My custom domain won't verify

A domain that will not verify is failing one of two separate checks. Work out which before changing anything.

Which check is failing

Fix only the failing one. Re-adding a working record is how a half-fixed domain becomes a fully broken one.

The usual causes

The host got doubled. Most DNS providers add your domain automatically, so entering example.com produces example.com.example.com. If your provider does this, the host field usually wants @ for the bare domain, or just the subdomain part.

Something is trailing. A copied value that picked up a space, a quote mark, or a full stop at the end. Copy again with the copy button rather than by hand.

It has not propagated. DNS is not instant. Minutes is typical, hours happens, 48 is the outside case. Press Verify again rather than re-entering the records.

Your provider is proxying. Cloudflare's orange cloud, and similar features elsewhere, sit in front of your domain and can stop verification. Set the record to DNS-only while verifying.

The record went to the wrong place. If your nameservers point somewhere other than where you bought the domain, the records must be added there. Records added at the registrar do nothing when another provider is serving your DNS.

An old record is still there. A previous host's A record or CNAME will conflict. Remove it.

You added the wrong type. A CNAME where an A record is needed, or vice versa. Bare domains generally cannot take a CNAME - that is why apex domains use A records.

Checking your own work

Use any public DNS lookup tool to see what the world can actually see for your domain. If your record is not visible there, it is not visible to us either, and the problem is at your DNS provider.

Still stuck

Send us the domain and a screenshot of your DNS records, with the record types visible. That is usually enough to spot it immediately.

Next steps

• Connect a custom domain
• Site not showing