You changed your nameservers or an A record, but the website still shows the old server — or works for you but not for a friend. That's DNS propagation, and it's normal.
What is DNS propagation?
When someone visits your domain, their internet provider's DNS server looks up the IP address and caches the answer for a while. Until that cached answer expires, it keeps using the old one. Propagation is simply the time it takes for all those caches around the world to refresh.
What is TTL?
Every DNS record has a TTL (time to live) in seconds, for example 14400 (4 hours). It tells other DNS servers how long they may cache the record. A lower TTL means changes spread faster.
How long does it take?
| Change | Typical time |
|---|---|
| A, CNAME, MX or TXT record | Minutes to a few hours (depends on TTL) |
| Nameserver change | Usually a few hours, up to 24–48 hours |
| New domain registration | Usually within an hour |
How to check propagation
Use our free DNS Checker: enter your domain, choose the record type (A for your server IP, NS for nameservers) and see what 15 DNS servers around the world return. When they all show the new value, propagation is complete. You can confirm nameservers with the WHOIS Lookup too.
How to make it faster next time
- Lower the TTL of the record to
300a day before the change. - Make the change, wait until the DNS Checker shows it everywhere, then raise the TTL again.
- On your own computer you can clear the local cache:
ipconfig /flushdnson Windows.
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