SSL certificate expired

Also searched as: ssl expired

Updated 9 October 2026

Short answer

An expired certificate makes every browser show a security warning instead of your site. Renew it now: in your hosting panel, with your certificate provider, or with certbot renew if you manage your own server. Then find out why automatic renewal failed. Free certificates from Let's Encrypt last 90 days, so a broken renewal will catch you again.

What's the problem

Visitors get "Your connection is not private" with NET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID, or "This certificate has expired". Everything worked yesterday.

Why it happens

  • Automatic renewal stopped working, for example because the renewal job was removed, the server moved, or DNS changed so the renewal check fails.
  • The renewal check couldn't reach your site, often because a firewall, a redirect, or Cloudflare blocked the verification request.
  • A paid certificate wasn't renewed because a card expired or a reminder email went to someone who left.
  • The renewed certificate wasn't loaded: it was renewed on disk but the web server wasn't restarted.

How to fix it

  1. Renew the certificate. On managed hosting, look for "SSL" in the control panel. On your own server with Let's Encrypt: sudo certbot renew, then reload the web server.
  2. Check the new expiry date by viewing the certificate in the browser.
  3. Find why renewal failed: read the renewal tool's logs. Certbot logs are in /var/log/letsencrypt/.
  4. Fix the cause: restore the scheduled renewal job, allow the verification path through your firewall and redirects, or update DNS.
  5. Set a reminder or monitor that warns you before the next expiry.
  6. If you use Cloudflare, visitors see Cloudflare's certificate, but with "Full (strict)" your server's certificate must also be valid.

What Preventionlabs checks

One click runs the full report on your domain. For this problem it shows whether HTTPS works and http visitors are sent to it; your DNS: nameservers, addresses, DNSSEC, and records pointing at services that no longer exist. With Cloudflare connected, it also shows your certificate and the days until it expires.

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. Let's Encrypt: FAQofficial docsOur default certificates are valid for 90 days.
  2. Let's Encrypt: FAQofficial docsWe recommend renewing 90 day certificates every 60 days and six day certificates every three days.

Related

"Your connection is not private" The browser couldn't verify your site's certificate: it's expired, for the wrong domain, or not trusted. Fix or renew it on your server. HTTPS not working Usually no valid certificate, port 443 closed, or two redirect settings fighting. Check the certificate, then redirects and Cloudflare SSL mode. SSL handshake failed Your server and the browser or Cloudflare couldn't agree on a secure connection: no certificate, wrong SSL mode, or outdated TLS only. Why is my website down? Check whether it's down for everyone, read the error on the page, then work through domain, hosting and recent changes. Most outages trace back to one of those.
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