Is my website down for everyone or just me?

Tell "just me" from "everyone"

1. Turn off your phone's Wi-Fi and open the site on cellular data. That's a different route to the internet.
2. Check it from somewhere else. Site health asks for your home page from our server in the Netherlands and says whether it answered.
3. Ask someone in another place (not on your Wi-Fi) to open it.

• Loads on cellular or for us: just you

  The site is up. Something between you and it is in the way. See If it's just you.

• Fails everywhere: everyone

  Visitors can't reach it either. Act today. See If it's down for everyone.

If it's just you

• Your Wi-Fi or VPN. Restart the router, turn off any VPN, and try again.
• An old copy in your browser. Try a private window. If it works there, clear your cache.
• You just changed the domain or host. The change can take up to 48 hours to reach every network, so it can work for some people and not others.
• Your web host's firewall blocked your internet address. On many shared hosts, a few wrong passwords (often an old phone or laptop still trying an old email password) can block your home or office from the server: website, email and all. It works on cellular and fails on your Wi-Fi. Ask your host to unblock you, then update the saved password.
• A work or school network that blocks the site. Try from home.

If it's down for everyone

Read the message on the screen. It tells you which kind of down it is, and each guide below says who fixes it.

"This site can't be reached"

No answer at all, or the name doesn't lead anywhere. Often a lapsed domain. See This site can't be reached and Domain name expired?.

500, 502, 503 or 504

The server answered but broke. See 500, 502, 503 and 504 errors.

"Error establishing a database connection"

See the database guide.

"There has been a critical error on this website"

WordPress broke, often after an update. See WordPress critical error.

"Your connection is not private"

The site is up, but its padlock is broken, often because the certificate ran out. See Your connection is not private.

A page from your host or builder saying the site is suspended or expired

Usually an unpaid bill or plan. Log in to your account there and check your billing first.

Who to call

• Your web host (the company you pay to keep the site online, or your builder: Squarespace, Wix, Shopify and so on): when the server doesn't answer, shows a 500 error, or says suspended.
• The company you bought the domain from: when the name doesn't lead anywhere, or Site health shows the domain has run out.
• Your web person: when the site answers with an error after a change, an update or a new plugin.

Not sure which company is which? Look in your email for the last renewal receipt for the site and for the domain.

Hear about it before your customers do

Site Watch checks your site once a night and emails you if it doesn't load, or if your padlock or domain is about to run out. Free, and only when something changes.