SSL Expiry Checker

Check exactly when a website's SSL certificate expires, and how many days remain.

What is an SSL expiry checker?

An SSL expiry checker tells you exactly when a website's certificate stops being valid and how many days are left. When a certificate passes its SSL expiry date, browsers show a full-page security warning and most visitors leave. Checking the date ahead of time gives you the chance to renew before anyone notices.

This tool reads the expiry date straight from the certificate the site is serving right now, so it reflects what visitors actually receive.

How the SSL expiry check works

The tool connects to the site on the standard HTTPS port and reads the certificate's "valid to" date. It then counts the days remaining and places the result in one of four groups:

Healthy: more than 30 days remain.
Warning: 30 days or fewer remain.
Critical: 7 days or fewer remain.
Expired: the date has already passed.

The certificate is read even if it fails other checks, so you still get a date for a certificate that is expired or issued for another name.

How to check SSL expiry

Enter the hostname, such as example.com.
Press Check Expiry.
Read the status, the expiry date and the days remaining.
Repeat for each hostname you care about, such as www and other subdomains, which may use different certificates.

What the SSL expiry results mean

The expiry date is shown with the number of days left, along with the warning and critical thresholds used. A healthy result needs no action. A warning means renewal should happen soon; if your host renews automatically, it usually happens around this point. A critical or expired result needs action now.

Why certificates expire

Short lifetimes limit the damage if a private key is ever stolen and make sure certificate details are checked regularly. Since March 2026, public certificates can be valid for at most 200 days, and the limit is set to fall to 100 days in March 2027 and 47 days in 2029. Free certificates from Let's Encrypt last 90 days and are designed to be renewed automatically.

Keeping track of several certificates

Businesses often have more certificates than they realise: the main site, www, shop and help subdomains, staging sites, webmail and even routers or printers with web interfaces. List every hostname that serves HTTPS, check each one here, and note who is responsible for renewing it. Automating renewal wherever possible is the most reliable approach, because shorter certificate lifetimes mean manual renewals come round more and more often.

Common uses

Checking renewal dates for all of a business's websites.
Confirming that an automatic renewal actually worked.
Investigating a sudden "your connection is not private" warning.
Finding certificates that still renew manually, before lifetimes get shorter.

Common problems and fixes

The certificate expired despite auto-renewal. Renewal often fails because the domain's DNS moved, a validation file could not be reached, or a CDN served an old certificate. Check the renewal log in your hosting panel and renew manually.

You renewed, but the old date still shows. The new certificate may not be installed on the server yet, or the web server needs a restart to load it. Some setups also cache certificates at a CDN.

Expired, but only on some devices. Old phones and computers may not trust newer root certificates, which can look like an expiry problem. Use the SSL Checker to see whether the certificate itself is in date and trusted.

Different dates on www and non-www. Each hostname may use its own certificate. Renew both, or replace them with one certificate that covers both names.

Related tools

SSL Checker checks trust, hostname match and the chain.
Domain Expiry Checker checks when the domain registration ends.
Domain Health Check includes certificate validity in its score.

Frequently asked questions

What happens when an SSL certificate expires?

Browsers show a full-page warning saying the connection is not private, and most visitors leave. Some apps and services refuse to connect at all. The site itself keeps running, but in practice it becomes unusable until a valid certificate is installed, so renewal before the date is important.

How long are SSL certificates valid for?

Since March 2026, public certificates can be valid for at most 200 days, and that limit falls to 100 days in March 2027 and 47 days in 2029. Let's Encrypt certificates last 90 days and are usually renewed automatically by your host around 30 days before they expire.

How do I renew an SSL certificate?

If your host provides free certificates, renewal is usually automatic; check the SSL section of your control panel if it failed. For a paid certificate, renew with the provider, create a new certificate request, then install the new certificate and its intermediate on the server.

Why does the expiry checker say critical?

Critical means 7 days or fewer remain before the certificate expires. Renew it now. If renewal is meant to be automatic, something has probably gone wrong, such as a failed domain validation, so check your host's SSL settings or renewal log rather than waiting.

Is SSL expiry the same as domain expiry?

No. SSL expiry is when the website's certificate stops being trusted, which causes browser warnings. Domain expiry is when the registration of the domain name ends, which can take the whole site and email offline. They have separate dates and must be renewed separately.

Can I get a reminder before my SSL certificate expires?

This tool checks on demand and does not send reminders. Many hosts and certificate providers email reminders, so make sure your contact address with them is current. For important sites, an uptime or certificate monitoring service can alert you automatically.

Why do www and non-www show different expiry dates?

They are served with different certificates. This happens when each name was set up separately or when one passes through a CDN. Renew both on time, or switch to a single certificate that lists both names to keep renewals simpler.