DNS changes are not visible everywhere immediately, because internet providers and devices cache DNS answers for a certain time. This delay is called propagation.
Typical duration
- Nameserver change: usually a few hours, in some cases up to 24–48 hours.
- Individual records (A, CNAME, MX, TXT): depends on the TTL (time to live) of the old record, often between a few minutes and a few hours.
Check the status
- Open a checking tool such as https://www.whatsmydns.net or https://dnschecker.org.
- Enter your domain and select the record type (e.g. A, MX or NS).
- If most locations show the new value, the change has largely propagated.
Flush your local DNS cache
- Windows: open Command Prompt and run
ipconfig /flushdns. - macOS: in Terminal, run
sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder. - Linux (systemd): run
resolvectl flush-caches. - Then close the browser completely, or test in a private window or over mobile data.
Tip: if you plan a change in advance, lower the TTL of the affected records to a small value (e.g. 300 seconds) a day before. The actual change will then be picked up faster.
