BREAKING: Netlify Investigating Site Access Errors — Workarounds Inside

Netlify is experiencing widespread issues accessing hosted sites. Here's what we know and how to work around it.

Netlify Experiencing Access Errors — Incident Report

What's Affected

Netlify is currently investigating errors preventing users from accessing Netlify-hosted sites. The scope appears broad, affecting multiple regions and deployments. Note: I'm unsure of the exact percentage of affected sites or whether this impacts all regions equally — check Netlify's status page for real-time details.

Immediate Workarounds

1. Use Netlify's Domain Alternative

If your custom domain is down, try accessing your site via the default Netlify subdomain:

Format: [your-site-name].netlify.app

Example: mystartup.netlify.app instead of mystartup.com

This may bypass DNS/routing issues affecting custom domains

2. Clear Cache & Hard Refresh

Perform a hard refresh (Ctrl+Shift+R on Windows/Linux, Cmd+Shift+R on Mac)

Clear browser cookies and cache for the affected domain

Try an incognito/private browsing window

3. Check DNS Records

If you're using a custom domain, verify DNS is pointing correctly:

Visit your DNS provider's dashboard

Confirm CNAME or A records point to Netlify nameservers

DNS propagation can take time; use [whatsmydns.net](https://whatsmydns.net) to verify global propagation

4. Access via CDN Cache

If cached by CloudFlare or another CDN, the cached version may load

This is temporary and depends on your cache TTL settings

5. Contact Your DNS Provider

If Netlify's infrastructure is down, your DNS provider may show the outage:

Check their status pages

Consider temporarily pointing DNS elsewhere if needed for critical services

How to Check If You're Affected

1. Visit Netlify Status Page: [status.netlify.com](https://status.netlify.com) - Official incident updates posted here first - Check for regional or service-specific incidents

2. Test Your Site URL: - Try accessing your site directly - Test the .netlify.app subdomain version - Use tools like [DownDetector](https://downdetector.com) to see if others report issues

3. Check HTTP Status Codes: - Use curl -I https://yoursite.com in terminal - 503/502 = server error (Netlify side) - 404 = DNS/routing issue

4. Monitor @Netlify on Twitter/X - Real-time updates and ETAs posted during incidents

Alternative Platforms (If Extended Outage)

I'm unsure how long this incident will last. If it extends beyond a few hours and impacts your business:

Vercel — Similar static hosting, quick migration

AWS Amplify — Enterprise-grade alternative

GitHub Pages — Free, minimal features

Cloudflare Pages — Fast, good DDoS protection

What NOT to Do

❌ Don't immediately switch DNS providers; wait for Netlify's all-clear

❌ Don't redeploy excessively; it won't resolve infrastructure issues

❌ Don't panic-change DNS settings without testing

Next Steps

1. Check Netlify's status page every 15 minutes 2. Inform customers using the .netlify.app subdomain as a temporary workaround 3. If you have a support plan, contact Netlify support 4. Monitor Twitter/status pages for ETA updates

Status: Ongoing investigation. Updates will be posted to official channels.