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Domain Not Resolving? Fast DNS Repair
Domain not resolving, pointing to the wrong server, or SSL errors — I'll sort out your DNS configuration so everything works.
DNS problems look like website problems but are not — the site is usually fine and unreachable. That distinction decides the whole fix.
Sound Familiar?
What I'll Do
Before you change anything
Do not blindly edit or delete DNS records to "see if it helps." Removing an MX record stops your email immediately, and removing a TXT record can break email authentication or a service verification you had forgotten about. Both can take up to 48 hours to fully recover once restored.
Take a screenshot of the full record set before touching it. That single habit has saved more outages than any tool.
The records that matter, and what breaks without them
| Record | What it does | Typical symptom when wrong |
|---|---|---|
| A | Points the domain at an IPv4 address | Site does not load, or loads the wrong server |
| AAAA | Same, for IPv6 | Intermittent failures for IPv6 visitors only |
| CNAME | Aliases one name to another | www works but the bare domain does not, or vice versa |
| MX | Where email for the domain is delivered | Email stops arriving, senders get bounces |
| TXT | SPF, DKIM, DMARC and service verification | Outbound email lands in spam or is rejected |
| NS | Which nameservers are authoritative | Every record you edit is ignored — you are editing the wrong zone |
Nameservers versus DNS records — the distinction that causes most confusion
These are two different layers and people routinely edit the wrong one:
- Nameservers are set at your registrar and decide *which service is authoritative* for your domain.
- DNS records live inside whichever service the nameservers point at.
- If your nameservers point at Cloudflare but you are editing records in your hosting panel, nothing you change will ever take effect. This is the single most common cause of "I changed it and nothing happened."
- Check what is actually authoritative first, then edit there.
Other things that present as DNS faults
- TTL and propagation. A record's TTL tells resolvers how long to cache it. Lower the TTL *before* a planned migration, not during it — once the old high TTL is cached, you wait it out.
- Domain expiry. An expired domain stops resolving regardless of how correct the records are. Check expiry before debugging anything else.
- DNSSEC mismatch. If DNSSEC is enabled at the registrar but the signing service changed, resolvers reject the answers entirely and the domain goes dark — often after an otherwise clean nameserver migration.
- Cloudflare proxy mode. An orange-clouded record hides the origin. That is usually fine, but it breaks direct-connection checks, some verification methods, and certain mail flows. Records for mail must stay grey-clouded.
- Email stopped after a DNS change. Almost always MX or SPF lost during a nameserver move — when you switch DNS providers, records are not copied across automatically.
DNS questions
How long does DNS propagation actually take?
Usually minutes to a few hours, bounded by the previous TTL. The "48 hours" figure is a worst case, and it applies to the old cached value expiring, not to your change being published.
My site loads for me but not for someone else. Why?
You are almost certainly hitting a cached record while they hit the updated one, or vice versa. That is normal mid-change and resolves as the TTL expires.
I changed nameservers and my email died. What happened?
Moving nameservers moves the whole zone. MX and TXT records do not follow automatically — they must be recreated at the new provider. This is recoverable and usually quick once identified.
Is it DNS or is my site actually down?
If the domain resolves to the right IP and the site still fails, it is not DNS. See website down diagnosis and domain not loading.
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