Is It Down or Just Me? How to Tell in Two Minutes
A website or app is down for everyone when the company’s own status page reports a problem and the same site also fails on a different device and a different network. If it loads anywhere else, the problem is local, on your device, your Wi-Fi or your internet provider. The checks below take about two minutes.
How do I check whether a site is down for everyone?
Run these five checks in order and stop as soon as one gives you a clear answer.
- Open the company’s official status page. Large services publish one, usually at a “status” address or linked from the help center. If it lists an active incident, you have your answer.
- Look at a live status page that is not run by the company. Our pages follow the official status feeds and our own probes. Examples: live Discord status, live Netflix status and live ChatGPT status. Every service we track has its own page.
- Try another network. Turn off Wi-Fi on your phone and load the site over mobile data. Apple’s own troubleshooting advice for Safari starts the same way: load the site over cellular data or a different Wi-Fi network (Apple Support: Safari isn’t loading websites).
- Try another device. If a second phone or computer on the same Wi-Fi loads the site, the problem is on the first device.
- Try another browser or a private window. A private window skips most extensions and stored site data, which are common local causes.
What does a real outage look like?
In a real outage the failure repeats on every device and network you try. The page may show an error such as 500, 502, 503 or 504, a message that the service is unavailable, or nothing at all. The company’s status page usually lists an incident, though it may take time to appear. Our guide to HTTP error codes explains what each number says about whose side the fault is on.
Some outages are partial. Atlassian, whose Statuspage product many companies use, defines a “partial outage” as a component that is broken for some users but works for others. So a friend can be online while you are not, and the status page can still be right. Our guide to reading a status page covers each label.
How do I know the problem is on my side?
The problem is probably local when the site works on another network or device but not on the one you are using. Other signs point the same way:
- Several unrelated sites fail at the same time on one device.
- The error mentions DNS or says the server cannot be found. See DNS errors explained.
- The site works on mobile data but not on Wi-Fi. See why a site works on mobile data but not Wi-Fi.
- Nothing loads on any device in the house. See internet down at home.
- A VPN, content blocker or security app is switched on. Apple lists VPNs and security software among the things that can block content from loading.
What do the results mean?
| What you see | Most likely cause | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
| Status page shows an incident; site fails everywhere | Service outage | Wait, then check the status page for updates |
| Status page is green; site fails on every device and network | Outage not yet reported, or a partial outage | Check our live status page again in 10 to 15 minutes |
| Site works on mobile data, fails on Wi-Fi | Router, DNS or Wi-Fi filter | Restart the router, then see the Wi-Fi guide |
| Site works on another device only | Browser, app or device setting | Update, clear site data, restart the device |
| Many sites fail on all devices | Home internet or provider | Check your provider’s outage page |
What if the status page says everything is fine?
A status page shows only what the company has posted so far. Companies update it after their staff confirm a problem, so a short gap between the first user reports and the first post is normal. If the page is green and the site fails on every network you try, wait ten minutes and check again. Use that time to confirm that your own account is not the issue: try signing in from a different device, or check whether the service has posted on its official support account.
What should I avoid while checking?
Do not type your password or a one-time code into any “outage checker” or “fix” tool. A status check never needs your login. Do not install software from a site that promises to repair an outage, and download apps only from the official app stores. Do not search for a support phone number and call the first result, because scam listings imitate support lines. Our guide on what to do during an outage has the full list.
Bottom line
Check the official status page, then test a second network and a second device. A site that fails everywhere and appears on a status page as an incident is down for everyone. A site that loads anywhere else is a local problem, and the fix starts with your browser, router or provider.
FAQ
Is a site down if my friend can open it?
Not necessarily. Outages can be partial, hitting some regions, accounts or features first. Your friend’s connection may also use a different path to the service than yours.
How long should I wait before assuming it is an outage?
Two minutes is enough to run the checks above. If they point to the service, wait and recheck its status page every 10 to 15 minutes instead of reloading constantly.
Can I rely on a third-party “is it down” site?
Treat any single site as a hint, not proof. Compare it with the company’s official status page and a second network, as described above.
Why does the site work in the app but not in the browser?
The app and the website can use different servers and different stored data. If one works, the service itself is at least partly up, and the fault is more likely in the browser, an extension or cached site data.