Website not opening: find the cause from the error message

The browser's message tells you where the problem is: the domain, the server, the site's software or the certificate. First open the site from another network, then follow your message.

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Is it down for everyone or just you?

Open it over mobile data or another network. If it works, the problem is your network or your computer's DNS cache. If not, the problem is the site or the server.

What the browser's message means

DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN or "server address could not be found": a problem with the domain or its DNS records. See the guide on domains that do not work.

ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED: the server is up but the web server (Nginx or Apache) is stopped or not listening on port 80 or 443.

ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT: the server is off or a firewall blocks ports 80 and 443.

Errors 500, 502, 503 and 504: you reached the server but the site's software is failing. See the guide on these errors.

NET::ERR_CERT or "Your connection is not private": a problem with the SSL certificate. See the SSL guide.

Check from your computer

The first command shows the address the domain points to, and the second shows the server's answer. Compare the address with your server's real one.

terminal
$ nslookup example.com
$ curl -I https://example.com

Check from inside the server

Make sure the web server is running and listening on both ports. It is nginx, apache2 or httpd depending on your setup. If it is stopped, read the reason before restarting, since it may be a configuration error.

console
$ sudo systemctl status nginx
$ sudo ss -tlnp | grep -E ':(80|443) '
$ sudo nginx -t
$ sudo systemctl restart nginx

On shared hosting

You need no commands: open cPanel or Plesk, check the error log and disk usage, and make sure your files are in public_html and the subscription has not ended.

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