{"id":1028,"date":"2021-09-30T15:16:28","date_gmt":"2021-09-30T15:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.hostinger.io\/support\/2021\/09\/30\/5613445-how-to-fix-a-failed-lifetime-ssl-installation-in-hostinger\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T03:17:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T03:17:11","slug":"5613445-how-to-fix-a-failed-lifetime-ssl-installation-in-hostinger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/5613445-how-to-fix-a-failed-lifetime-ssl-installation-in-hostinger\/","title":{"rendered":"How to fix a failed Hostinger Lifetime SSL installation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Fix a failed Hostinger Lifetime SSL installation by confirming the SSL status, pointing your domain to Hostinger, removing conflicting DNS records, checking the domain name length, and reinstalling the certificate. Lifetime SSL installs automatically within 1&ndash;2 hours after you <a data-click-id=\"hgr-post-content-link-add-a-website\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/1583214-how-to-add-a-website-in-hostinger\/\">add a website<\/a>, <span data-path-to-node=\"2,1\"><span class=\"citation-51\"><a data-click-id=\"hgr-post-content-link-subdomain\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/1583405-how-to-create-and-delete-subdomains-in-hostinger\/\">subdomain<\/a>, or<a data-click-id=\"hgr-post-content-link-parked-domain\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/1583404-how-to-park-a-domain-at-hostinger\/\"> parked domain<\/a><\/span><\/span> to your <a data-click-id=\"hgr-post-content-link-web\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/web-hosting\">web<\/a>, <a data-click-id=\"hgr-post-content-link-cloud\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/cloud-hosting\">cloud<\/a>, or <a data-click-id=\"hgr-post-content-link-agency\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/pro\">Agency<\/a> hosting plan, and it retries automatically if it fails. Follow these steps if the website still shows as not secure after two hours.<\/p><h3>Before you start<\/h3><ul>\n<li>This guide applies to custom websites using PHP\/HTML or WordPress.<\/li>\n<li>The website must be <a data-click-id=\"hgr-post-content-link-added\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/1583214-how-to-add-a-website-in-hostinger\/\">added<\/a> to your hosting plan (e.g. if your website is hosted on a different provider and you only have the domain name in Hostinger, the SSL is managed by your hosting provider).<\/li>\n<li>For Hostinger AI Builder, SSL certificates are managed automatically in the background and activate only after you <strong>Publish<\/strong> your website.\n<ul>\n<li><span data-path-to-node=\"19,1,0,1\"><span class=\"citation-32\">Managing SSL settings is not available for Hostinger AI Builder websites<\/span><\/span><span data-path-to-node=\"19,1,0,3\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul><h2 id=\"h_2837c505a4\">Step 1 &ndash; Confirm the SSL status<\/h2><p>First, ensure that the SSL installation is effectively failed, or if it&rsquo;s in progress.<\/p><ol>\n<li>Go to Hostinger dashboard <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&rarr; <\/span><a data-click-id=\"hgr-post-content-link-websites\" href=\"https:\/\/hpanel.hostinger.com\/websites\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Websites<\/span><\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Click Dashboard next to the website.<\/li>\n<li>Select Security <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&rarr; SSL on the sidebar.<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Check the SSL status\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Active<\/strong>: The SSL is installed. Open your website on an incognito\/private browser window to verify.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Installing<\/strong>: SSL installation is in progress. Wait up to 2 hours and reload the Hostinger dashboard page to update the status.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Inactive <\/strong>or<strong> Failed<\/strong>: The SSL is not installed. Proceed to the next step.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol><h2 id=\"h-step-2-point-your-domain-to-hostinger\">Step 2 &ndash; Point your domain to Hostinger<\/h2><div class=\"source-inline-chip-container ng-star-inserted\">For an SSL to install correctly, your domain or subdomain must be pointed to Hostinger.<\/div><ul>\n<li>Ensure your domain uses Hostinger <a data-click-id=\"hgr-post-content-link-nameservers\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/1583247-where-to-find-hostinger-nameservers\/\">nameservers<\/a> or points to your hosting <a data-click-id=\"hgr-post-content-link-ip-address\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/4407303-where-to-find-the-a-record-of-your-hosting-plan-at-hostinger\/\">IP address<\/a> via A record.<\/li>\n<li>If you use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) like Cloudflare, temporarily set the A record to <strong>DNS only<\/strong> (bypass proxy) until the SSL installation completes. You can re-enable the proxy once the certificate is Active.<\/li>\n<\/ul><p>Allow up to 24 hours for DNS changes to <a data-click-id=\"hgr-post-content-link-propagate\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/4146975-what-is-dns-propagation-at-hostinger\/\">propagate<\/a> globally.<\/p><h2 id=\"h_2562e89500\">Step 3 &ndash; Check for DNS record conflicts<\/h2><p>Certain DNS records can prevent the SSL validation process from completing.<\/p><ul>\n<li><strong>A records<\/strong>: Ensure there is only one A record per domain or subdomain to avoid conflicts. If there are more, <a data-click-id=\"hgr-post-content-link-remove\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/8899705-how-to-manage-aaaa-records-at-hostinger\/\">remove<\/a> them from your DNS zone.<\/li>\n<li><strong>CAA records<\/strong>: Lifetime SSL does not require Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records. If there are any CAA records on your domain&rsquo;s DNS zone, <a data-click-id=\"hgr-post-content-link-remove-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/5950464-how-to-manage-caa-records-at-hostinger\/\">remove<\/a> them.<\/li>\n<\/ul><h2 id=\"h_fc39a4f599\">Step 3 &ndash; Verify domain name length<\/h2><p class=\"no-margin\"><span data-path-to-node=\"11,1\"><span class=\"citation-41\">SSL certificates have technical constraints regarding the length of the domain name<\/span><\/span><span data-path-to-node=\"11,3\">.<\/span><\/p><ul>\n<li>The total length of the domain (including subdomains and extensions like .com) must be 64 characters or fewer.<\/li>\n<li>If your domain or subdomain exceeds 64 characters, the SSL installation will fail. In this case, you must use a shorter domain name<\/li>\n<\/ul><div class=\"intercom-interblocks-callout\" style=\"background-color: #e3e7fa80;border-color: #334bfa33\">\n<p class=\"no-margin\">Need a shorter domain? Check out our <a data-click-id=\"hgr-post-content-link-domain-checker\" class=\"intercom-content-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/domain-name-search\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Domain Checker<\/a> page.<\/p>\n<\/div><h2 id=\"h-step-4-reinstall-the-certificate\">Step 4 &ndash; Reinstall the certificate<\/h2><p>After correcting any DNS or pointing issues and waited for propagation, retry the SSL installation.<\/p><ol>\n<li>Go to the SSL page of your website on Hostinger dashboard.<\/li>\n<li>Click on the options button (&#8942;) &rarr; <b>Uninstall<\/b>.<\/li>\n<li><a data-click-id=\"hgr-post-content-link-install-a-new-ssl\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/1583258-how-to-install-lifetime-ssl-at-hostinger\/\">Install a new SSL<\/a> certificate.<\/li>\n<\/ol><p class=\"no-margin\"><span data-path-to-node=\"16,1\"><span class=\"citation-34\">The certificate should become <\/span><b data-path-to-node=\"16,1\" data-index-in-node=\"30\"><span class=\"citation-34\">Active<\/span><\/b><span class=\"citation-34\"> within a few minutes if the domain is correctly configured<\/span><\/span><span data-path-to-node=\"16,3\">.<\/span> While HTTPS is forced by default, you can <a data-click-id=\"hgr-post-content-link-force-it-manually\" class=\"intercom-content-link\" href=\"\/support\/1583201-how-to-enable-or-disable-https-for-your-website-at-hostinger\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">force it manually<\/a> if needed.<\/p><p><span data-path-to-node=\"20,1\"><span class=\"citation-30\">Once these steps are completed, your website will automatically use an encrypted HTTPS connection, ensuring a secure experience for your visitors<\/span><\/span><span data-path-to-node=\"20,3\">.<\/span><\/p><p><strong>Additional resources<\/strong><\/p><ul>\n<li>Tutorial: <a data-click-id=\"hgr-post-content-link-ssl-certification-guide\" class=\"intercom-content-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/how-to-get-ssl-certificate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SSL certification guide<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fix a failed Hostinger Lifetime SSL installation by checking domain pointing, DNS record conflicts, and domain name length, then reinstall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":581,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"include_on_kodee":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[215],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ssl-troubleshooting"],"hreflangs":[{"locale":"en-US","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/5613445-how-to-fix-a-failed-lifetime-ssl-installation-in-hostinger","default":1},{"locale":"es-ES","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/es\/support\/5613445-que-hacer-si-falla-la-instalacion-de-lifetime-ssl-en-hostinger","default":0},{"locale":"fr-FR","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/fr\/support\/5613445-comment-resoudre-l-echec-d-une-installation-ssl-a-vie-chez-hostinger","default":0},{"locale":"id-ID","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/id\/support\/5613445-bagaimana-cara-mengatasi-status-instalasi-ssl-seumur-hidup-yang-gagal-di-hostinger","default":0},{"locale":"pt-BR","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/br\/support\/5613445-como-corrigir-uma-falha-na-instalacao-do-lifetime-ssl-at-hostinger","default":0},{"locale":"uk-UA","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ua\/support\/5613445-\u044f\u043a-\u0432\u0438\u043f\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0438\u0442\u0438-\u043d\u0435\u0432\u0434\u0430\u043b\u0435-\u0432\u0441\u0442\u0430\u043d\u043e\u0432\u043b\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044f-lifetime","default":0}],"include_on_kodee":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/581"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1028"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20786,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028\/revisions\/20786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}