DNS propagation
DNS propagation checker — see when your DNS changes go live
Resolve any domain to its current A, AAAA, MX, TXT, NS, CNAME, and SOA records.
What is DNS propagation?
DNS (Domain Name System) is the internet's address book — it translates human-readable names like example.com into IP addresses. When you change a DNS record, the change does not appear everywhere at once. Each DNS resolver caches the previous answer until the record's TTL (time to live) expires, then it asks the authoritative server again. This staggered refresh is what people call "DNS propagation".
Returns every record type (A, AAAA, MX, TXT, NS, CNAME, SOA).
Why DNS changes take time to propagate
Resolvers around the world cache DNS answers to reduce load on the authoritative servers. Each cached answer comes with a TTL set by the authoritative server. While the TTL is valid, the resolver returns the cached answer without re-querying. Once it expires, the resolver asks again and gets the new record.
How this tool helps you check propagation
This tool queries Google DNS-over-HTTPS and Cloudflare DNS-over-HTTPS in parallel for every common record type and shows you the answer from each resolver. If the two resolvers agree, you have a consistent view. If they disagree, the older one is still serving a cached answer — propagation is in progress.
Typical propagation time
Most changes propagate within minutes to a few hours. Common authoritative TTLs are 300 seconds (5 min) to 3600 seconds (1 hour). Larger TTLs (12h, 24h, 48h) used to be common for stability and can prolong propagation.
Frequently asked questions
How long does DNS propagation really take?
For most records with a short TTL (5–60 minutes), propagation is fast — most resolvers refresh within an hour. For records with a long TTL (12–48 hours) or for large TTL changes, propagation can take up to 48 hours to fully complete across the global resolver fleet.
Why do different DNS lookup tools show different answers?
Each tool uses different upstream resolvers (Google, Cloudflare, OpenDNS, ISP resolvers, etc.) and each resolver caches answers independently. Until the TTL expires on a given resolver, it returns the cached answer.
Can I speed up DNS propagation?
Not directly — propagation is governed by the TTLs already in the wild. But you can lower the TTL on a record 24–48 hours before the change so that the next refresh happens quickly.
What is DNS-over-HTTPS?
DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) encrypts DNS queries so that no one on the path between you and the resolver can see what domains you are looking up.