Domain not working

Updated 9 October 2026

Short answer

When your site works on its hosting address but not on your own domain, or the browser says the site "can't be reached", the domain is the problem. Check three things in order. Has the domain expired? Are its nameservers (which company answers for it) the ones you expect? Do its DNS records (A, AAAA or CNAME) point at your current host? If you changed something recently, it may just be cached: changes take as long as the record's TTL to reach everyone.

What's the problem

Your domain shows "This site can't be reached", DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN, a registrar's parked page, or your old website. The site may work on its .netlify.app, .myshopify.com or hosting address.

Why it happens

  • The domain expired, often because auto-renew failed on an old card.
  • Nameservers point somewhere else, for example after moving to Cloudflare or a new host but only half-finishing the switch.
  • DNS records are wrong or missing: the A record points at an old server, or www has no record.
  • A recent change hasn't reached everyone yet because of caching. See DNS propagation.
  • DNSSEC is misconfigured after moving DNS providers.

How to fix it

  1. Check the domain's expiry with your registrar, and renew it if needed.
  2. Check the nameservers: run a public lookup of the domain's NS records and compare with what your DNS provider says they should be.
  3. Check the records at the provider your nameservers point to: the main domain and www should point at your current host.
  4. Fix and wait up to the record's TTL. If you moved nameservers, it can take up to 24 hours for the registrar's change to apply.
  5. If you moved DNS providers, check DNSSEC is turned off at the registrar or set up again at the new provider.

What Preventionlabs checks

One click runs the full report on your domain. For this problem it shows your DNS: nameservers, addresses, DNSSEC, and records pointing at services that no longer exist; your domain's registration and expiry date; whether your site loads, how fast, and where its redirects go. With Cloudflare connected, it also shows DNS changes in the last 7 days.

Run your free report

Your first report is free, no card needed. Then A$50 a month, up to 10 domains. Read-only: it never changes anything.

Sources

  1. MDN Web Docs: DNSglossaryDNS (Domain Name System) is a hierarchical and decentralized naming system for Internet-connected resources.
  2. Cloudflare: Time to Live (TTL)official docsTime to Live (TTL) is a field on DNS records that controls how long each record is cached and — as a result — how long it takes for record updates to reach your end users.

Related

DNS not resolving: NXDOMAIN NXDOMAIN means DNS says the name doesn't exist at all. Usually a typo, an expired domain, a missing record for that subdomain, or broken nameservers. DNS error A DNS error means the name couldn't be turned into an address. Check whether it fails everywhere or only on your network, then check the domain's records. Nameserver error The nameservers listed for your domain aren't answering correctly. Usually they don't match your DNS provider, or the provider doesn't have your domain set up. DNS propagation: how long it takes A record change reaches everyone within its TTL, often minutes to hours. A nameserver change can take up to 24 hours. Here's how to check and speed it up.
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