Once you make changes to your domain with the registrar you purchased your domain from, the domain name propagation changes will take anywhere from 5 minutes to 72 hours for propagation to occur depending on your ISP and how often they update the DNS records (“flush” their DNS Cache, much like the way your web browser’s cache can be cleared).
Domain name propagation is the process of your registrar handing off the changes of your domain to root DNS servers.
ISPs acquire records from the root servers, ISPs to other ISPs and so on until you see the changes reflect on your computer with your internet service provider. Some service providers update their records more often than others and receive changes faster. As a result of this, often you will not be able to get to your website by its’ domain name but a friend can. Simply wait out until the changes propagate to your ISP.
In the meantime we provide you an IP and temporary address in your welcome email which allow you to start working on your site immediately. This bypasses the propagation process, as it does not utilize your domain to create connections, but rather using the server’s address, which has already propagated beforehand.
What is Domain Name Propagation?
Domain name propagation refers to the process by which updated DNS information, such as changes to domain name records (e.g., IP address, nameservers), spreads or propagates throughout the DNS system worldwide. When a change is made to a domain’s DNS settings, it takes some time for these changes to be recognized and propagated across DNS servers globally.
Propagation occurs due to the distributed nature of the DNS system. DNS servers around the world cache DNS records to improve performance and reduce the load on the root DNS servers. These caches have a designated time-to-live (TTL) value, which specifies how long the DNS records can be cached before expiring.
When a change is made to a domain’s DNS settings, the updated information is typically first pushed to the authoritative DNS servers for that domain. From there, DNS resolvers and other DNS servers request the updated information and cache it based on the TTL value. The cached information remains in DNS servers until the TTL expires, at which point they will query the authoritative servers again to get fresh DNS records.
The propagation process usually takes some time, ranging from a few minutes to up to 48 hours, although it often completes within a few hours. The exact propagation time depends on various factors, such as the TTL values set for the DNS records, the configuration of DNS servers, and the network infrastructure.
During the propagation period, different DNS servers and internet service providers (ISPs) may still have the old cached DNS records, causing some users to experience inconsistent or delayed access to the updated domain. It is worth noting that not all DNS servers update simultaneously, which can lead to temporary inconsistencies until the new DNS information has fully propagated.
To check the status of domain name propagation, you can use online DNS propagation checking tools that allow you to query DNS servers from different locations worldwide and see if they have the updated DNS records.
