Query DNS resolvers across 30+ global locations to verify your record changes have taken effect. Monitor TTL countdowns, cache expiry times, and confirm cache freshness for any domain.
When you update a DNS record, your change takes effect immediately on your authoritative nameserver. The delay people call “DNS propagation” is actually a caching issue. DNS resolvers worldwide — the servers your ISP, Google (8.8.8.8), Cloudflare (1.1.1.1), and others operate — cache your records to speed up lookups and reduce load. They’ll keep serving the old record until their cached copy expires based on the TTL (Time to Live) value.
So there’s no wave of data moving across the internet. Each resolver independently decides when to refresh its cache. That’s why you might see your new IP address from one location and the old one from another — their caches simply expire at different times. The technically accurate term for what you’re checking is cache freshness: whether each resolver is still serving a stale cached copy or has fetched the current version from your nameserver.
Our propagation checker sends real DNS queries to recursive resolvers in over 30 locations across North America, Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, and Oceania. For each server, we report the actual response it returns, the TTL remaining on the cached record (which tells you how long until that resolver checks for updates), and whether the response matches your expected value.
Unlike tools that only show whether a record exists, we focus on the cache layer. You can see exactly which resolvers are still serving a stale record, which ones have already picked up your change, and how many seconds remain before the holdouts refresh. This gives you a real-time picture of cache freshness rather than a simple pass/fail.
Lower your TTL to 300 seconds (5 minutes) at least 24–48 hours before making any DNS change. This ensures that by the time you update the record, most resolvers are only caching for 5 minutes instead of hours. You need to wait the full duration of the old TTL before the lower value takes effect everywhere.
Update the record at your DNS provider. The change is live on your authoritative nameserver instantly. Use this tool to monitor which resolvers have picked it up. With a 300-second TTL, most should update within 5–10 minutes. A few resolvers enforce minimum cache times (some ISPs cache for at least 30 minutes regardless of TTL).
Once you’ve confirmed the new record is live globally, raise your TTL back to a reasonable value like 3600 (1 hour) or 86400 (24 hours). Higher TTLs reduce query load on your nameservers and slightly improve lookup speed for end users since their resolvers can serve from cache.
If this tool shows the new record but your browser doesn’t, the issue is likely a local cache. Browsers and operating systems maintain their own DNS caches separate from the resolver. Flush your OS cache (ipconfig /flushdns on Windows, sudo dscacheutil -flushcache on macOS) and restart your browser.
Different record types serve different purposes, and each one has its own TTL and cache behavior. Here’s what you can monitor with our checker:
Maps a domain to an IPv4 address. This is what most people check when migrating to a new server or switching hosting providers.
Maps a domain to an IPv6 address. Increasingly important as IPv6 adoption grows. Operates identically to A records but for the newer protocol.
Points one domain name to another (aliasing). Commonly used for subdomains like www or CDN endpoints. Cannot coexist with other records at the same name.
Directs email to the correct mail servers. Critical to verify after switching email providers. Incorrect MX records mean lost or bounced emails.
Stores text data used for SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and domain verification. Essential for email deliverability and proving domain ownership to third-party services.
Identifies the authoritative nameservers for a domain. Changing NS records (e.g., moving to Cloudflare) is one of the highest-impact DNS changes you can make.