If your domain doesn't resolve, the browser never even reaches your server. No A record, wrong nameservers, propagation in progress, or a registrar problem — paste your URL to find out which.
Understanding where in this chain it breaks tells you exactly what to fix:
A failure at step 3 = wrong nameservers at registrar. Step 4 = missing A record at your DNS host. Both = domain not resolving.
| No A/AAAA record | Add an A record pointing to your server IP in your DNS panel |
| Wrong nameservers | Update nameservers at your registrar to match your DNS host |
| Propagation in progress | Wait up to 48h. Use dnschecker.org to see global status |
| Domain expired | Renew at the registrar — DNS stops working on expiry |
| ISP caching old record | Try 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8 as your DNS — or use a VPN |
| CNAME at root | Root domain can't be a CNAME (RFC violation) — use A record or ALIAS |
| DNS host outage | Check your DNS provider's status page |
dig example.com A dig example.com NS nslookup example.com 1.1.1.1
nslookup example.com nslookup example.com 8.8.8.8
dnschecker.org — shows propagation from 20+ global locations. Essential for confirming whether a change has spread.
Your laptop is using a different DNS resolver (probably your router/ISP) that has a cached old record. Your phone on mobile data uses a different resolver. Try flushing your DNS cache or switching to 1.1.1.1.
Mac: sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
Windows: ipconfig /flushdns
Chrome: chrome://net-internals/#dns → Clear host cache
300 seconds (5 min) when making changes. 3600–86400 seconds (1h–1d) for stable records. Lower TTL = faster propagation but more DNS queries.