Questions, answered.
How checks work, what we store, how UtiBox stays free and what it means for site owners. Can’t find yours? Ask us: a person answers.
Website checks
How do I know if a website is down?
Enter its address in the status checker. We request the site from our server and show each step: DNS, connection, certificate and the HTTP answer. If it fails for us too, the site likely has a problem. If it works for us, the problem is probably on your side, and the Is It My Internet? check can help.
Why does UtiBox say a site is up when it won’t load for me?
Because it answered our server. The problem may be your connection, your DNS, a browser extension, a VPN or a regional outage that doesn’t affect where we check from. Try a hard refresh, another browser or network, then run the Is It My Internet? check.
Where do you check from?
From one server: UtiBox server (single origin). Every result says so. Status pages also show what probes on other continents see, using Globalping’s free volunteer network, and label those as regional checks. Elsewhere we don’t claim a site is down “everywhere”, because one location can’t see that.
What do DNS, TCP, TLS and HTTP mean in a result?
They’re the layers a browser goes through. DNS turns the name into an address, TCP opens a connection, TLS checks the security certificate, and HTTP is the page’s actual answer. The first layer that fails tells you where the problem is.
How long are results kept, and who can see them?
A check result is kept for 30 days, then deleted. Each one has a random, unlisted link you can share; anyone with the link can open it, but results aren’t listed or searchable.
Where do the status board states come from?
From our own checks of each service’s public website, from one location. If we haven’t measured a service recently, it says “not measured” rather than guessing.
Is there a limit on checks?
No daily limit. When a site was checked in the last minute (30 seconds if it had problems), you get that result straight away with its full report, and you can refresh it after 30 seconds. If you check a lot of sites very quickly, you may see the most recent saved report for a site instead of a brand-new one for a few minutes, but you’re never refused.
Tools and privacy
Do the tools upload my files or text?
No. The text, developer, password, image, PDF and static QR tools run entirely in your browser. Only website, DNS and certificate checks use our server, because they have to.
Why do some tools say “Soon”?
They’re listed in the catalogue but not finished yet. We show them so you can see what’s coming, and they don’t pretend to work until they do.
Do you use cookies or trackers?
Our own: one strictly necessary cookie, ubsid, which keeps your session and protects forms, plus ub_theme if you choose light or dark mode. Your watchlist, recent tools and preferences stay in your browser’s local storage. Ads are served by Google AdSense, which uses its own cookies; where the law requires it, they wait for your consent. Google Analytics, which also sets its own cookies, shows us how the site is used; in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland it stores nothing until you agree. Ahrefs Web Analytics counts visits without any cookies and never stores your IP address. Microsoft Clarity shows us where people click and scroll, with the tool area blanked out; we don’t use it in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland.
What do you store when I run a check?
The host name you checked, the result, the time and a keyed hash of your IP address, never the address itself, for 30 days.
Free to use
Is UtiBox really free?
Yes. Every tool and status check is free. UtiBox is paid for by ads served by Google AdSense, which are labelled “Advertisement” and kept away from buttons.
Can I turn off personalised ads?
Yes. Ads stay on because they keep UtiBox free, but you can turn off personalised ads in Google’s My Ad Center (myadcenter.google.com). In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, “Ads & cookies” at the bottom of any page also reopens Google’s consent message.
Where are my watchlist and recent tools saved?
In this browser only. Nothing is sent to us, and clearing your browser data clears them.
What is the Outage Digest?
A short email when a major service has a confirmed outage. It’s double opt-in, so nothing is sent until you confirm, and every email has a one-click unsubscribe link.
For site owners
What is UtiBoxBot?
Our checker. It visits a URL only when a person asks us to check it, makes a handful of requests at most and doesn’t crawl.
Can I add a status badge to my site?
Yes. The badge shows your site’s latest result from our checks and links to its UtiBox page. It says “unknown” until we have a real measurement. The home page has a copy-and-paste snippet.
Something on UtiBox is wrong or being misused.
Tell us. Use the contact form and choose “Report abuse” for a check, report or page being misused, or “General question” for anything else.