“My website's not working... heeelllllp... !”
What are you seeing?
Different browsers will indicate errors differently. The messaging I'm using here as examples is specific to Chrome on Windows.
I'm getting "This site can't be reached"
Aka "Refused to connect."
DNS changes can take awhile to propagate globally. Your TTL settings will affect this, however many providers still do their DNS updates in batch at ~midnight.
- First, double-check your Custom Domains section of your Webflow hosting for your site. Is everything green, showing as "Connected"? If not, revisit your DNS settings, and make sure they are right.
If those are Connected ok, then your browser make be showing old data.
Web browsers and OS-level network layers often cache DNS requests, such that even a hard refresh of a page might not give you the current live content. Your browser's refreshing, but it's still trying to retrieve the page from an old server location.
Let's see if it's working for everyone else.
https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/
If it's just you, your DNS and hosting are fine. Your browser and network adapter, even a proxy server may need to clear their caches so that you're getting current content.
At the browser level, here are the instructions for Chrome/Win, you'll need to adapt these for your own browser.
- Try hard refreshing your page with CTRL+F5 ( Chrome )
- Open Chrome Dev tools ( CTRL+I ), click the Networks tab, and choose the ignore cache checkbox. Refresh your page with dev tools open, see if it shows.
- If not, you may need a systems restart, or just wait a bit for your network adapter to expire its DNS cache.
I'm seeing my site but getting "not secure" errors
If you've just enabled SSL, it takes a bit of time for the certificate to be provisioned. Give it an hour and check again.
DNS Propagation
DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to propagate worldwide. To check propagation, you can Use WhatsMyDns;
Change the URL to use your domain. Make certain the CNAME test includes the www in your domain, e.g.;
- A Records:
https://www.whatsmydns.net/#A/yourdomain.com - CNAME Record:
https://www.whatsmydns.net/#CNAME/www.yourdomain.com
Recommended by Milan.
Tools to Help
https://toolbox.googleapps.com/apps/dig/
https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/
https://www.whatsmydns.net/
https://securitytrails.com/
