DNS Propagation & Changes Not Showing

You updated a DNS record or changed nameservers, but the change isn't showing up. This is almost always normal. DNS changes are not instant — they spread across the internet gradually. This guide explains why, and how to check the real status instead of relying on your own browser.

What "Propagation" Really Means

DNS resolvers around the world cache records to make browsing fast. When you change a record, those resolvers keep serving the old value until their cached copy expires. As each one refreshes, the new value "propagates" outward. There is no single switch — it is thousands of caches expiring at their own pace.

TTL and the 24-48 Hour Window

Every DNS record has a TTL (Time To Live), measured in seconds, that tells resolvers how long to cache it. A TTL of 3600 means one hour; 86400 means a full day. Until that timer expires on a given resolver, it keeps the old answer.

Because different networks cache for different lengths of time, a change can take up to 24 to 48 hours to be visible everywhere. Most people see it much sooner, but a few slow resolvers can lag.

Tip Planning a move? Lower the TTL on the record to 300 (five minutes) a day or two before you make the change. Resolvers will then pick up the new value within minutes. Raise the TTL back up once the change has settled.

Check Propagation with whatsmydns.net

Instead of guessing from your own browser, check what the world actually sees:

Go to whatsmydns.net.
Enter your domain and choose the record type (A, CNAME, MX, or NS).
Look at the map — green check marks show locations already serving the new value.
When most or all locations match your new record, propagation is essentially complete.

Check from Your Own Machine

You can also query DNS directly from a terminal.

nslookup (Windows, macOS, Linux)

nslookup yourdomain.com
nslookup -type=MX yourdomain.com

dig (macOS, Linux)

dig yourdomain.com
dig yourdomain.com MX
dig NS yourdomain.com

Compare the answer to what you set. If your machine still shows the old value but whatsmydns.net shows the new one, the difference is your local cache.

Flush Your Local DNS Cache

Your computer keeps its own DNS cache. Clear it to force a fresh lookup.

Windows

ipconfig /flushdns

macOS

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

Clear the Browser Cache

Browsers cache pages and sometimes DNS separately. After flushing your OS cache, also:

Open the site in a private/incognito window.
Do a hard refresh (Ctrl+F5 on Windows, Cmd+Shift+R on macOS).
Try a different browser or device to confirm.

Check the Hosts File

If a site stubbornly resolves to one address only on your machine, you may have a leftover entry in your hosts file that overrides DNS entirely.

Windows — C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
macOS / Linux — /etc/hosts

Open the file and remove or comment out any line pointing your domain at an old IP, then flush your DNS cache again.

Note If whatsmydns.net shows the correct value worldwide but your site still misbehaves, the issue is no longer DNS. Move on to My Site Isn't Loading.

Still Not Resolving After 48 Hours?

If more than 48 hours have passed and whatsmydns.net still shows the wrong value, double-check the record at its source and confirm your nameservers point to us. If everything looks right and it still fails, open a support ticket with your domain and a screenshot of the whatsmydns.net results.