DNS Change Not Showing Yet? How Long DNS Changes Take

DNS is the internet’s address book for your domain. When you change a record, the change is saved straight away. But internet providers and devices keep a copy of the old answer for a while to save time. Your change reaches everyone once those copies run out. This is called propagation.

How long it takes

Google’s guidance is that DNS changes usually spread within 48 hours and sometimes take up to 72 hours. Many changes show much sooner.

Each record has a TTL (time to live): the number of seconds other servers may keep the old answer. For example, 3600 seconds is one hour, and 86400 seconds is one day. A record with a TTL of 86400 can take a full day to update. Lowering the TTL only helps future changes. The change you already made still waits out the old TTL.

Check whether your change has spread

1. Open a public DNS checking website (search for “DNS propagation checker”). It shows the answers seen in many places around the world.
2. Enter your domain and choose the type of record you changed: A (where your website lives), MX (where your email goes) or NS (your nameservers, which say which company runs your DNS).
3. Compare the answers with the value you entered. A mix of old and new answers means propagation is still in progress.
4. If you changed your website records, open a private or incognito browser window and visit your domain. If you changed email records, send a test email to your address from a different email account.
5. Try your phone on mobile data with Wi-Fi turned off. That uses a different internet provider.

Refresh what your own device sees

This only changes what you see. Other visitors still wait for their own provider.

1. Close every browser window, then open the browser again.
2. Restart your computer or phone.
3. If you still see the old result, restart your router.

How to tell it worked

A DNS checker shows your new value from every location, and your site or email works both on Wi-Fi and on mobile data.

Plan ahead for next time

1. At least a day before a planned change, lower the TTL on the records you’ll change to 300 seconds (five minutes), if your DNS provider lets you set the TTL.
2. Wait at least as long as the old TTL. Then make the change.
3. When everything works, raise the TTL again. Google suggests 3600 while you’re making changes and 86400 once your records are stable.

Troubleshooting

• A DNS checker shows the old value everywhere after 72 hours: the change probably wasn’t saved, or you made it at a company that doesn’t run your domain’s DNS. Look up your domain at lookup.icann.org and find the nameservers listed for it. Their names often include the company that runs your DNS. Sign in to that company’s account and make the change there. If you can’t tell which company it is, open a support ticket and include the nameservers you see.
• You see the new site, but someone else doesn’t: their provider still has the old answer. Ask them to try mobile data or wait a few more hours.
• Email still goes to your old provider: MX records spread the same way. Keep the old mailboxes open for a few days and check them.
• The site shows a “Not secure” warning: on Shared Web Hosting, your free security certificate is set up for you after your domain points to Blue Arctic. That can happen later than the DNS change. If the warning is still there a day after a DNS checker shows your new value everywhere, open a support ticket.

Still need help?

Open a support ticket from the Client Portal at my.bluearctic.com. Include your domain, which records you changed and when, a screenshot of a DNS checker result, the exact error text, and what you already tried. Never include a password.