Adding or changing an A record

To add or change an A record, go to Services, click your hosting service, and open DNS Zone Editor. That's where DNS records for domains on our nameservers live. The Domains section only edits nameservers, not individual records, so if you're looking for the record editor and it's not under Domains, this is why.

An A record points a name at an IPv4 address. It's the record that makes a domain load a specific server, so this is what you touch when you're pointing a domain at new hosting, moving a site to a different server, or setting up a subdomain to resolve somewhere else.

Editing the A record for your root domain

1. Go to Services and click into your hosting service.
2. Open the DNS Zone Editor subpage.
3. Find the A record for your root domain (the one without a subdomain prefix, e.g. yourdomain.com).
4. Edit the value to the new IP address, or add a new A record if one doesn't exist yet.
5. Save. Our nameservers pick up the change quickly. Visitors whose ISPs cached the old value will see the update once that cache expires.

This only works if the domain is using our nameservers. If the domain is on custom nameservers elsewhere, you'll need to edit the A record at that DNS provider instead. See DNS records and how to manage them for the full editor walkthrough.

Adding an A record for a subdomain

To point a subdomain like app.yourdomain.com at a different server than your root domain, add a new record in the same editor:

• Name: the subdomain (e.g. app)
• Type: A
• TTL: leave the default unless you have a reason to lower it before a planned change

Keep in mind a subdomain can also be pointed with a CNAME instead, if you'd rather alias it to another name than commit to a specific IP. A records and CNAMEs solve the same basic problem in different ways: use an A record when you have a fixed IP to point at, use a CNAME when a service hands you a hostname to point at instead. See DNS record types explained for when to reach for each one.

If you're pointing a domain here for the first time

If the domain isn't using our nameservers yet and you want to keep DNS at its current provider instead of switching nameservers, you can add the A record there. Sign in to that DNS provider, find the A record for your root domain, and change its value to your server's IP, which you'll find on your service detail page in Services under Details. See Pointing your domain to your hosting account for the full comparison between switching nameservers and managing DNS externally, and changing nameservers at GoDaddy, Namecheap, and Cloudflare if you decide nameservers are the simpler route.

Common mistakes

• Editing the wrong section. The Domains page only changes nameservers (up to 5), not individual DNS records. Records live under your hosting service's DNS Zone Editor.
• Forgetting www. An A record on your root domain doesn't automatically cover www.yourdomain.com. Add a separate A record for www, or point it with a CNAME to your root domain instead.
• Expecting instant propagation everywhere. Our nameservers pick up the change fast, but any resolver that already cached the old A record honors its TTL before it re-checks.

If you've updated the A record and the domain still isn't resolving to the new server after some time has passed, or you're not sure whether your domain is even using our nameservers, open a ticket from Support in the portal. It's a real person, not a bot, and they can check the zone and nameserver assignment directly.