DNS changes: timing and what to expect
After you save a DNS record at your registrar, there’s a delay before the rest of the internet sees it. Here’s how to think about that delay.
Typical timing
| What | Usually | Worst case |
|---|---|---|
Adding a new CNAME record | 5–30 minutes | 24–48 hours |
| Setting up URL forwarding | Almost instant | 30 minutes |
| Changing nameservers | 1–6 hours | 48 hours |
| Updating an existing record | 5 minutes — 1 hour | 24 hours (depending on the old TTL) |
Why the delay?
DNS is cached at many layers between your registrar and any given visitor — your ISP’s resolver, the visitor’s router, their browser, sometimes even their phone. Each of those caches expires on its own schedule (the TTL — time to live).
You can’t force a cache clear globally. The internet just has to age out the old record.
How to check if your record is live
Open dnschecker.org, type your domain, and pick the record type (CNAME for www, A for the bare domain). It pings DNS servers across the world and shows you which ones have the new value.
Once most of the world sees the new value, your dashboard will show your domain as LIVE within a few minutes.
What if it’s been more than an hour?
That usually means the record didn’t save correctly, the name or value has a typo, or there’s a conflicting record (for example, an A record on the same host blocking the new CNAME). Check the troubleshooting guide or email support@webegg.ai.
A note about browser cache
If you tested your domain right after adding the record and saw an error page, your browser may have cached it. Try:
- An incognito / private window
- A different browser
- Your phone on cellular (not Wi-Fi — bypasses your ISP’s cache)