What "website is down" actually means
A website is down when you cannot reach it from your browser, even though your internet connection works fine. This can happen for a few hours or several days. The server that holds the website's files has stopped responding to requests, or the connection between you and that server is broken somewhere in between.
The important distinction: your internet works (you can load other sites), but this particular website does not. That tells you the problem is not on your end — it is with the website itself or the path to it.
Key Takeaways
- A website is down when you cannot load it in your browser even though other websites work fine on your connection.
- Use a third-party status checker like Down for Everyone or Just Me to confirm the site is actually down and not a problem with your device or internet.
- Check the website's social media accounts or status page (usually status.companyname.com) to see if the owners have announced the outage and when they expect to fix it.
- If a site you use regularly goes down, clearing your browser cache and trying a different browser can rule out local problems before you assume the site itself is broken.
The fastest way to check: use a third-party status site
The clearest way to confirm a website is actually down is to use a service that checks it from outside your own connection. Two of the most common are Down for Everyone or Just Me (downforeveryoneorjustme.com) and IsItDown (isitdown.site).
Type the website address into the checker. It will tell you whether the site is reachable from its location. If it says the site is down, then the problem is not your internet or your device — it is the website itself. If it says the site is up, then something on your end is blocking it: your internet, your browser, a firewall, or a cached version of the page.
These checkers work because they test the website from a server somewhere else on the internet, not from your computer. If they can reach it and you cannot, the break is between you and the site, not at the site itself.
Check the website's own status page or social media
Most larger websites and online services maintain a status page — a separate website that shows whether their main site is working. These are usually at an address like status.companyname.com or status.companyname.io. A status page tells you not just whether the site is down, but why, and when the team expects to have it back up.
If there is no status page, check the company's social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. When a major site goes down, the company usually posts about it there within minutes. Search for the company name plus "down" or "outage" on Twitter to see if other users are reporting the same problem and whether the company has responded.
This step matters because it tells you whether the outage is known and being worked on, or whether it is a smaller, less visible problem that might take longer to fix.
Rule out problems on your own device
Before you assume the website is down, try a few quick steps on your end. Open a different website — something like Google or BBC News — to confirm your internet connection actually works. If those load fine, your internet is working.
Then try the problem website in a different browser. If you normally use Chrome, try Firefox or Safari. Sometimes a browser's cache (stored copies of old pages) or an extension (an add-on program) blocks a site even when it is working fine. A different browser bypasses both of those.
You can also try clearing your browser's cache for that specific site. In most browsers, you can do this by opening the site's web address, then pressing Ctrl+Shift+Delete (Windows) or Command+Shift+Delete (Mac) to open the cache-clearing menu. Select "all time" and clear it, then reload the page.
What to do while you wait for the site to come back
If you have confirmed the site is actually down using a third-party checker, there is not much you can do except wait. The website's team is already aware and working on it. Refreshing the page repeatedly does not speed up the fix.
If you need to do something urgent on that site — pay a bill, submit a form, access important information — check whether the company has a phone number or email address you can use instead. Many banks, utilities, and government services have phone lines specifically for when their websites are down.
If the site stays down for more than a few hours and you cannot reach the company any other way, you can try contacting them through social media or looking for a support email address on their main page (cached versions of the page sometimes still load even when the live site does not).
Why websites go down and how long it usually takes
Websites go down for several reasons. A server might run out of storage space, crash from too much traffic, or need updates. A company might lose its internet connection, or a third-party service the site depends on might fail. Sometimes a mistake in new code breaks the site. Occasionally, a cyberattack or security incident takes a site offline.
How long the outage lasts depends on what caused it. A straightforward server restart might take 15 minutes. A code problem might take an hour or two to find and fix. A hardware failure or major infrastructure issue can take a full day or more. The company's status page, if they have one, usually gives an estimate.
Most outages are unplanned and unannounced. Planned maintenance — when a company deliberately takes a site down to update it — is usually announced in advance on the status page or in an email to users.
The difference between "down" and "slow"
A website can be technically up but so slow that it feels broken. If the site loads but takes 30 seconds per page, or if buttons do not respond, the site is not down — it is just struggling. This usually means the servers are overloaded with traffic, or your own internet connection is slow.
A third-party status checker will still say the site is "up" because it can reach it. But from your perspective, it is unusable. In this case, waiting a few minutes and trying again often works, because the traffic surge usually passes. If it stays slow for hours, it is a real problem on the site's end, and you can check their status page or social media to see if they are aware of it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if a website is down or if it is my internet?
Load a different website — Google, BBC, or any major site. If that works, your internet is fine and the problem is with the site you are trying to reach. If nothing loads, restart your router (unplug it for 30 seconds, then plug it back in) and try again. If you still cannot reach anything, contact your internet provider.
Can I see a history of when a website was down?
Some status pages keep a log of past outages. If the site has a status page, look for a link that says "Incident History" or "Past Incidents." Third-party services like Downdetector also track outage history for popular websites, though the information is crowdsourced and not always complete.
What if a website says it is up but I still cannot reach it?
Clear your browser cache, try a different browser, and check whether your firewall or antivirus software is blocking the site. If you are on a work or school network, the network administrator might have blocked it. Try accessing the site from your phone on a different network (like mobile data instead of WiFi) to see if the block is local to your network.
Is it safe to keep trying to load a website that is down?
Yes. Repeatedly refreshing a page does not harm your device or the website. It might add a tiny bit to the server's load, but it will not make the outage worse or cause any damage. You can safely refresh as often as you want while waiting for the site to come back.
Why do some websites go down more often than others?
Newer or smaller websites often have less robust infrastructure and go down more frequently. Websites that handle sudden traffic spikes (like ticket sales or breaking news) are more prone to outages. Companies that invest heavily in redundancy and backup systems have fewer outages. The size of the company does not always matter — a well-run small site can be more reliable than a poorly-managed large one.