Is the site down for everyone or just me?

How to tell whether a site is down for everyone

When a site will not open, the first question is where the problem is: with the site or with you. This page opens the site from our server the way a browser does. It tries HTTPS first, then HTTP, follows every redirect and waits for an answer. If the site opens for us but not for you, the server is fine and the problem is on your network. If it does not open for us either, it is most likely down for everyone.

We show the status code, the time until the page starts loading, the redirect path and the certificate status. That is usually enough to know where to look next.

What the results mean

• Status 200: the server returned the page, the site works.
• 5xx codes (500, 502, 503, 504): the server got the request but could not build the page. The application or database crashed, resources ran out, or the backend behind a proxy stopped answering.
• 4xx codes: the server works but the page is missing (404) or access is denied (403). A 403 or 429 often comes from bot protection rather than the site itself.
• No response: the server is off, overloaded, or a firewall drops connections.
• Domain does not resolve: the domain has no DNS records. Often it simply was not renewed.

If it works for us but not for you

• Open the site over mobile data. That tells you right away whether your home or office network is to blame.
• Try a private window or another browser. Extensions, ad blockers and a stale cache sometimes get in the way.
• Turn your VPN or proxy off, or on. Some sites restrict access by country.
• Flush your DNS cache. After a site moves, your computer may still remember the old IP address.
• Check your hosts file and antivirus: both can block individual sites.

Why a site loads slowly

Sometimes a site technically works, but the page takes several seconds to start loading. We show what the last request's time was made of: connecting to the server, setting up encryption and waiting for the answer. A slow connection points to a distant server or a congested network. A long wait means the server is busy building the page: slow database queries, heavy plugins, no page cache.

Redirects count separately. Each one is another request, and a three-step chain easily adds half a second. Our redirect chain tool shows it in detail.

One slow check means little on its own: a backup or a data export may have been running at that moment. If the delay keeps coming back, look at the hosting and caching before visitors start leaving and search rankings slip.

If the site is down for everyone

• Log in to your hosting panel and look for an outage, a suspension over billing, or exceeded limits.
• Check the domain registration and SSL certificate dates: an expired domain stops working entirely.
• Think about what changed in the last few hours: CMS or plugin updates, configuration edits, a move.
• Read the web server and application logs. With 5xx errors the cause is almost always written there.
• If unfamiliar pages or redirects appeared on the site, it may have been hacked. Then it needs cleaning, not just a restart.

How to hear about outages before your customers do

A one-off check shows that the site is down right now, but it will not tell you it was down last night. Monitoring does that: it checks the site every minute and sends an alert to Telegram or email straight away. It is worth watching the certificate expiry, disk space and response time alongside uptime, because many outages give warning signs in advance.