Site Down, Cannot See Website

Typing your domain name in your browser and not seeing what you expect can be quite upsetting. However, there is typically no cause for alarm, as many issues that cause this are easy to identify and resolve. If your site is not appearing when expected, please follow the steps in this guide to troubleshoot the issue.

Basic Guide

Go to the website

The first step in checking to see if your site is down is accessing it within your browser. It is best practice to do so after clearing your browser's cache. If you see styling that resembles your website, but the content you're expecting is not appearing or is replaced by an error message, a recent change (installing a plugin or updating a theme) may be the culprit. If the issue occurs when you click a specific link within your site, it is likely the cause of an invalid file path or URL.

Try loading the Control Panel.

Try loading your control panel if the file paths check out and your site is not pulling up. If the control panel works, the issue could be due to an issue with your Domain Name Service (DNS). The most common problems are related to DNS propagation or incorrect DNS. To confirm whether or not it is a DNS issue, try pulling up the domain in a WHOIS lookup and review the DNS records for common issues such as custom A records, or CNAME records, or mismatched nameservers at the registrant or DNS zone levels.

For help with DNS issues, please see:

DNS Troubleshooting Guide

Try viewing the site from a proxy server.

If the DNS and file paths appear correct, try viewing the site from a proxy server. This helps to determine whether the site is available or not. If the site loads, it is available to the public. If you believe propagation is responsible for your site not working, try flushing your DNS or changing the host file on your local machine.

Note: You may be experiencing this issue if you are accessing your site from a public location using special ports, as some public networks block various ports.

Traceroute

If you are still unable to access your site, it is recommended that you run a traceroute from your local machine to ensure your computer can reach and communicate with your HostGator server. For additional information on how to run a traceroute, please refer to the following articles:

Additional Guide

Is your billing up-to-date, and your domain hasn't expired?

HostGator will generate invoices and process automatic payments based on your billing cycle and the product in question. However, there are circumstances where you choose to disable automatic billing and the existing hosting service and domain lapse before you know it.

Check the following articles to make sure your payments are up-to-date.

Is your domain properly connected to your web host?

One of the basics of troubleshooting web pages is ensuring that the domain (your website name) is active and properly connected to your web host (your hosting plan).

Please check out these articles for more information on checking your DNS records.

Is there an error message on your website?

Here are some helpful articles to guide you in fixing common website errors.

Need further assistance? Please contact us if you encounter problems with these steps or have any other questions regarding your HostGator service.

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