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Reference

Messages visitors see on a preview link

Updated October 2026

Instead of the website, a preview link sometimes shows a short DNSPeek page or message. This page lists each one with its exact English text, what it means, and who can fix it: the link owner (the person who created the link in DNSPeek) or the visitor. The pages are shown in the visitor’s browser language, so the same message also appears in Ukrainian, Russian, German, Spanish, Polish, French or Portuguese.

If you are a visitor, you cannot change a link’s settings. Send the message and the link to the person who shared it with you. If you own the link, the fixes below are in your dashboard on the Links page.

On this page

“This link has been disabled by its owner.”

The owner disabled (switched off) the preview link, so DNSPeek does not open the site. This is not a server, DNS or SSL problem: DNSPeek does not even contact the server while the link is off.

  • Visitor: ask the person who sent you the link to switch it back on, or to send a new link.
  • Owner: on the Links page, turn the link’s on/off switch back on. It works again within seconds.

The same text appears when DNSPeek took the link offline after a security check or an abuse review. The link then shows a badge such as Blocked: flagged by Google Web Risk, On hold: security review or Blocked by DNSPeek moderation on the Links page, it cannot be switched back on from the dashboard, and the owner is notified. See Site security checks and Reporting abuse of a preview.

“This preview link has expired.”

The link’s expiry date has passed. Links on the Free plan get 7 days from the last visit, up to 30 days after they were created; guest links (created without an account) expire 7 days after they were created. See How long Free links last.

  • Visitor: ask the owner for a new link.
  • Owner: create a new link on the Links page. On a paid plan you can also set a later expiry date, or none, in the link settings.

“Password required” and “Preview … is protected.”

The owner protected the link with a password. The form asks for it once; the browser is then remembered for 24 hours.

  • Visitor: ask the owner for the password. DNSPeek support cannot tell it to you.
  • Owner: change or remove the password in the link settings on the Links page.

“Incorrect password.”

The password typed into the form does not match. Check the letter case and spaces, or ask the owner for the current password: the owner may have changed it.

“Too many failed attempts. Try again in 15 minutes.”

After several wrong passwords from the same network, the form is locked for 15 minutes. A similar message, “Too many failed attempts on this link. Try again later.”, means many wrong passwords were tried on the link from different places, so the form is locked for everyone for a while.

  • Visitor: wait, then type the password carefully, or ask the owner to confirm it.
  • Owner: if you did not expect this, change the password in the link settings.

“Preview of example.com on a new server”

This is the visitor notice, shown before the first page of a preview: “Created with DNSPeek. This is not the official site address. Only continue if you were expecting this link.” It protects visitors from look-alike links. Click Continue to the preview to open the site; the notice does not come back on that browser for 30 days.

“Please press Continue on this page to open the preview.” appears when the browser tried to skip the notice: press the button.

  • Owner: on paid plans you can turn the notice off per link with Show the visitor notice. See The visitor notice.

“Preview suspended”

Full text: “This preview has been suspended by DNSPeek. If you own it, check your email or contact support.” DNSPeek suspended the workspace that owns the link, usually after a breach of the Acceptable Use Policy or an unresolved security issue. Every link of that workspace shows this page.

  • Visitor: nothing to do on your side; tell the person who sent you the link.
  • Owner: check your email for a message from DNSPeek and reply to it, or contact support. The dashboard cannot lift a suspension.

“Preview unavailable”

Full text: “This preview points at a site that is blocked on DNSPeek.” The link’s domain or server IP is on the DNSPeek blocklist, for example because it served phishing or malware. If you own the site and believe this is a mistake, contact support with the link.

“Preview not found” or “link not found”

No preview link exists at this address: the alias is mistyped, the link was deleted, or the address was cut off when it was copied. “DNSPeek previews are served on their own subdomain” and “Links of the form … are no longer supported.” mean an old address format: open the link again from the DNSPeek dashboard to get its current address.

  • Visitor: check the address, or ask the owner to send it again.
  • Owner: copy the link from the Links page, or create a new one.

When the new server fails

If DNSPeek cannot get the page from the new server, the preview shows an error page with Likely causes, What to do, a Request ID, Edit this preview (opens the link on the Links page) and Try again. Only the owner or their host can fix these; a visitor can try again later or tell the owner.

  • “The server refused the connection”: nothing accepted the connection; the IP is wrong, the web server is stopped, or a firewall rejects it.
  • “The server didn't answer” or “The server can't be reached”: no answer within 10 seconds or no route; the IP is wrong, the server is offline, or a firewall drops connections.
  • “The server took too long to respond”: the server accepted the connection but sent nothing in time; a slow script or a site not yet set up on the server.
  • “The server sent an invalid response”: the site crashed, or the ports in the link settings point at the wrong service.
  • “The page is too large to preview”: open a smaller page.
  • “Paused after repeated failures”: after several failures DNSPeek stops contacting the server for 30 seconds and shows the last error. Fix the server and reload.

See Find your server IP and Link diagnostics.

“We couldn't open a secure connection”

DNSPeek could not open HTTPS to the new server. The page names the reason:

  • “The server has no certificate for …”: the IP is wrong or the site is not set up on the server yet. Add the domain to the server; a self-signed certificate works for previews.
  • “The certificate for … on this server has expired.”, or a certificate for a different domain, or a self-signed certificate: renew or install the right certificate, or set the SSL mode to Skip verification.
  • “That port answers with plain HTTP, not HTTPS.”: check the HTTPS port, or use the Auto SSL mode.
  • “The server only supports outdated TLS versions.”: enable TLS 1.2 or 1.3.

“The site requires HTTPS, and HTTPS failed” means the server redirects plain HTTP to HTTPS, so DNSPeek cannot fall back to HTTP. The owner changes the SSL mode in the link settings; see SSL modes.

Plain-text errors

  • “request body too large”: an upload or form was bigger than 64 MB per request.
  • “proxying to private/loopback addresses is not allowed”: the link points at a private network address, which DNSPeek never connects to. See Limitations.

Messages that are not from DNSPeek

Anything that does not match this page comes from the website or its server, for example a Cloudflare challenge, a security plugin’s block page, a “404 Not Found” of the site, or a WordPress “Error establishing a database connection”. The owner checks the site on the new server; see Bot protection and firewalls.