Website Down Checker: Is It Down or Just Me?

This website down checker tells you whether a site is responding right now or whether the problem is only on your end. Enter a domain or URL and you get the HTTP status code, response time, IP address, protocol and SSL result in a few seconds. It is free and needs no sign-in.

What Is Website Downtime?

Website downtime is any period when visitors cannot load a site or get a working response from it. It can come from a crashed server, an expired domain, a DNS error, a broken deployment or an overloaded host.

A site can fail in different ways, and each leaves a different clue. A DNS failure means the domain name did not resolve to an IP address. A connection failure means the address was found but nothing answered. An HTTP error such as 500 or 503 means the server answered but could not deliver the page. Telling these apart is the fastest way to know who has to fix the problem and where to start.

Downtime matters for SEO because Google cannot crawl a page that does not respond. Google's Search Central documentation explains that repeated server errors can slow crawling, and a page that stays unavailable for long enough can drop out of search results. Catching an outage early limits that risk.

How to Use the Website Down Checker

You can run a check in under a minute with the steps below.

1. Type the domain or full URL into the box that shows the example.com placeholder. You can enter a bare domain, a subdomain such as blog.example.com, or a specific page URL.
2. Press the check button. The tool shows a progress screen that says "Checking website status..." with three stages: DNS Lookup, Connection and SSL Check.
3. Read the headline result. It names the host and states whether the site responded or could not be reached.
4. Review the detail cards: IP Address, Response Time, HTTP Status and Protocol. Below them you will find the SSL line, a Safe Browsing line when one is available, and a Checked on date.
5. Look at the Website Screenshot section to see what the page looked like when it was checked.
6. Use the check again button to test another URL, or to re-test the same site after you apply a fix.

Only http and https addresses are accepted. If you leave out the protocol, the tool assumes https. Addresses that contain a username or password are rejected, so enter the plain public address.

Worked Example: Reading a Real Result

Say customers report that your store at shop.example.com is not loading. You enter that address and press the check button.

The headline says the host responded. That sounds like good news, but you then check the cards. The IP Address is shown, the Response Time reads 2.30 s with a red Slow badge, and the HTTP Status card is red and reads 503 Service Unavailable. The Protocol is HTTPS.

Here is what that means. The server is online and reachable, so this is not a DNS or network outage. It is refusing to serve pages, which usually points to an overloaded application, a failed deployment or a maintenance mode that was left on. A 2.30 s response is also well past the 1.5 s threshold the tool marks as slow. You would contact your host or developer, mention the 503 and the slow response, and re-test with the check again button once they confirm a fix.

How Do You Read the Results?

Each card answers a different question: can the site be found, how fast does it answer, and does it answer correctly. The sections below cover them in order.

HTTP Status

The status code is the most important detail, because a site can "respond" and still be broken. The tool colors the card by code range.

A yellow 301 is normal if you typed the non-www address and the site forwards you to the www version. A red 404 means the server works but that exact page is missing. A red 500, 502, 503 or 504 means the server side failed. For a full list of codes across many pages, use the bulk HTTP status code checker.

Response Time

Response time measures how long the site took to answer. The tool labels under 0.5 seconds as Fast, 0.5 to 1.5 seconds as Average, and 1.5 seconds or more as Slow. Values under one second show in milliseconds, such as 420 ms. If you see Slow once, test again before worrying, since a single reading can be a brief spike. If it stays slow, look at hosting capacity, caching and page weight, and check whether text compression is on with the GZIP compression checker.

Protocol and SSL

The protocol card shows HTTPS or HTTP. The SSL line then gives one of three messages:

• TLS verification passed for the final connection: the certificate was accepted. This is the result you want.
• SSL Present (verification issue): a certificate exists but did not verify. Common causes are an expired certificate, a name mismatch or a missing intermediate certificate. Browsers will show visitors a warning.
• TLS was not used for the final HTTP connection: the page loaded without encryption. Install a certificate and redirect HTTP to HTTPS.

Failure Messages

When a site cannot be reached, the result says so and names the stage that failed. "DNS Failure" means the domain did not resolve. Check for a typo, an expired registration, or wrong name server records. "Connection Failed" means the address resolved but no connection was made. Look at the server, firewall and hosting status. You may also see a note that the public destination could not be verified.

Safe Browsing

When available, a Safe Browsing line shows "Flagged as unsafe" or "Not processed". A flag is a serious signal, since browsers can warn visitors away from the site. If your own site is flagged, scan it for malware or injected content and request a review through Google Search Console after cleaning it up.

Is the Website Down for Everyone or Just You?

If the checker shows a normal response while your browser fails, the problem is probably on your side, not the website's. This is the "down or just me" question, and the tool gives you a clean second opinion.

1. Run the check. A green 200 with a normal response time means the site is up.
2. Try the site on mobile data instead of your Wi-Fi. If it loads, your network or router is the cause.
3. Clear the browser cache or open a private window to rule out stale data.
4. Flush your DNS cache or switch DNS servers if the checker works but your device cannot resolve the name.
5. Turn off a VPN, proxy or ad blocker for a minute and retry.

If the checker also fails, the outage is real. Wait a few minutes and use the check again button, since many outages clear quickly.

Who Should Use a Website Down Checker?

• Site owners: confirm a customer's "your site is down" message in seconds, before you start digging through logs.
• SEO specialists: verify availability before blaming a traffic drop on rankings. After a migration, confirm the new host answers correctly.
• Developers and agencies: test a client's domain after a DNS change or SSL renewal and share the result with the host.
• Everyday visitors: find out whether a site you rely on is failing for everyone or only for you.

For a wider health check once the site is back, the website reviewer covers performance and technical SEO, and the HTTP header checker shows redirects and server headers in detail.

Best Practices and Troubleshooting Tips

• Test the exact URL that fails. A homepage can respond while one deep page throws a 500 error.
• Test both versions. Check with and without www, and with http and https, to catch redirect loops or a missing certificate on one of them.
• Check twice. One slow or failed reading can be a brief spike. Two consistent results are far more reliable.
• Note the time. The Checked on line gives you a timestamp to pass to your host or add to an incident report.
• Fix typos first. A DNS Failure on a domain you just typed often means a misspelling or a missing dot.
• Look at the stack when errors repeat. The website technology detector shows the CMS and hosting setup, which helps you decide who to contact.

Limitations to Keep in Mind

This tool gives you a snapshot of one check at one moment. It is not a continuous monitor, so it does not send alerts or keep an uptime history. A site that fails for only a few minutes overnight will not show up unless you test during that window.

The result also comes from a single check, not a test from many countries. A site blocked in your region, or limited to certain visitors, may still show as responding. Pages that sit behind a login cannot be tested beyond what the public address returns. Treat a green result as strong evidence that the site is up, not as proof that every visitor sees it.

Enter a URL in the box above and run a check to see whether the problem is the site or your connection. If the result shows an error, note the status code or failure message and use it to decide your next step. You can also explore related checkers in the Website Audit and Performance tools category.