🔍 DNS Propagation Checker

Check DNS record propagation status across global nameservers to verify DNS changes are live worldwide.

Enter Domain Name:

💡 Tip: Enter a domain and click "Check Propagation" to verify DNS updates.

Enter a domain and click "Check Propagation" to view results.

What the propagated count means

Enter a domain and the check queries a spread of public DNS resolvers for it, then reports the answers along with two figures at the top: propagated, the number of resolvers that returned the record, and total, the number asked. Nine out of twelve means three resolvers are still handing out something else.

DNS does not really propagate, though. Nothing is pushed anywhere. Every recursive resolver keeps its own copy of an answer and re-asks only when the copy expires, so the wait after an edit is set by one number:

worst case = the TTL that was on the record BEFORE you changed it

A record sitting at 3600 seconds means a resolver that cached it one second before your edit serves the old address for another 59 minutes. Dropping the TTL to 300 at the moment of the change does nothing for that resolver - it has already been told to wait an hour. Lower the TTL a day ahead of a move, then raise it again afterwards.

Reading a mixed result

Changing nameservers is the slow one. The NS records live at the registry rather than in your zone, and TLD servers commonly hand them out with a 48-hour TTL. This is where the "up to 48 hours" advice comes from; an A record change is usually minutes.
Disagreement is not always staleness. Geo-routed DNS and round-robin records are meant to give different resolvers different answers. Check that the addresses returned are all yours before treating a split as a problem.

Your own machine caches on top of all this. On Windows ipconfig /flushdns clears it; on macOS sudo dscacheutil -flushcache. Chrome keeps a separate cache of its own at chrome://net-internals/#dns.

Frequently asked questions

How long does DNS propagation take?

For an A or CNAME change, as long as the old TTL - typically between five minutes and an hour. For a nameserver change, plan on up to 48 hours, because the TLD servers hold those records for that long. Most resolvers are current well before the worst case, which is why a count like this climbs rather than flipping.

Can I force DNS to update faster?

Not globally. You can clear your own machine's cache, and Google runs a public form that flushes a single name from 8.8.8.8, but nobody can reach inside the thousands of ISP resolvers holding the old answer. The only real control is setting a low TTL before the change.

Why does the site still load the old server for me?

Any layer between you and the internet can still hold the previous address: the browser, the operating system, the router, the ISP. Querying a resolver directly - nslookup example.com 1.1.1.1 - skips the first three and tells you whether the record itself has moved.