My SSL certificate expired. What now?

Short answer: When a website’s SSL certificate expires, browsers show a full-page security warning instead of the site, and most visitors leave. Renew or re-issue the certificate in your hosting account (most hosts offer free, self-renewing ones), then check it again; a renewed certificate usually works within minutes.

Visitors see “Your connection is not private” instead of your website. Here’s how to get the padlock back, and keep it.

What happened

Every secure website has a certificate that proves it is who it says it is. Certificates expire on a set date, from a few months to a year after they’re issued. If nobody renews it, or automatic renewal stops working, every browser starts showing a full-page warning such as “Your connection is not private” instead of your site.

Use our free SSL inspector to see the exact expiry date, who issued the certificate and which addresses it covers.

Why it matters right now

Most visitors won’t click past a security warning. While the certificate is expired, your website is effectively offline for new customers, and contact forms and online payments stop being trustworthy.

How to fix it

1. Log in to your hosting account (or your website builder) and find “SSL”, “Security” or “Let’s Encrypt”.
2. Renew or re-issue the certificate. Most hosts offer free certificates that renew themselves. Turn on automatic renewal so this doesn’t happen again.
3. If you bought the certificate separately (from a registrar or certificate seller), renew it there, then install the new one through your host. Your host’s support team can install it for you.
4. If your site sits behind a service like Cloudflare, check the certificate there as well as on your host.
5. Check again with the SSL inspector. A renewed certificate usually works within minutes.

Why automatic renewal fails

The usual causes: the domain’s settings were changed (moved to a new host or new DNS), the hosting plan lapsed, or the site is still pointed at an old server nobody looks after. If you can’t log in to the hosting account because a former web designer set it up, getting that access back is the first job.

Common questions

Why did my certificate expire if renewal was automatic?

Usually because the domain moved to a new host or DNS, the hosting plan lapsed, or the site still points at an old server nobody maintains.

Will an expired certificate hurt my Google ranking?

Visitors bounce off the warning page, and Google favours secure sites, so leaving it expired costs both customers and visibility.

How do I see when my certificate expires?

Our free SSL inspector shows the exact expiry date, the issuer and the addresses the certificate covers.

Updated October 17, 2026.