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Security & backups

Fix an SSL certificate that is not working

Browser warnings, mixed content and renewal failures — the four causes and their fixes.

5 min read · Last updated 2026-07-17

Every domain on your account gets a free certificate that is issued and renewed automatically. When a browser still shows a warning, it is almost always one of four things.

1. The domain does not point at us yet

Certificates are issued only after the domain resolves to your HostLift service. Check your DNS records first; issuance normally completes within fifteen minutes of DNS being correct.

2. Mixed content

The page loads over HTTPS but pulls an image, script or stylesheet over plain HTTP. The padlock disappears and browsers block the resource. Open the browser console, find the HTTP URLs and update them to HTTPS.

3. A CAA record is blocking issuance

If your DNS zone has a CAA record naming a different certificate authority, issuance will fail. Either remove the record or add our authority to it.

4. www and root are not both covered

Make sure both the root domain and the www hostname resolve to your service before requesting issuance, so both end up on the certificate.

If none of these apply, open a ticket. We can see the issuance log and will tell you exactly which validation step failed.

Did this not solve it?

Open a ticket with the domain and what you were doing when it broke, and we will pick it up.