16 Mar 2026 · 10 min read · DelhiHosting Team
DNS is the address book of the internet — it tells the world where to find your website and deliver your email. Most “my site/email suddenly stopped” problems trace back to one DNS record. This guide explains the records that matter, how to edit them safely in cPanel’s Zone Editor, and how to avoid the mistakes that take sites offline.
When someone visits your domain, their device asks DNS “where is this?” and DNS replies with a server address. Different record types answer different questions — where the website is, where email goes, and so on. Edit these in cPanel under Zone Editor.
| Record | Points… | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| A | a name → an IPv4 address | Your website (the core record) |
| AAAA | a name → an IPv6 address | IPv6 website access |
| CNAME | a name → another name | Subdomains, www, third-party services |
| MX | your domain → a mail server | Email delivery |
| TXT | plain text values | SPF, DKIM, DMARC, domain verification |
DNS changes spread across the internet gradually, governed by each record’s TTL (time to live). Expect anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours, occasionally up to 24–48. If something looks wrong immediately after a change, wait before assuming it failed — and lower the TTL before a planned migration so changes apply faster.
| Goal | Record to change |
|---|---|
| Move website to a new server | A record → new IP |
| Point www to your site | CNAME www → your domain |
| Use Google Workspace email | MX records → Google’s, routing → remote |
| Stop email going to spam | Add/fix SPF, DKIM, DMARC (TXT) |
| Verify a service (Search Console etc.) | Add the provided TXT record |
A records point your site, MX records route your email, and TXT records authenticate it. Edit one record at a time in Zone Editor, note the old value first, and allow time to propagate — and most DNS problems become easy fixes.
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