What being blacklisted means for a domain
A blacklist is a list of domains that a company considers harmful. Browsers, antivirus products, company firewalls and mail servers download these lists and block or filter anything that matches.
Being on one list can mean a red warning in a browser, an antivirus block page, links that stop working in ads or chat apps, or emails that land in spam.
Step by step: how to check if your domain is blacklisted
- 1Type your domain, without https or www, into the free checker on this page and run the check.
- 2Read the security vendor results. A flagged result means that vendor blocks or warns about your site, for example Google Safe Browsing or one of the engines in VirusTotal.
- 3If you send email from the domain, run the Email Blacklist Checker too, because spam blacklists are separate from security vendors.
- 4Note every listing with its vendor or list name. Each one is removed separately.
- 5If you see a listing, check the site for anything harmful before you ask for removal, so the request is not refused.
- 6Request removal from each list, or let us do it, then check again to confirm the listing is gone.
The four places to check by hand
A domain can be blocked in four separate layers, and each one has its own lookup. Checking all four shows you who blocks you and where your visitors or emails are affected.
- Browsers: look up the domain in the Google Safe Browsing Transparency Report, and open the Security Issues report in Google Search Console if you have access. This is the layer behind red warning pages in Chrome, Firefox and Safari.
- VirusTotal: search the domain and use Reanalyse to get fresh results. Even one or two detections matter, because other tools and firewalls copy these verdicts.
- Web filters: run the lookup tools from Fortinet, Cisco Talos, Palo Alto Networks and Forcepoint. Watch for categories such as Malicious, Phishing or Newly Registered, which block you on office and school networks.
- Email: check Spamhaus and SURBL for both the domain and the IP address your mail is sent from, because these lists decide whether your emails reach the inbox.
Write down the vendor, the exact label and the date for every listing you find. Our guides on how to remove your website from a blacklist and the blacklisted website playbook explain what to do with that list.
Signs your domain may be blacklisted
- Visitors report a red warning such as deceptive site ahead or dangerous site.
- Customers using a particular product say their antivirus is blocking your website.
- Your emails are going to spam even though nothing changed on your side.
- Google Ads or Meta ads are disapproved or the account is suspended for malicious software or a blocked domain.
- Company customers cannot open your site from the office, while it works at home.
What each result means
The check shows listings at the moment you run it, on the vendors and lists it covers. Some vendors only show a block inside their own product, so a customer screenshot is still useful when a visitor reports a warning the check does not show.
A listing tells you that a vendor blocks you, not always why. The vendor pages in our website blacklist removal hub and email spam blacklist hub explain what each one looks for and how to ask for a review.
Different tools often disagree. Each vendor runs its own scanners and updates on its own schedule, so one can still list you after another has cleared you. Treat any single listing as real until the vendor itself shows you as clean.
- No listing: none of the vendors and lists we check block your domain right now. A few products only show blocks inside their own software, so if a customer still sees a warning, ask for a screenshot that names the product.
- One or two detections on VirusTotal: these still matter, because other tools and firewalls copy these verdicts. Check the label and the vendor.
- A security vendor listing: that vendor blocks visitors from your website. Its vendor page explains what it looks for and how to ask for a review.
- A spam blacklist listing: mail servers that use that list may send your email to junk.
- Listed in one tool, clean in another: each vendor updates on its own schedule. Treat the listing as real until the vendor itself shows you as clean.