When a website won't load, the first question is always the same: is it down for everyone, or just me? The answer completely changes what you should do next. Here's how to know for sure in about a minute.

The 60-second test

  1. Run the site through our website down checker — it checks the site live from our server, which is a totally different network from yours.
  2. If our server reaches it but you can't, the problem is on your side (local).
  3. If our server also can't reach it, it's down for everyone and there's nothing you can do but wait.

You can also open the site on your phone using mobile data (not Wi-Fi). If it loads on mobile data but not on your computer, the issue is your home network.

What "just me" looks like

If the site is up for everyone but not for you, one of these is usually the cause:

  • A stale DNS cache — see how to flush your DNS.
  • A VPN, proxy, or ad-blocker interfering with the connection.
  • Your ISP or router having a temporary hiccup.
  • A browser extension or corrupted cache.
Quick tip: an incognito window with extensions disabled rules out most browser-side problems instantly.

What "down for everyone" looks like

If it's genuinely down, you'll often see a server error like 502 Bad Gateway or 503 Service Unavailable, or the connection simply times out. In that case:

  • Check our live outage board to see if others are reporting it.
  • Look at the site's official status page or social media.
  • Set a back-online alert so we email you the moment it recovers.

Still not sure?

Response codes can be misleading — a 403 often means the site is actually up but blocking automated bots, not that it's down. Our checker translates all of this into a plain-English verdict, so you don't have to guess.