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How to point your domain’s DNS at HTTPSredirect

Where the setting lives at six common registrars, which existing records to clear out first, how long the change takes, and three easy ways to check it worked.

Before you start

  • The domain added in your HTTPSredirect dashboard, so we are expecting it.
  • Sign-in details for wherever the domain’s DNS is managed — not always the registrar.
  • About five minutes, plus waiting time for the change to spread.

The record you are adding

One A record does the whole job. The rest of this page is about where that record lives at six common registrars, what to clear out of its way, and how to tell when the change has actually taken.

Type
A
Host / Name
@
Value / Points to
47.206.179.19
TTL
Automatic or the lowest offered
Browser example.com? DNS reads the A record Our server 47.206.179.19 Destination 301 / 302 The A record is the only piece you change. Everything to the right of it is ours.
A visitor’s browser asks DNS where your domain lives. The A record is the answer — it has to be us before we can prove the domain is yours and issue a certificate.

First, check where your DNS is actually managed

Records live wherever the domain’s nameservers point, which is not always the registrar. If you once pointed the domain at a host, a CDN or a site builder, that service is answering for it now and its panel is the one you need.

Clear out what is in the way

A second record for the same name does not lose politely — it competes, and visitors get whichever answer they happen to receive. Before you add ours, delete:

  • Any existing A record on the root of the domain.
  • Any AAAA record on the root. That is the IPv6 version, and a device with IPv6 will prefer it — so a forgotten one quietly sends a share of your visitors elsewhere while everything looks fine from your machine.
  • Any ALIAS or ANAME record on the root.
  • Any domain forwarding, parking or coming soon feature the registrar offers. Some of these are not visible as records, and some recreate their own after you delete it.

The steps

  1. Open the domain’s DNS records

    Sign in wherever the DNS for the domain is managed — usually the registrar you bought it from — and find the DNS or Records section for that domain.

  2. Clear out anything that competes with the new record

    Delete any existing A, AAAA, ALIAS or domain-forwarding record on the root of the domain. Two records for the same name send visitors to two different places.

  3. Add the A record and verify it

    Add an A record with the host set to @ (or left blank), the value 47.206.179.19 and the TTL left on automatic. Save it, then press Check DNS in your dashboard — that is what tells us to go and get your certificate.

Where the setting lives, by registrar

Every panel below ends in the same place: one A record on the root, pointing at 47.206.179.19.

GoDaddy Watch for its separate forwarding feature

  1. Open the domain’s DNS records

    Sign in, open the domain and navigate to its DNS records. GoDaddy has moved this entry point more than once, so look for the word DNS rather than a menu path you remember. You have arrived when you see a table with type, name, value and TTL columns.

  2. Edit the existing record rather than adding a second

    There is almost always already an A record named @. Edit that one and replace its value, instead of creating another alongside it.

  3. Turn off GoDaddy forwarding

    If domain forwarding is switched on it will keep rewriting the record. Turn it off before you save.

Namecheap Only works on BasicDNS

  1. Open Advanced DNS

    From Domain List, press Manage on the domain, then open the Advanced DNS tab.

  2. Add the record

    Add a new record of type A Record, set Host to @ and the value to our address. The TTL can stay on Automatic.

Cloudflare The grey cloud is not optional

  1. Add the record

    Select the domain, open DNS → Records, and add a record of type A with the name @ and our address as the IPv4 address.

  2. Set Proxy status to DNS only

    The grey cloud, not the orange one.

Squarespace Domains Formerly Google Domains

Squarespace now runs the domains that were registered with Google Domains, and the panel has been reorganised since, so navigate by what you are looking for: open the domain, find its DNS settings, then the section for custom records.

A domain attached to a Squarespace site already carries records pointing there — those are the ones being replaced.

Porkbun Leave the host field empty

Open the domain in your account and find its DNS records editor. The form asks for a type, a host and an answer. For the root, leave the host field empty — an empty host means the domain itself — and put our address in the answer field. The default TTL is fine.

Hover

Open the domain from your control panel and find its DNS records. Add a record of type A; the hostname for the root is @. Delete any existing A record on the root rather than leaving both.

How long it takes

In practice: minutes to a couple of hours, occasionally up to 48. Changing nameservers, rather than changing a record, is the slow case.

Checking that it worked

You do not need any special tools for this. There are three easy checks, in the order worth trying.

  1. Press Check DNS in your dashboard

    This is the one that matters. It tells us to look at your domain and, once it sees us, to go and get your certificate. If it says the domain is not pointing at us yet, the change simply has not spread round the internet — wait a while and press it again.

  2. Open your domain in a private window

    A normal window may still be holding the old answer. A private or incognito window starts fresh. You should land on your destination site with a padlock in the address bar. Check the www version too, if you set that up.

  3. Look it up on a DNS checker

    A free checker shows what your domain answers with right now, from a number of places around the world — so you can see the change spreading rather than guessing. The two we recommend are below.

Tools we recommend

  • whatsmydns.net Shows what your domain currently answers with from locations around the world. Enter your domain, choose A, and look for 47.206.179.19. Some locations updating before others is normal.
  • SSL Checker Once the DNS has moved, this confirms the certificate on your domain is valid, covers the right names and is not close to expiring.
If you are comfortable with a terminal Optional — everything above does the same job

On macOS or Linux:

dig +short example.com

That should print 47.206.179.19 and nothing else — two addresses means you left a record behind. On Windows, nslookup does the same job. Either tool can be pointed at a public resolver, which tells you whether the internet is stale or just your own machine: 

nslookup example.com 1.1.1.1

When it does not resolve

What you see What it usually means
Nothing comes back The record was not saved, it went on a different domain, or the nameservers point somewhere other than the panel you edited.
A different address comes back Another A record is still there, or a proxy is answering in front of you — on Cloudflare, the orange cloud.
The root works, www does not Add the CNAME the dashboard shows.
It reverts after a while A forwarding or parking feature is rewriting the record. Turn the feature off first.

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