My Website Is Down: What to Check in 10 Minutes

Rule out a problem limited to your network

Open the site from a phone on 4G or 5G with Wi-Fi off, then from a second browser. If it works in either test, leave the site alone: restart the router first, check the device’s clock and clear only the cache of the browser concerned.

If the site stays unreachable from several networks, copy the exact message. A numeric code proves a server answered. A message without a code can point to a domain, a DNS setting, a certificate, a network or an unavailable server. The table below helps you choose which lead to check.

Find the right contact

The message displayed does not always give the exact cause, but it tells you where to look and who can act. A parked-domain page, for example, shows that a server does answer — it is just no longer the one hosting your site.

curl -I --max-time 10 https://example.fr

dig +short A example.fr
dig +short AAAA example.fr
dig +short NS example.fr

https://rdap.nic.fr/domain/example.fr

openssl s_client -connect example.fr:443 -servername example.fr </dev/null 2>/dev/null \
  | openssl x509 -noout -subject -issuer -dates

Recognize the three common WordPress errors

WordPress shows some messages itself. They do not prove a general hosting outage: they point to the database, a plugin, a theme or an interrupted update.

After a critical error, check the mailbox tied to the administrator account. Since WordPress 5.2, a message may contain a link to recovery mode and name the plugin or theme behind the error.

The normal maintenance page stops being applied after about ten minutes. If the site is still unreachable after that, note the exact message and look for another cause instead of waiting longer.

Check the domain name renewal

For a .fr domain, the expiration date alone does not cause an immediate shutdown. In practice, the site becomes unreachable when the company that manages the domain asks for its deletion, often after an unpaid renewal invoice. That company is your registrar; AFNIC only operates the .fr registry.

After a .fr deletion request, the domain can still be recovered for 30 days from the same registrar. For a .com or .net, the timeline has a grace period, a recovery period and then deletion. In every case, contact the registrar named in the domain’s directory record without delay.

If you no longer know who manages the domain, use AFNIC’s public tool for a .fr or an RDAP service for other extensions. Note the registrar’s name, the domain’s status and its expiration date. A detailed reading of the technical response is in the panel above.

Check the clock, then the certificate

Start by checking the device’s date, time and time zone. A wrong clock can produce the same warning as an expired certificate. Then test from a second device. If the warning remains, the site’s certificate must be checked and renewed.

Since March 15, 2026, a public certificate can no longer be valid for more than 200 days. That limit drops to 100 days in March 2027, then to 47 days in March 2029. A manual yearly renewal is no longer enough: renewal must be automatic and monitored.

Understand why the old address is still visible

After a DNS change, some networks keep using the old answer stored in their cache for a while. The new value is already published at the source; you have to wait for each cache to reach the end of its validity period and ask again.

The delay therefore depends on the setting you changed and its cache duration. The “24 to 48 hours” often quoted does not apply to every change. Testing from several networks and with a DNS checking tool tells you whether a cache is still valid or the configuration is wrong.

Send your host a precise diagnosis

Note the exact address, the full code or message, the time you noticed it, the result of the test from another network, the latest known change, the domain’s status and the certificate’s date. Attach a screenshot without hiding the message.

Since [time and time zone], the address [URL] shows “[exact message]”. The same result appears from [other network/device]. The latest known change is [change, or “none”]. The domain is registered with [registrar] and expires on [date]. The certificate expires on [date]. Can you confirm whether the server receives the request and tell me which error your logs show at that time?

Move from outage diagnosis to the incident procedure

Unknown files, new accounts, redirects or emails sent without any action on your part point to something other than an outage. Preserve the evidence before cleaning the site, cut off public access and follow the procedure for the first 72 hours after a hack.