According to one embodiment, a switching circuit includes a high-side switch, a rectifier, and a driver. The high-side switch is connected between a high potential terminal and an output terminal. The rectifier is connected between the output terminal and a low potential terminal, forward direction of the rectifier is a direction from the low potential terminal to the output terminal. The driver is connected between the high potential terminal and the output terminal. The driver switches a high-side switch ON based on a high-side control signal. The driver switches the high-side switch OFF when a first short detector detects shorts of the output terminal with the low potential terminal after a first period longer than a backward recovery time of the rectifier until the high-side control signal changing.