How to Check if a Website Is Down - Step by Step
The Is It Down website status checker tests any site directly from your own browser in three steps: open the page, type the address, and read the result card. Nothing is installed, no account is needed, and no third-party service receives the address you type.
Step 1 - open the checker
Go to the Is It Down checker. The page is complete the moment it loads: the address box and Check button sit at the top, seven popular-site cards (Google, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X, Reddit, Wikipedia) start their own quick checks, and the how-to-read-results table is already visible. If the site you are worried about is one of the big seven, the card row may already answer your question with no typing at all.
Step 2 - type the address and press Check
Enter a bare domain like example.com or a full https:// address, then press Check or hit Enter. The page validates the address first - a malformed entry gets a visible format hint instead of a silent failure - and then sends one direct request from your device to that site, with an 8-second timeout. A status line timestamps the check and reminds you the probe was sent from this device only.
Step 3 - read the result card right
Reachable (green) means the server answered your device at network level, with the approximate response time in milliseconds; if a specific page still errors, the problem is past the front door - a feature, login or account issue, not the whole site. Not reachable (red) is honestly ambiguous: the site may be down, or your network, DNS or an ad-blocker blocks it, or the site refuses cross-site checks. Timed out means no answer within 8 seconds - an overloaded site and an aggressive firewall look identical here, so retry once.
Step 4 - settle "down or just me" with a second network
Switch your phone from Wi-Fi to mobile data and check again. Loads on data but not on Wi-Fi: your network or DNS is the blocker. Fails on both networks: a real outage is likely - big outages usually resolve within hours, so waiting beats changing settings. The numbered checklist under the tool walks the same triage in order.
Not sure this is the right moment for a check? See the real use cases; to weigh this device-local probe against outage-report sites and terminal ping, see the comparison.
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