After you change nameservers or a DNS record, your website isn't updated everywhere at the same instant. The delay is called DNS propagation, and it's completely normal. This guide explains what's happening and how long to wait.
What propagation actually is
The internet's DNS system works like a global network of address books. When you update a record, the change is instantly known to the DNS provider at the source (WebFulHost's nameservers), but thousands of internet providers around the world have cached copies of the old record. DNS propagation is the process of those caches expiring and picking up the new record.
Caching is what makes the internet fast. Without it, every website visit would require a lookup from scratch. The trade-off is that changes take a little time to spread.
How long does it take?
In practice, most WebFulHost customers see their site live within a few hours of a nameserver change. The standard technical window is:
| Change | Typical wait | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Nameservers | 1–6 hours | 24–48 hours |
| DNS record (A, CNAME, MX) | A few minutes | Up to the TTL |
What affects how long it takes
- TTL (Time To Live). Every DNS record has a TTL — how long a resolver is allowed to cache it, in seconds. A record with a 24-hour TTL can take a full day to refresh everywhere. Lowering the TTL to 300 (5 minutes) before a planned change speeds things up.
- Recency. A name you've only just begun using may propagate faster than one with years of cached history.
- Registrar quirks. Some registrars apply nameserver changes in batches, adding a little lag at the start.
How to check propagation yourself
You can't reliably test from the same device you keep looking at. Instead:
- Try clearing your browser cache and using your phone's mobile data (a different network to your home or office).
- Use a public DNS lookup tool that queries resolvers in multiple locations, and compare results across different regions.
- On your own computer, run
nslookup yourdomain.comfrom a command prompt, ordig yourdomain.comon macOS/Linux.
When should you worry?
If it's been more than 48 hours and some visitors still can't see your site, check whether the old nameservers were fully removed and the new ones entered correctly. See My Domain Isn't Pointing to My Website for the full troubleshooting checklist.