Troubleshoot your DNS settings

Troubleshoot connection errors and DNS settings.

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This video features an old UI. Updated version coming soon!

Note: We’re transitioning to Workspaces, and are in the process of updating our content. Visit the Workspaces blog post to read more about these updates and changes, or visit our updated lesson on troubleshooting your DNS settings. You can also learn how to check if your account is on Workspaces.

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When your custom domain isn’t pointing to Webflow correctly, you’ll see a connection error message next to your domain name in your Custom domain settings under the Hosting tab of your Project Settings.

A red alert text, Issues detected, is highlighted for a domain.com default domain in the Custom Domains section. — The error message "Issues detected" means that your domain isn't correctly pointing to Webflow.

To verify that your DNS settings are correct and that your domain is correctly pointing to Webflow, click check status under each of your domain names.

The domain.com issue detected link is expanded displaying the record details and a gray Check status button. This button is highlighted on the Custom Domains section.

If the connection is re-established, publish your site again. If not, continue this troubleshooter.

Here are the issues that may cause this error and how to fix them:

Incorrect nameservers
DNS propagation issues
Incorrect DNS records
Additional DNS records
Missing DNS records
Fix your DNS settings

Incorrect nameservers

Webflow hosting doesn’t need custom nameservers — also called name servers or NS records. So, make sure you’re using the default nameservers of your registrar or DNS host. For support, contact your registrar’s helpdesk or see their help documentation on nameservers.

DNS propagation issues

While most DNS hosts try to update your DNS records as fast as possible, many factors affect how long it takes and oftentimes are out of your DNS provider’s control. If you’ve waited 48 hours and your custom domain is still not pointing to your Webflow site, continue this troubleshooting tutorial or contact your DNS host’s helpdesk.

You can double check that your DNS records are live and pointing to Webflow by going to What's My DNS and entering your custom domain to check the A Records on your root domain and CNAME records for your subdomains.

Here, you should see only the Webflow DNS record values.

Things that affect DNS settings propagation speed

TTL (Time to Live) is the period of time that servers cache the information for your DNS records. Shorter TTL settings increase propagation speed but slows down your server's processing time. We recommend that you keep the default value.
ISPs (Internet Service Providers) store your DNS settings locally rather than retrieving fresh data from your DNS server. This speeds up web browsing and reduces traffic, which slows your propagation time. Some ISPs ignore TTL settings and only update their cached records every two to three days.
Some DNS hosts often protect their root nameservers from overuse by setting a high TTL of up to 48 hours and some ISPs cache the information anyway, which can result in a longer propagation time.

Incorrect DNS records

This error also shows if you haven’t updated your domain DNS settings to point to Webflow. To point your domain to Webflow, follow the Connecting a custom domain tutorial.

Also, make sure to update your DNS settings if you switch the SSL setting ON or OFF. Webflow has separate servers and DNS records values for SSL hosting.

Additional DNS records

Any additional A Records on the root domain will conflict with your Webflow A records. Make sure to keep only the 2 Webflow records. Check how to fix DNS issues below.

The same goes for CNAME records that you want to point to Webflow. Make sure you have only one record for each subdomain and that it’s pointing to Webflow. Check how to fix DNS issues below.

Missing DNS records

If you’ve only added one A record, or if your DNS provider only allows adding one A-Record, this connection error will show in your dashboard. This isn’t an optimal setup, but your site will work.

Adding two A-Records helps with load balancing and redundancy in case anything happens to the primary server. Basically if the primary server went down, there's a backup server to ping to load up your site (simply a precaution).

For an optimal setup, we recommend that you add two A records. And if your registrar doesn’t allow that, we recommend that you point your custom domain nameservers (NS records) to a third party DNS provider. Then, you can setup the DNS records within the new registrar's dashboard.

Fix your DNS settings

To point your domain to Webflow:

Make sure you're using the default nameservers of your DNS host
Make sure you only have the Webflow DNS records set on the root domain and/or the subdomain(s) hosted with Webflow

Check and fix the A records

If the error is showing for your root domain, check the following if SSL is enabled:

You have only 2 A records for the root domain (host=@)
The A record values are: 75.2.70.75 & 99.83.190.102 (recommended)
The following A records (34.193.69.252 & 34.193.204.92, and 13.248.155.104 & 76.223.27.102) will work also, but we highly recommend you use the ones mentioned above.

If SSL is OFF (not recommended), the A record values should be: 23.235.33.229 & 104.156.81.229.

If you've set the root domain as the default domain on SSL hosting, make sure:

there are no A records on the root domain,
the ANAME or CNAME record on the root domain (host=@) is proxy-ssl.webflow.com.

Note: Some DNS hosting services prefer that you set the root domain (yourdomain.com) as the host instead of @. We recommend that you check the "Adding an A record" documentation of your DNS host. Check Updating DNS settings to find a list of registrars and links to their DNS setting documentation.

Check and fix the CNAME record(s)

If the error is showing for your subdomain(s), check that you have only one CNAME record for each subdomain, and that it is pointing to Webflow’s servers.

If SSL is ON in your Webflow settings, the Webflow CNAME record values should be: proxy-ssl.webflow.com
If SSL is OFF in your Webflow settings, the Webflow CNAME record values should be: proxy.webflow.com

Note: Some DNS hosting services prefer that you set the full domain (www.yourdomain.com) as the host instead of www. We recommend that you check the "Adding a CNAME record" documentation of your DNS host. Check Updating DNS settings to find a list of registrars and links to their DNS setting documentation.