Domains and DNS

How do I point a domain name to an IP address?

The task takes two minutes. Nearly all of the confusion comes from editing DNS in a place that is not actually the one the domain is using.

To point a domain at an IP address, log in to the DNS host that your domain’s name servers belong to, add an A record with the name @ (the bare domain) and the server’s IPv4 address as its value, add a second record for www, and save. The change reaches visitors as old cached answers expire, typically within minutes to a few hours. The step people most often get wrong is the first: the DNS records only take effect at the company whose name servers the domain actually uses, which is not always the registrar you bought it from.

Worked out 2026-10-16 (IST) · a domain whose name servers are known and an IPv4 address supplied by a host

The records to create

A typical setup for one web server
Type	Name	Value	TTL
A	@	203.0.113.7	3600
A	www	203.0.113.7	3600
AAAA (optional)	@	2001:db8::7	3600

The documentation addresses 203.0.113.7 and 2001:db8::7 are reserved for examples; use the real address your host gave you. If the host gave you an IPv6 address as well, add the AAAA record - see IPv4 vs IPv6. The two A records could instead be one A record for the apex and a CNAME for www pointing at the apex, which has the advantage that a later IP change is a one-record edit.

Step by step

Seven steps
Step	What to do
1	Find the domain’s current name servers with an NS lookup
2	Open the DNS settings at the company those name servers belong to
3	Delete or edit any existing A record for @ and www; two conflicting records give inconsistent results
4	Add the A record for @ with the server’s IPv4 address
5	Add the record for www, either an A record or a CNAME to the bare domain
6	Save and note the TTL of the record you replaced
7	Verify with a DNS lookup, then open the site; also add the domain on the server side if it hosts more than one site

Name servers versus records, the distinction that causes most problems

A domain has two separate layers. The name servers say WHO answers questions about the domain; they are set at the registrar. The records (A, MX, TXT and the rest) are the answers themselves, and live at whoever the name servers point to. Changing records in the wrong place is harmless but useless. Changing the name servers is a much bigger move: it hands the whole zone to another provider, and every record you want to keep must already exist there. See what a name server is.

If it still does not work

Symptom to likely cause
Symptom	Most likely cause
Lookup still shows the old IP	Cached answer not yet expired, or the record was edited at the wrong DNS host
Lookup shows two different IPs	An old A record was left in place alongside the new one
Lookup is right, site shows another site or an error	The server is not configured to serve this host name
Works with www but not without	The apex record is missing, or a CNAME was placed at the apex
Browser warns about the certificate	The certificate on the new server does not cover the domain - see why a certificate is not trusted

For the general method, including how to read each record type in the output, see how to check DNS records for a domain.

Sources: IETF RFC 1034 and RFC 1035 (domain names), RFC 2181 (clarifications to the DNS specification), RFC 5321 (SMTP) and RFC 7505 (null MX).

Check your own numbers

Confirm your A record is live and see exactly what it resolves to right now.

DNS LookupA, AAAA, MX, NS, TXT, CNAME and SOA records, live from the resolver.

Frequently asked

Where do I add the A record - at my registrar or my host?

At whichever company runs the domain’s name servers. Look up the NS records first: if they name your registrar (ns1.registrar.example), edit DNS there; if they name a hosting company or Cloudflare, edit DNS in that dashboard instead. Editing the registrar’s zone when the name servers point elsewhere changes nothing and is the classic reason an update seems to be ignored.

Can I use a CNAME instead of an A record for the bare domain?

Not at the apex. DNS rules do not allow a CNAME to coexist with the other records every domain apex must have (SOA, NS and usually MX), so a CNAME on the bare domain would break them. Some providers offer a proprietary workaround called ALIAS, ANAME or CNAME flattening that behaves like a CNAME but is served as an A record. For www, a CNAME is fine.

How long until the domain points to the new IP?

Until each resolver’s cached copy of the old record expires, which is governed by the old record’s TTL. If the TTL was 3600 seconds, expect up to an hour. If you can, lower the TTL a day before a planned change. See <a href="/answers/how-long-does-dns-propagation-take/">how long DNS propagation takes</a>.

Why does the IP address work but the domain name does not?

Usually because the server answers only for a configured host name. A web server hosting several sites picks the site from the name in the request, so you must also add the domain to the server or hosting control panel, not just to DNS.

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