Website status guide
How to tell whether a website is down or the problem is on your side
A website that will not open can fail for many reasons. The website's server may be offline, its domain may no longer resolve, a certificate may have expired, or a network between you and the service may be having trouble. The cause can also be much closer to home: a stale browser cache, an unreliable Wi-Fi connection, a VPN, a DNS problem, or an extension that blocks part of the page. A useful website status check separates those possibilities instead of giving you a vague up-or-down label.
Is It Down Right Now sends a fresh request from our infrastructure whenever you run a check. Because that request does not use your browser or local connection, it provides an independent point of comparison. The report shows the HTTP response, response time, final URL, redirect path, DNS records, and available HTTPS certificate details. Read together, those signals can tell you whether a website is publicly reachable and where a failure is most likely occurring.
What does it mean when a website is down?
People usually say a site is down when they cannot use it, but availability is not always all or nothing. A server can be completely unreachable, return an error page, load only some resources, respond so slowly that it is effectively unusable, or work in one region while failing in another. A homepage may load even though login, checkout, video, search, or another important feature is broken. That is why a single signal should not be treated as a perfect description of an entire service.
A full outage normally means that the public server cannot provide a usable response. Common symptoms include a connection timeout, a refused connection, a DNS lookup failure, or repeated 5xx server errors. Partial outages are harder to identify. A content delivery network may serve cached pages while the origin application is unavailable. An API may be failing even though the marketing site still works. A service may also deliberately block automated requests, certain countries, or particular network providers. The live report tells you what our check encountered at that moment; it does not claim to observe every user, feature, or location.
Down for everyone versus just you
The simplest diagnostic is to compare two independent connections. If a site fails in your browser but responds normally to our server, the evidence points toward a local or regional issue. If both checks fail at the same time, a broader website problem becomes more likely. This comparison is more informative than repeatedly refreshing the same browser because it changes the network, DNS resolver, device environment, and request source.
“Just you” does not necessarily mean your device is broken. The problem could affect your household, workplace, internet provider, city, or country. Likewise, a failed remote check does not prove that every person worldwide is affected. Treat the verdict as a practical starting point, then use the technical details and a second network—such as mobile data—to narrow the scope.
How this website status checker works
Enter a public domain or web address in the checker. The input is normalized into a safe URL, and our server attempts a real web request. If the address redirects from HTTP to HTTPS, from a bare domain to a www address, or to another approved public URL, the checker follows the route and records the hops. It measures how long the response takes and reads public protocol information returned by the destination.
The checker also resolves public DNS records and, where HTTPS is available, inspects certificate information. These tests run server-side. They do not execute a full browser session, sign in to an account, solve a CAPTCHA, or submit forms. They also do not bypass access controls. This keeps the check quick and focused on public reachability while reducing the amount of data needed to produce a useful report.
Why a real HTTP request matters
A basic network ping only shows whether a host answers a particular type of packet. Many healthy websites disable ping, and a server can answer ping while its web application is broken. An HTTP request asks the web service itself for a response. That makes the returned status code, redirect behavior, server timing, and TLS connection more relevant to the question users actually have: can the website serve a page right now?
Each check is a snapshot. Conditions can change seconds later, especially during intermittent incidents or recovery. Use the Re-check button on a report to request a fresh observation. Several checks spread over a few minutes are more useful than rapid refreshing because they reveal whether the failure persists or the response time is unstable.
How to read a website status report
Start with the verdict, but use the supporting measurements to understand it. A reachable response with a normal status and reasonable timing is strong evidence that the public website is up from our location. A timeout or connection error means our server could not complete the request. Slow results indicate that the service answered but may be overloaded, geographically distant, or waiting on an upstream system.
HTTP status codes
Codes in the 200 range generally mean the request succeeded. A 301 or 302 is a redirect and is normal when it leads to the intended secure or canonical address. A 401 or 403 means the server is reachable but access is restricted; this can happen when a page requires authentication or blocks automated traffic. A 404 means that particular path was not found, not necessarily that the whole domain is offline. Codes such as 500, 502, 503, and 504 indicate server-side or upstream trouble. Repeated 5xx responses are a strong sign that the service owner must fix the problem.
Response time
Response time measures how long our request took to receive a response. It is not the same as the time needed to render every image and script in a browser. A fast server response can still be followed by a slow page, while a temporarily high result may reflect distance or network congestion. Compare repeated checks instead of treating one number as a permanent speed score. A sharp increase alongside errors may signal an overloaded service.
SSL certificate and HTTPS
HTTPS certificates help a browser confirm the identity of a site and encrypt traffic. An expired, untrusted, or mismatched certificate can cause a privacy warning even when the server is online. The report may show the issuer and remaining validity period when certificate information is available. Never bypass a certificate warning to enter a password or payment information. If you own the site, check certificate renewal, the domain names included in the certificate, and the full certificate chain deployed by the server.
DNS records, IP address, and redirects
DNS converts a domain name into an address that computers can reach. Missing or incorrect A and AAAA records can make a website unavailable even if its application server is healthy. DNS changes also take time to propagate through cached resolvers. The redirect chain shows how the requested address reached its final URL. Too many hops, a loop, or a redirect to an unexpected host can reveal a configuration problem. Because large services use multiple addresses and edge servers, the displayed IP may be only one of several valid destinations.
What to try when the website is up for us but not for you
When our server can reach a website, begin with reversible local checks. Open the address in a private browsing window. This temporarily removes many cookie, cache, and extension variables without deleting your normal profile. If the private window works, clear stored data for that site or disable extensions one at a time. A hard refresh can also force the browser to request current files instead of using a damaged cached copy.
Next, try a different browser or device on the same connection. If only one browser fails, its configuration is the likely cause. If every device on Wi-Fi fails, switch a phone to mobile data. A site that works over mobile data but not Wi-Fi suggests a router, DNS, filtering, or internet-provider issue. Restarting the router may renew the connection, but allow it to complete a normal reboot rather than repeatedly power-cycling it.
VPNs, proxies, privacy filters, antivirus web shields, parental controls, and ad blockers can all change or block web requests. Temporarily disable only the relevant layer long enough to test, then turn protection back on. If a work or school network filters the destination, contact its administrator rather than attempting to bypass the policy. Also confirm that your device date and time are correct, because a badly incorrect clock can make valid HTTPS certificates appear invalid.
Refresh DNS safely
A stale DNS cache can continue pointing to an old server after a website changes providers. Restarting the browser or device often clears the relevant cache. Advanced users can flush the operating system's DNS cache or temporarily test a reputable public resolver. Remember that deliberate DNS propagation cannot always be accelerated from your side; if a domain owner has just changed records, waiting for cached entries to expire may be necessary.
Avoid downloading “repair” software, changing unrelated security settings, or entering credentials into unofficial mirrors. A status problem rarely requires installing anything. If the affected service handles banking, email, health information, or account recovery, use its official app, published support channel, or verified status page before taking sensitive action.
What to do when a website appears down for everyone
If the remote check also fails, repeated local troubleshooting is unlikely to help. Save unfinished work if possible and wait a few minutes before checking again. Look for an official service-status page or a verified support account, especially when the unavailable domain belongs to a large platform. Those sources may confirm maintenance, list affected features, and provide an estimated recovery time. Be cautious with unverified social posts, which can repeat rumors or promote unsafe alternatives during a high-profile outage.
Do not repeatedly submit payments, password changes, bookings, or forms while a service is returning errors. The server may have accepted an action even though it failed to show confirmation. Check email, account history, or your payment provider before trying again. For business-critical systems, follow your organization's continuity plan and document the times and error messages you observed. Screenshots and request identifiers can help the service's support team investigate after access returns.
Website owners should check monitoring from more than one region, then inspect recent deployments, infrastructure health, DNS, certificates, load balancers, application logs, databases, and third-party dependencies. Roll back only when evidence points to a recent change. Communicate clearly with users, update the official status page, and publish a follow-up after recovery if the incident had meaningful impact.
What a website availability test can and cannot prove
No single checker can observe the whole internet. A result represents one request from our infrastructure at a particular time. Geographic routing, content delivery networks, personalized pages, rate limits, bot protection, and account-specific problems can produce different experiences for different visitors. A reachable homepage does not prove that every API or feature works, and a blocked automated request does not always mean that human visitors are blocked.
Use the report as independent evidence, not as a contractual uptime measurement or security audit. For critical systems, combine synthetic monitoring from several regions with browser tests, application metrics, logs, and official provider telemetry. This free checker is designed for a quick public diagnosis: it helps answer whether a domain responds, how it responds, and which common technical signal deserves attention next.
The most reliable conclusion comes from several consistent clues. Compare our live result with your own browser, another device or network, the service's official status communication, and a later re-check. That approach turns “the website is not working” into a narrower and more useful question—whether the failure is local, regional, related to one feature, or genuinely affecting the public service.