Adding, Removing, and Editing DNS Records such as A and CName Records in GoDaddy
Prerequisites: Sign in Credentials for GoDaddy Admin Account
Difficulty Level: Member • Nerd • Platypus
Estimated Time: 30 Minutes
Expected Outcome: Have updated DNS Records for GoDaddy Domains
Tools Required: Web Browser
Steps to Perform
Connect your domain to your website by adding an A record to your DNS zone file when your domain is using GoDaddy nameservers. A records point to an IP address, usually the one for your hosting account. They can also be used to create subdomains that point to an IP address, such as blog.mycoolnewbusiness.com.
- Sign in to your GoDaddy Domain Control Center.
- Select your domain to access the Domain Settings page.
- Select Manage DNS to access your zone file.
- Select Add to add a new record (Alternatively you can select Delete or Edit to change existing Records).
- Select Whichever type of record you need to add from the Type menu options.
1. Enter the details for your new record, for example for A record:
- Name: The host name for the A record. Type @ to put the A record on your root domain, or enter a subdomain prefix such as www.
- Value: The IP address for your A record. Typically this will be the IP address of your hosting account.
- TTL: How long the server should cache information. The default setting is 1 hour.
- Select Add Record to save your new A record.
2. For CNAME once you Select Manage DNS under Additional Settings
a. Select Edit next to the CNAME record you're editing.
b. Edit the details for your CNAME record:
- Name: The host name or prefix the CNAME record will be set to. You can include a period (.) but not as the first or last character. Consecutive periods (...) are not allowed, and the host cannot exceed 63 characters or be the @ symbol. CNAMEs can't have the same Name/Host as any other record.
- Value: The URL you are setting as the destination for the host. Type @ to point directly to your root domain name.
- TTL: How long the server should cache information. The default setting is 1 hour.
3. For TXT Records once you Select Manage DNS and ADD to Add a new record:
a. Select TXT from the Type menu options.
b. Enter the details for your TXT record:
-
- Name: The host name for the record. Type @ to put the TXT record on your root domain, or enter a prefix such as mail.
- Value: The text string for the TXT record. This is usually provided by your SSL, hosting or email provider. TXT records have a maximum character limit of 1024 and only UTF-8 characters are supported.
- TTL: How long the server should cache information. The default setting is 1 hour.
4. For MX Records once you Select Manage DNS and ADD to Add a new record:
a. Select MX from the Type menu options. A domain can only use one email service at a time. For example, you can use Microsoft 365 or Google email on a domain, but you can't use both email services on the same domain.
b. Enter the details for your MX record:
-
- Name: The domain or subdomain for the MX record. Use @ to deliver email to your root domain, or use a subdomain such as www or mail.
- Priority: The order in which the record is evaluated and used. Lower priorities will be read before higher priorities.
- Value: The mail server's address, such as smtp.secureserver.net.
- TTL: How long the server should cache information. The default setting is 1 hour.
Most DNS updates take effect within an hour, but could take up to 48 hours to update globally.