DNS Propagation Checker (Free) - Check DNS Records Worldwide

Free tool to query a domain's DNS records against multiple public resolvers around the world (Google, Cloudflare, and more) at once, so you can instantly see whether a nameserver or record change has propagated globally.

Last updated: 2026-09-20

Confirming that a DNS change has reached the world

This tool queries a domain's DNS records against public resolvers around the world at once, among them Google's and Cloudflare's, and sets the answers side by side. Just after moving a nameserver or rewriting an A record, it shows at a glance how far the change has got.

**The word "propagation" is, in truth, a little misleading.** DNS is not a mechanism that pushes changes out to the world. **Each resolver simply holds the previous answer in its cache and goes on returning the old value until that cache expires.** The length of the wait is therefore decided by **the TTL that was in force before the change.** Shortening the TTL afterwards does nothing for caches already handed out. **That is precisely why the settled practice, when a migration is coming, is to lower the TTL some days in advance.** Answers differing here is not a fault; it means the caches have yet to expire.

How to use it

Give the domain and the record type Choose the type you want to check: A, MX, TXT and so on.
Compare the answers from each resolver **A mixture of old and new values means the changeover is still under way.**
Establish which regions differ You can see which resolvers still hold the old value.
Wait out the TTL **Until the TTL that was in force before the change has elapsed, there is nothing to do but wait.**

Tips for getting more out of it

Right after changing a nameserver or A record, some resolvers may still return the old value until their cached TTL (Time To Live) expires — that's expected, not a bug.
If resolvers disagree, check the TTL first. A longer TTL (e.g. 24 hours) means propagation naturally takes longer to complete everywhere.
This tool isn't limited to A records — use it for MX and TXT (SPF/DKIM, etc.) too, especially right after changing email-related settings.
An NXDOMAIN response means the domain itself doesn't exist. Double-check for typos or an expired registration.
Because this tool queries resolvers operated outside Japan as well, it's also useful for gauging propagation status for an international audience.

Where it comes in useful

Just after moving a nameserver

**You can confirm whether the transfer has taken effect around the world.**

When switching servers

You can confirm that the name now points at the new address.

Investigating why only you cannot reach a site

**Where your own resolver alone holds the old value, comparing with answers from elsewhere settles it.**

Planning a changeover

You can work back from the wait to decide when to lower the TTL.

Terms in DNS propagation

Resolver: The server that looks DNS up on a user's behalf. Google's `8.8.8.8` and Cloudflare's `1.1.1.1` are the best known.
TTL: The number of seconds an answer may be cached. **What decides the wait is the TTL in force before the change, not after it.**
Negative cache: An answer of "no such record" is cached too. **This is sometimes why a newly created record cannot be seen at first.**
Authoritative server: The server holding the true answer for a domain. Resolvers query it to obtain their answers.
Nameserver: The authoritative server to which a domain has been delegated. Transferring a domain changes which one it is.
Propagation: The customary word for a change reaching resolvers everywhere. **In reality it is not distribution but the expiry of caches.**

Frequently asked questions

Typically anywhere from a few minutes to about 48 hours, depending on the record's TTL setting and how individual ISPs cache responses. Setting a shorter TTL in advance makes future changes propagate faster.

Right after a change, that's completely normal. How long each resolver keeps serving its old cached value depends on the TTL, so checking again later should show more resolvers converging on the same value.

This usually means a typo in the domain name, an expired registration, or that the nameserver configuration itself hasn't actually been applied yet. Check your WHOIS record or registrar dashboard to confirm the domain's current status.

Your computer or ISP may hold a DNS cache entry from a different point in time than the public resolvers this tool queries. Flushing your OS-level DNS cache is worth trying as well.

Because TTL can be set independently per record type, an MX record with a longer TTL than your other records will naturally take longer to propagate.

Side Note — nobody actually "broadcasts" DNS changes

DNS has relied on hierarchical caching since it was first designed in 1983. If every resolver on earth had to walk all the way back to the root servers for every single query, the system simply couldn't keep up — so each resolver keeps an answer in its own cache for as long as the record's TTL (Time To Live) allows, answering repeat questions instantly from that cache. This is exactly what makes DNS fast, but it also creates a side effect: a delay before a change is visible everywhere.

That delay is commonly called "DNS propagation," but nothing is actively being broadcast to the world. What really happens is that each resolver's stale cache entry quietly expires on its own TTL schedule, and only gets refreshed the next time someone happens to query it — a slow, passive turnover rather than a push. Set a 24-hour TTL, and in theory some resolver somewhere could keep serving the old value for the full 24 hours after your change.

The DoH (DNS over HTTPS) protocol this tool relies on was originally pushed forward around 2018 by Mozilla and Google, largely for privacy reasons — so that ISPs and other parties on the network path couldn't see the contents of a DNS query. Encrypting DNS traffic inside ordinary HTTPS had a useful side effect too: it gave rise to a standardized JSON API that tools like this one can use to query multiple public resolvers through a server, without needing raw DNS sockets.

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