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HomeKnowledge BaseDomainsWhy am I not seeing my DNS changes and updates? How long does it take to propagate?
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Article ID25
Created On7/16/2009
Modified7/22/2009
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Why am I not seeing my DNS changes and updates? How long does it take to propagate?
We publish DNS changes immediately. They can take some time to propagate over the internet due to the way the Domain Name System (DNS) works or how your Internet Service Provider's (ISP) DNS servers are configured. Usually it is not more than 15-30 minutes but at times it can be up to a few hours. If it has been more than 24 hours please contact support to look into the issue.

Root authoritative servers periodically query the DNS servers of registrars (like us) for the latest DNS settings for domains they manage. Then the DNS servers of ISPs in turn query the root authoritative servers for the latest changes. Sometimes inbetween these queries the old DNS settings remain cached by the ISP.

Additionally, local computers can cache DNS settings to speed up DNS resolution. This cache expires in a few hours by default but you can manually clear your DNS cache to ensure you are seeing the latest version according to your ISP.

In Windows you can clear your local DNS cache by doing the following:
  1. Open the Command Prompt by going to Start, Run, type in cmd and then enter. In Windows Vista go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt.
  2. In the Command Prompt type in ipconfig /flushdns
In Mac OSX the following will clear the local DNS cache:
  1. Open up Terminal
  2. Enter in the command dscacheutil -flushcache