Overview
Changing nameservers tells the internet which DNS provider controls your domain. This is usually done at the company where the domain is registered.
Steps
- Log in to the domain registrar account.
- Open the domain's DNS or nameserver settings.
- Select custom nameservers.
- Enter the nameservers exactly as provided, such as ns1.examplehost.com and ns2.examplehost.com.
- Save changes and wait for propagation.
Propagation
Nameserver changes often begin working within minutes but may take up to 24-48 hours depending on registrar caching, TTLs, and recursive DNS resolvers.
DNS troubleshooting flow
- Find the authoritative nameservers first.
- Edit records only at the authoritative DNS provider.
- Check root domain, www, mail, MX, TXT, and any app-specific records.
- Watch for stale IPv6, duplicate SPF, and old mail records.
- Wait for TTL expiry before assuming a change failed.
Quick support handoff
If this article does not solve the issue, open a support ticket with the domain, service name, exact error, time the problem started, and what changed recently.
