How DNS propagation works
When you change a DNS record, the new value is published on your authoritative name servers straight away. Everyone else — every resolver your visitors use — keeps serving the old answer until its cached copy expires. That cache lifetime is the record's TTL.
So "propagation" is really cache expiry. Lower the TTL to 300 seconds a day before a migration and resolvers pick up the change within minutes instead of hours.
Frequently asked questions
- How long should I wait?
- Usually minutes to a few hours. Allow up to 48 hours before assuming something is wrong.
- One resolver still shows the old IP.
- That resolver is still inside the TTL window. Re-run the check after the TTL has passed.
- Nothing has changed anywhere.
- Confirm the record on your authoritative name servers with the DNS lookup tool — the edit may not have saved at your DNS host.
Related free tools
Need a better domain for your project?
Premium names, was $9,999 — now $1,000.