` or `systemctl status apache2`. Restart if stopped.
  • ›Check application errors: Tail your error log with `tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log` — look for 500 errors.
  • ›Check database: If your site needs MySQL/Postgres, verify it's running and accepting connections.
  • ›Check disk space: A full disk silently kills web servers. Run `df -h` — if / or /var is at 100%, clear logs or expand storage.
  • ›Check memory: `free -m` — if available memory is near zero, a runaway process may have caused an OOM kill.
SSL certificate errors
An expired or misconfigured SSL cert causes all browsers to block access with a security warning.
  • ›Check expiry: Run `echo | openssl s_client -connect yourdomain.com:443 2>/dev/null | openssl x509 -noout -dates`
  • ›Let's Encrypt auto-renewal: Run `certbot renew --dry-run` to test, then `certbot renew` to force renewal.
  • ›If using a commercial cert: Download the new cert from your CA and re-upload it to your hosting panel or Nginx/Apache config.
  • ›Mixed content: HTTPS pages loading HTTP resources cause partial security warnings — use CSP headers and relative URLs.
DNS misconfiguration
Wrong DNS records mean the domain doesn't resolve to your server, so visitors can't reach it.
  • ›Verify A record: Use `dig yourdomain.com A` — the IP should match your server's public IP.
  • ›Check propagation: Use a DNS propagation checker to see if your new records have spread globally (can take up to 48h).
  • ›TTL too high: If you changed your DNS recently, old TTL values mean some users still hit the old IP. Lower TTL before making DNS changes next time.
  • ›Nameserver mismatch: Ensure the nameservers at your registrar match those in your DNS provider's panel.
CDN or hosting outage
If you're behind Cloudflare, AWS, or Vercel, their outages affect your site even if your origin server is fine.
  • ›Check your CDN's status page (cloudflarestatus.com, aws.amazon.com/premiumsupport/technology/pes/)
  • ›Temporarily bypass the CDN: Update DNS to point directly to your origin IP to serve traffic while the CDN recovers.
  • ›Use WebsiteDown to monitor your origin URL (not just the CDN-fronted domain) for true server availability.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my website down?
The most common reasons are: server crash or overload, expired SSL certificate, hosting account suspension (unpaid bill), DDoS attack, DNS provider failure, bad code deployment, or CDN misconfiguration. Use WebsiteDown.com to confirm it's actually down and not a local issue.
My server is up but my website is down — why?
This is a common scenario. The server hardware is running but the web server software (Apache, Nginx, etc.) has crashed or is misconfigured. Other causes: the application code threw a fatal error (500), the database connection failed, an SSL certificate expired, or the domain's DNS is pointing to the wrong IP.
How long does it take for a website to come back up?
Minor outages (server restarts, deployments) typically resolve in minutes. DNS propagation after a change takes 1–48 hours. SSL renewal is usually automatic or takes under an hour manually. Major infrastructure outages (AWS, Cloudflare) can last minutes to several hours.
How can I prevent my website from going down?
Key steps: set up uptime monitoring (WebsiteDown alerts typically arrive within 1–5 minutes of detection), use a reliable CDN, enable auto-renewal for SSL certificates and domain registrations, keep a staging environment for testing deployments, and consider redundant hosting across multiple regions.
🔔

Never find out about downtime from your users

On paid plans WebsiteDown checks your site every 60 seconds and sends a status-change alert by email, Telegram, or Discord — typically within 1–5 minutes of detection.

Start Free Monitoring →Learn how it works
More free tools
Speed test
DNS, TTFB, TLS timing
HTTP status checker
200 / 301 / 404 / 5xx
Bulk URL checker
Up to 20 domains at once
Uptime SLA calculator
% → real downtime
Website Down Troubleshooting Guide — Why Is My Website Down? | WebsiteDown