Why is my website down?
A site can be down for everyone or just for you. Here's how to tell the difference, the most common causes, and what to check in what order.
Down for everyone, or just for you?
The first question isn't why — it's who. If the site loads from another network (a phone on cellular data, an external checking tool) but not from your computer, the problem is local: your DNS cache, your router, your ISP, or a firewall. If nothing reaches it from anywhere, the site itself is down.
One caveat: any single check runs from one vantage point. A check from one location can fail because of a routing problem between that location and your server while the site stays up for everyone else. If an external check fails, a second check from a different network makes the verdict much more reliable.
The common causes, ranked by likelihood
For small sites, the usual suspects in rough order of likelihood: an expired domain (registration lapsed and DNS stopped resolving), a DNS misconfiguration (a record changed, deleted, or pointed at the wrong server), an expired SSL certificate (browsers block the site with a security warning), a server or hosting outage, traffic overload (a spike the server can't absorb), and a suspended account from an unpaid hosting bill.
The pattern of failure narrows it down. A domain or DNS problem means the browser can't find the server at all. A certificate problem shows a security warning instead of the site. A server problem produces an error page, a timeout, or a refused connection.
What to check, in what order
Check the domain first: a WHOIS lookup shows the expiration date, and an expired domain explains everything downstream. Second, DNS: does the domain still resolve, and to the right IP address? Third, the certificate: is it valid and unexpired? Last, the server itself: does it answer at all, and with what — a 500-range error, a timeout, or a hosting company's suspension page?
This order matters because each layer depends on the one before it. There's no point debugging the server while DNS isn't resolving.
Is it the host or the site?
A 500 or 503 error usually means the server is reachable but the application on it is failing — a bad deploy, a crashed process, a database problem. That's typically the site's problem, not the host's. A connection that times out or is refused points at the server or network layer, which is usually the host's territory. Hosting providers publish status pages; if an incident is listed there, the answer is waiting, not debugging.
Common questions
- Why is my website down for me but working for others?
- Usually a local cause: a stale DNS cache on your device or router, an ISP-level resolver that hasn't caught up with a DNS change, or a firewall or security tool blocking the connection. Flushing your DNS cache and testing from another network (like cellular data) isolates it.
- Does an expired domain take the site down immediately?
- Usually within a day or two — the registrar stops resolving the domain or points it at a parking page. Most registrars then offer a grace period during which the owner can still renew, typically before the domain is released for public registration.
- What does a 503 error mean?
- 503 Service Unavailable means the server was reached but can't handle the request right now — commonly overload, maintenance, or a crashed backend process. It's usually temporary, and it tells you the problem is on the server side, not with DNS or your connection.
One-shot uptime check from an external server: status and response time.
Check if your site is down →