Nameservers and A records both point your domain somewhere, but they operate at different levels and mixing them up is one of the most common reasons a site “won’t update” after a hosting change. Here’s what each one actually does, and which one you need to touch.
What a nameserver does
A nameserver tells the internet who is authoritative for your domain’s DNS. When someone types your domain into a browser, the process starts by asking your domain’s registrar which nameservers to check. Whoever runs those nameservers controls every DNS record for that domain: A records, MX records for email, CNAME records, TXT records, all of it.
Change your nameservers and you are handing over the whole DNS zone to a different provider. This is the setting you change when you want your host, rather than your registrar or a third-party DNS service, to manage your domain’s records.
What an A record does
An A record is one entry inside a DNS zone. It maps a hostname, usually your domain or a subdomain, to an IPv4 address. It’s the record that tells browsers which server actually serves your website. Our DNS records explained guide covers A records alongside MX, CNAME, and TXT if you want the fuller picture.
An A record is small and specific. It answers one question: where does this exact hostname point? Nothing more.
Why editing an A record does nothing if nameservers point elsewhere
This is where people get stuck. If your domain’s nameservers still point to your old provider, editing an A record in your new host’s control panel changes nothing, because that zone is not the one anyone is actually looking at. The internet only checks the DNS zone that lives at your current nameservers.
So there are really two separate decisions:
- Are the nameservers pointing at the DNS provider that should be authoritative? (Usually your registrar, or your new host, depending on setup.)
- Within that zone, does the A record point at the correct server IP?
Change the wrong one, or check the wrong panel, and the site keeps resolving to the old server no matter how many times you re-save the record that isn’t actually in use.
When you change which one
Change nameservers when you want a different provider to fully manage DNS for the domain, for example moving DNS management to your new host, or moving it back to your registrar. This is one setting at your domain’s registrar and it affects every record type at once.
Change an A record when the nameservers are already correct and you only need to redirect the domain to a different server IP, such as after migrating to a new hosting account that uses the same DNS provider. This is a smaller, more surgical change and it only affects that one hostname.
If you’re moving a domain to a new host entirely, decide up front whether you’ll manage DNS at the new host or leave it at the registrar. That decision determines whether you touch nameservers, A records, or both.
Propagation and TTL, realistically
DNS changes are not instant because other servers around the internet cache your records for a period defined by the TTL (time to live), and, for nameserver changes specifically, because the change also has to propagate at the registry level. In practice:
- A records with a short TTL (say, 300 seconds) can update within minutes once the correct zone is live.
- Nameserver changes typically take a few hours to fully propagate worldwide, occasionally up to 24-48 hours, because resolvers everywhere have to pick up the new authoritative servers.
Lowering the TTL a day before a planned move is good practice if you can plan ahead, since it shortens how long old, cached answers keep being served after you make the switch.
Moving a domain to UWeb hosting
When a client moves to us, there are two common paths. If you want us to manage your DNS, you point your domain’s nameservers to ours and we handle the A record, MX, and everything else in that zone. If you’d rather keep DNS at your current registrar or another DNS provider, you leave nameservers alone and just update the A record there to point at your new server’s IP once your shared hosting or unlimited hosting account is active.
Either way, don’t touch both blindly. Confirm which nameservers are currently live for the domain before deciding whether an A record edit will even have an effect. If you’re not sure which registry your domain sits under or how its DNS is currently split, our domain names explained guide is a good starting point, and a quick WHOIS lookup will show you the current nameservers in seconds.
Frequently asked questions
Can I change an A record without changing nameservers?
Yes, as long as the nameservers already point to the DNS provider where you’re editing that A record. If they point elsewhere, the edit has no visible effect until nameservers match up.
Do I need to change nameservers when I switch hosts?
Only if you want the new host to manage your DNS. Many people instead keep DNS at the registrar and just update the A record to the new server IP, which avoids touching MX records and other settings that already work.
Why does my site still show the old content after I updated DNS?
Usually cached DNS answers from before the change, still within their TTL window, or the record you edited lives in a zone that isn’t currently authoritative for the domain. Check which nameservers are live first.
How long does a nameserver change take to fully propagate?
Often a few hours, sometimes up to a day or two in edge cases, since every resolver on the internet needs to refresh which nameservers it trusts for your domain.
What’s the safest order of operations when migrating a site?
Set up the new hosting account first, confirm the correct A record or nameservers there, then make the DNS switch, ideally after lowering TTL in advance so old answers expire quickly.
If you’re planning a move and want help getting DNS right the first time, start with a 3-day free trial on shared hosting and we’ll walk you through it.