Is it down for everyone or just me? A 60-second troubleshooting guide

A website won't load. Before you spend twenty minutes restarting things, answer one question first: is the site broken for everyone, or only for you? The answer decides everything you do next — and it takes about a minute to find out.

Step 1: Check the site from outside your connection

Your browser can only tell you what your device sees. To separate "the site is down" from "my connection is the problem", you need a second opinion from somewhere else on the internet. That's exactly what CheckIfSiteDown does: type the address and our server visits it, independently of your Wi-Fi, router, internet provider or device.

• If the result is Down, the problem is on the website's side. There's nothing to fix on your end — wait it out, or look for an official status page or social media update from the company.
• If the result is Up, the website is working and the problem is somewhere between you and it. Carry on with the steps below.

Step 2: Rule out the page and the browser

1. Reload properly. Press Ctrl + F5 (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + R (Mac) to reload without using cached files.
2. Check the address. A single typo — .co instead of .com — can send you to a page that doesn't exist. Try just the home page.
3. Open a private window. Incognito or private mode starts with no cookies and no extensions. If the site loads there, an extension or a stale login cookie is to blame — clear the site's cookies or disable extensions one by one.
4. Try another browser. If it works in a second browser, reset or update the first.

Step 3: Rule out your network

1. Switch networks. Turn off Wi-Fi on your phone and try mobile data. If the site loads, your home or office network is the problem.
2. Turn off your VPN, proxy or ad blocker. Some websites block VPN and proxy addresses outright, and aggressive blocklists sometimes catch legitimate sites.
3. Restart your router. Unplug it for 30 seconds. This clears temporary faults and gets you a fresh connection from your provider.
4. Check workplace or school filters. Managed networks often block categories of websites. The same site on mobile data will tell you.

Step 4: Clear your DNS cache

DNS is the internet's address book: it turns example.com into the numeric address of a server. Your device remembers these lookups, and if a website has recently moved to a new server, your device may still be using the old, dead address. Clearing the cache forces a fresh lookup:

• Windows: open Command Prompt and run ipconfig /flushdns
• macOS: open Terminal and run sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
• Linux (systemd): run resolvectl flush-caches
• Chrome: visit chrome://net-internals/#dns and choose Clear host cache

If that doesn't help, your internet provider's DNS servers may be the weak link. Switching your device or router to a public DNS service — such as Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 or Google's 8.8.8.8 — fixes a surprising number of "only me" problems.

Step 5: Read the error message

The message your browser shows is a strong clue:

• "This site can't be reached" / "Server not found" — a DNS or connection problem. Steps 3 and 4 are your best bet.
• "Your connection is not private" — a security-certificate problem. Check your device's date and time are correct; if they are, the site's certificate may genuinely be broken.
• A numbered error such as 403, 500 or 503 — the website itself answered. Our guide to HTTP status codes explains what each one means.

Step 6: Consider a regional or network block

If the site checks out as up and none of the steps above helped, it may be blocked for you specifically — by your country, your internet provider, or the network you're on (schools, offices and hotels often filter websites). Messages like "not available in your region" or "access denied" are a giveaway. A reputable VPN routes your connection through another location and usually gets you through. Our guide Website up but blocked for you? explains how, when it won't help, and which providers we trust.

Still stuck?

If the site checks out as up, works on mobile data, and still won't load on your network, contact your internet provider — they may be having a routing problem to that particular website, or blocking it. And if the site is down, all you can do is wait: most outages at large companies are fixed within an hour.