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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsTo point a domain at a server, edit the domain’s authoritative DNS zone and create an A record for a public IPv4 address or an AAAA record for a public IPv6 address. Use @ (or your provider’s equivalent) for the bare domain, and usually create a CNAME from www to the bare domain. DNS changes can remain cached until the record’s TTL expires; if the name resolves but the site does not load, investigate the server, firewall, virtual-host, redirect, and TLS settings separately.
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What “pointing a domain” actually changes
A domain name is a human-readable label. DNS translates that label into the network address where a resource is hosted. Pointing example.com at a server means publishing DNS records that tell resolvers which IP address to return for that name.
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DNS does not deploy files, start a web server, open firewall ports, configure redirects, or issue an HTTPS certificate. Those are server-side tasks that must be completed after the name resolves correctly.
The three services involved
- Registrar: the company where the domain registration is maintained.
- Authoritative DNS host: the service whose nameservers publish the zone’s final records. It may be the registrar or a separate provider.
- Web host or server: the machine that owns the public IP and serves the site.
These services can be separate. Changing a record in a registrar’s general dashboard will have no public effect if the domain delegates DNS to different nameservers.
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Choose the correct DNS record
| Record | Use it for | Value format | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | IPv4 address | Dotted-decimal public address | 203.0.113.10 |
| AAAA | IPv6 address | Colon-separated IPv6 address | IPv6 address supplied by your host |
| CNAME | An alias to another hostname, commonly www |
Hostname, not an IP address | example.com. |
Google Cloud’s DNS guidance specifies an A record for an IPv4 address and an AAAA record for IPv6. Do not put an IPv6 address in an A record, and do not put an IP address in a CNAME value.
Use a public address
Enter the public IPv4 or IPv6 address supplied by your hosting provider. A private LAN address such as 192.168.x.x, 10.x.x.x, or 172.16.x.x is not reachable from the public Internet. A private address is appropriate only for a deliberately internal DNS zone.
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The bare domain, such as example.com, is the zone apex. Control panels commonly represent it as @, while others show a blank host field, the word “root,” or the full domain. The label is provider-specific; the intent is the same.
A typical apex record is:
| Host/name | Type | Value | TTL |
|---|---|---|---|
@ or the bare domain |
A |
203.0.113.10 |
Provider default, or a deliberately short value during migration |
Do not add several different A records by accident. Multiple addresses intentionally create round-robin or multi-address behavior, but an old record left beside the new one can send visitors to different servers.
Find the authoritative DNS provider before editing
Nameserver (NS) delegation tells the Internet which servers answer for your domain. Those authoritative servers store A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, and other records. The registrar and DNS host may have different logins and different control panels.
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- Open the registrar’s domain-management page and locate the domain’s nameserver delegation.
- Write down the nameserver hostnames currently listed.
- Identify the DNS provider operating those nameservers.
- Sign in to that provider and open the authoritative zone for the domain.
- Edit records there, rather than in an unconnected registrar dashboard.
If you are unsure, perform an NS lookup for the domain and compare the returned nameservers with the service where you plan to make the change. If the public NS answer does not match the provider’s nameservers, the provider is not authoritative for the current delegation.
Point the bare domain at an IPv4 server
- Confirm the server has the intended public IPv4 address and is running.
- In the authoritative DNS zone, choose Add record or edit the existing apex record.
- Set the type to A.
- Set the host/name to
@, blank, root, or the full domain according to that provider’s label. - Enter the exact public IPv4 address, such as
203.0.113.10. - Leave the provider’s normal TTL in place unless you have a reason to shorten it for a migration.
- Save the record.
- Remove an obsolete A record if it would conflict with the new destination.
The record now tells resolvers where to find the apex name. It does not tell the server which website to return; the web server still needs a virtual-host entry for the domain.
Add IPv6 with an AAAA record
If the server has a public IPv6 address, create an AAAA record with the same hostname logic used for the A record. For the apex, that normally means @ plus the IPv6 address supplied by the host.
Keep the A record if the site must support IPv4 as well as IPv6. Visitors with IPv6 connectivity may use the AAAA answer, while others use the A answer. Check that the IPv6 address is assigned to the correct interface and that the firewall permits the web traffic before publishing it.
An incorrect AAAA record can make a site appear broken for IPv6-capable visitors even when the A record is perfect. When troubleshooting, inspect both record types rather than checking only IPv4.
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Configure www correctly
www.example.com is a separate hostname from example.com; it needs its own DNS record. The common arrangement is a CNAME from www to the apex:
| Host/name | Type | Target |
|---|---|---|
www |
CNAME |
example.com. |
A CNAME contains a hostname, not an IP address. The trailing dot is accepted by many DNS interfaces to show that the target is an absolute name; some panels add or remove it automatically.
- Decide whether the canonical public URL will be the apex or
www. - Create the
wwwCNAME to the chosen canonical hostname when the hosting platform supports that arrangement. - Configure the web server to answer for both hostnames or redirect the non-canonical one.
- Make sure the HTTPS certificate covers every hostname visitors may use.
Some hosting platforms require an A or AAAA record for www instead of a CNAME. Follow that platform’s required target. Do not create a CNAME and an A, AAAA, or another CNAME for the same name; DNS does not permit those combinations to coexist reliably.
Set TTL with migration timing in mind
TTL is the cache lifetime attached to a DNS record. Cloudflare describes it as the field that controls how long each record is cached and, consequently, how long an update takes to reach end users. A resolver can continue returning the old address until the old TTL expires.
Cloudflare documents 300 seconds (five minutes) as the default TTL for proxied records in its service in 2026. That figure is provider-specific, not a universal propagation guarantee. Other DNS providers and record modes can use different defaults.
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Before a planned move
- Lower the existing record’s TTL ahead of the migration, if your provider permits it.
- Wait long enough for caches holding the previous, longer TTL to expire.
- Change the address during a period when you can monitor both the old and new servers.
- Restore a longer TTL after the new destination is stable.
If you did not lower the TTL first, lowering it after the change cannot erase caches that already stored the old value. Local operating-system caches, home routers, enterprise resolvers, and public resolvers can all make the observed delay differ by location.
Verify the change from multiple locations
Verification should test DNS and the web service separately.
- Check that the authoritative zone contains the intended A record, AAAA record, and
wwwCNAME. - Query the A and AAAA records through more than one public resolver and compare the answers.
- Query the
wwwname and confirm that its CNAME target is the one you chose. - Repeat the checks from a different network or geographic location to expose cached results.
- Open the apex and
wwwaddresses in a browser and confirm that the expected site appears. - Test both HTTP and HTTPS, including the final redirect destination.
An answer that still shows the old IP from one resolver does not necessarily mean the edit failed; it may be serving a cached response. An answer that consistently shows the new IP from authoritative and public resolvers indicates that the DNS portion is working.
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A successful lookup proves only that a hostname maps to an address. Use this troubleshooting order when the browser reports a connection, routing, or certificate error.
The server is unreachable
- Confirm the machine is powered on and has the expected public address.
- Check firewall and security-group rules for TCP port 80 (HTTP) and TCP port 443 (HTTPS).
- Verify that the web service is listening on those ports and on the correct IPv4 and IPv6 interfaces.
- Check whether a provider-level firewall, load balancer, or router is blocking the connection.
The wrong site appears
- Confirm the request’s Host header is configured as a virtual host or server block on the web server.
- Check that both the apex and
wwwnames are included in the site configuration. - Look for a leftover A or AAAA record that sends some visitors to another machine.
- Inspect application-level redirects and cached content after DNS is known to be correct.
HTTPS reports a certificate error
- Make sure the certificate includes the exact hostname being opened.
- Install the certificate and its intermediate chain on the server or TLS terminator.
- Check that the server selects the correct certificate for both the apex and
wwwthrough virtual-host or SNI configuration. - Do not treat a valid DNS answer as proof that TLS is configured.
Only some users see the old site
Compare resolver answers and their remaining TTLs. If authoritative data is correct but one network still returns the previous address, wait for that cache to expire rather than repeatedly changing the record. Repeated edits can make diagnosis harder and may extend the transition if different caches store each new value.
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Common mistakes and their fixes
Editing the wrong dashboard
Symptom: the control panel shows the new address, but public lookups never change. Fix: check NS delegation and edit the zone on the provider named by those authoritative nameservers.
Putting an IP in a CNAME
Symptom: the record is rejected or www does not resolve. Fix: use an A record for IPv4, an AAAA record for IPv6, or set the CNAME value to a hostname.
Using a private address
Symptom: the domain resolves, but public visitors cannot connect. Fix: replace the private LAN address with the server’s routable public address, unless the zone is intentionally internal.
Leaving conflicting records
Symptom: different queries return different servers or the site alternates between working and failing. Fix: remove stale A, AAAA, or CNAME records and keep only the records required for the intended design.
Forgetting the second hostname
Symptom: the bare domain works while www fails, or the reverse. Fix: publish a separate www record and configure the web server and certificate for both names.
Assuming DNS configures the application
Symptom: DNS tools show the correct IP, but the browser displays a default page, timeout, redirect loop, or certificate warning. Fix: inspect ports, firewall rules, virtual-host mappings, redirects, application health, and TLS independently.
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Keep registrar, DNS hosting, and web hosting as separate decisions even when one company offers all three. When comparing authoritative DNS services, evaluate:
- Ability to create apex A and AAAA records and a
wwwCNAME. - Clear nameserver delegation and an interface that distinguishes authoritative records from forwarding or marketing features.
- TTL flexibility for migrations.
- DNSSEC and other security controls when your domain and applications support them.
- API access for repeatable changes and infrastructure automation.
- Monitoring, change history, and operational reliability.
- Whether the service proxies traffic, which can change the visible destination, TLS termination, caching, and firewall behavior.
A DNS provider that proxies traffic may not expose the origin server’s IP to visitors. In that design, confirm which records are authoritative and which settings control the proxy before troubleshooting the origin.
Quick Recap
A safe end-to-end workflow
- Inventory the destination: record the server’s public IPv4 and, if used, IPv6 addresses; confirm the service is running.
- Identify authority: inspect NS delegation and sign in to the authoritative DNS provider.
- Plan names: choose the canonical apex or
wwwURL and list every hostname the server must accept. - Publish records: create the apex A and/or AAAA record, then add the appropriate
wwwCNAME or address record. - Prepare the server: open ports 80 and 443, configure virtual hosts, redirects, and certificates before directing production traffic.
- Verify DNS: query A, AAAA, and CNAME answers through multiple resolvers.
- Verify HTTP: test both hostnames, redirect behavior, and HTTPS from more than one network.
- Monitor the transition: watch logs on the old and new destinations until caches using the previous TTL have expired.
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