Site Not Loading After a DNS or Domain Change
Shopify, Squarespace & Hosting
It works on your phone and not your laptop, which tells you a lot.
After changing nameservers or DNS records the site does not load, shows the host's default page, or works for some people and not others. Errors mention the server IP not being found.
What it actually means
DNS is the address book that turns your domain into a server address. When you change it, the new entry does not reach everyone at once — networks cache the old answer for a period you set, called the TTL, and they keep serving it until it expires.
So “propagation” is not a slow update traveling around the world. It is a great many independent caches expiring at different moments. That is exactly why the site can work perfectly on your phone and not on your laptop: they are asking different resolvers, and one of them still holds the old answer.
Which gives you a useful test. Inconsistent behavior means propagation. Consistent failure everywhere means a record is genuinely wrong, and waiting will not fix it.
What usually causes it
Most likely first.
- 1
Propagation still in progress
Caches holding the previous record until their TTL expires. Normal, and resolves on its own.
- 2
A record pointing at the wrong place
An A record with an old IP, or nameservers pointing at a host you have left.
- 3
Records missing at the new provider
Changing nameservers moves DNS control entirely. Anything not recreated at the new provider simply disappears.
- 4
The www variant not configured
The apex domain resolves and www does not, or the reverse, so the site works at one address only.
- 5
A high TTL set before the change
A long TTL means the old answer persists for hours or days after the change.
How to fix it
Work through these in order. Take a backup before you change anything.
Step 1 — Check from outside your own network
Use an online DNS checker to see what resolvers worldwide are returning. Your own machine is the least reliable witness because it caches aggressively.
Step 2 — Verify the records themselves
Confirm the A record points at the correct IP and nameservers point at the right provider. If the values are wrong, no amount of waiting helps.
Step 3 — Recreate every missing record
After a nameserver change, rebuild all of them — A, www, mail, and any verification records. Missing mail records will take your email down with the site.
Step 4 — Flush your own cache
Clear the local DNS cache and try a different network or a phone on cell data. This distinguishes a local cache from a real fault immediately.
Step 5 — Wait out the TTL, then investigate
Give it up to 48 hours. If it is still inconsistent after that, it is not propagation and needs a proper look.
When to stop and call someone
Call someone if email stopped along with the site — that usually means mail records were lost in the move and needs fixing urgently — or if the domain resolves inconsistently after 48 hours, which points at a configuration split between two providers rather than ordinary propagation.
Frequently asked
Usually a few hours, and up to 48 in the worst case. The delay is set by the TTL on your records, which tells other networks how long to cache the old answer. Lowering the TTL a day before a planned move makes the change take effect far faster.
Because they are using different DNS resolvers, and one still holds the cached old address. This is the clearest sign that you are watching normal propagation rather than a misconfiguration, and it resolves itself as caches expire.
It stops, unless you recreate the mail records at the new provider. Changing nameservers hands over all DNS control, so MX and related records do not carry across. This is the most common and most damaging mistake in a hosting move.
Use an external DNS lookup tool rather than your own browser, since your machine caches results. Those tools query resolvers in multiple locations and show you exactly what the rest of the world is currently seeing.
Only in advance. Lowering the TTL on your records a day or two before the change means caches expire quickly when you make it. Once the change is made with a high TTL in place, there is nothing to do but wait it out.
If you’d rather not
We do this work every week. These are the services that cover it.
- Fixing Broken WebsitesSite down, hacked, or falling apart? We diagnose it fast, fix what's broken, and tell you straight how to keep it from happening again.
- Custom Web SolutionsBuild the web system your business actually needs. We design custom web systems around your offer, your team, your data, and the way buyers move from interest to action.
- Forms & Scripts Not WorkingA form that quietly fails is the most expensive bug on a website — you never see the leads you lost. We fix it, then prove the message arrives.
See exactly what’s holding your website back.
Get a free audit of your site — speed, SEO, mobile, and security — with the fixes that matter most, delivered as a PDF to your inbox.