How to Add DNS Records at GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare and cPanel

Every email authentication guide ends with the same instruction: add these records to your DNS. For many people, that is where the guide stops being useful, because the control panel looks nothing like the screenshot. Searches such as "add TXT record GoDaddy", "add MX record Namecheap" and "CNAME record Cloudflare" are among the most common DNS queries for exactly that reason. This guide explains how to add DNS records at the common kinds of providers (domain registrars, managed DNS services and hosting control panels such as cPanel) without relying on screenshots that go out of date. It shows how to find where your DNS is actually managed, the fields you will meet and how each provider tends to label them, the quirks that cause the most mistakes (appended domains, trailing dots, quotes, proxy toggles, the nameserver trap) and a checklist for confirming that your change worked. Menu names and layouts change often, so we describe the path in general terms and recommend you follow your provider's current help pages for exact clicks. We also never invent the record values you need; copy them from the service you are connecting, such as the domain settings in your dashboard.

Step 0: find out where your DNS is managed

The single most common reason a change "does nothing" is that it was made in the wrong place. A domain may be registered at one company, use another company's nameservers and have a website on a third. Only the zone at the authoritative nameservers counts.

1. Look up your domain's nameservers: dig NS example.com +short, or use a WHOIS lookup.
2. Match the nameserver names to a provider. If they point to your registrar, edit DNS at the registrar. If they point to a managed DNS service such as Cloudflare, edit there. If they point to your hosting company, use its panel.
3. If you recently changed nameservers, make sure the new zone contains all the records you need, including MX and email authentication records, not only the website ones.

The fields you will see

Adding a record at a registrar-style panel

Registrars such as GoDaddy and Namecheap manage DNS for domains that use their default nameservers. The path is similar everywhere.

1. Sign in and open your domain list, then choose the domain.
2. Open the area labelled DNS, Manage DNS, DNS records or Advanced DNS.
3. Choose Add, New record or Add record.
4. Pick the type from the drop-down.
5. Fill in name, value and TTL as in the table above. For MX, also set priority.
6. Save. Some panels save each row as you click a check mark or a button, others need a final Save all changes.

Registrar panels often show existing records such as parking pages or default mail forwarding. A default record can conflict with what you add. For example, a parked-page CNAME at www cannot coexist with another record at the same name. Delete defaults you do not need, and note them before removing in case you need to restore.

Adding a record at a managed DNS service

Services such as Cloudflare, AWS Route 53 and similar hosts manage the zone for you after you point your nameservers at them. The same fields apply.

1. Select the domain (zone) in the dashboard.
2. Open DNS or Records.
3. Add a record and choose the type.
4. For records used by email, such as CNAME for DKIM, tracking or return-path and for MX, set the proxy option to DNS only if it is offered. Proxying replaces the real target with the host's own address, which breaks checks that need the actual value.
5. Save and look up the record.

Managed services often import existing records when you add a domain. Compare the imported list with the old zone line by line before switching nameservers; missing MX or TXT records cause mail failures that are easy to avoid.

Adding a record in cPanel and other hosting panels

Hosting panels typically offer a Zone Editor or DNS Zone Manager.

1. Open the Zone Editor (or similar) and choose the domain.
2. Use Manage or Add Record.
3. Select the type and fill in the name and value. Many cPanel versions require a fully qualified name, such as selector._domainkey.example.com., with a trailing dot, while others add the domain for you. Read the hint next to the field.
4. Save.

Hosting panels sometimes include their own email authentication tool, which can publish SPF and DKIM for the hosting server's mail. If you also send through a separate service, make sure SPF includes both senders in a single record. See SPF with multiple senders.

Quirks that cause most mistakes

The appended domain

If the panel adds your domain to the name field, typing the full hostname produces name.example.com.example.com. After saving, look at how the panel displays the record, and look it up with dig. Double domain names are the number one reason a correct-looking record fails.

Trailing dots

In DNS, a trailing dot marks a fully qualified name. Some panels need it on targets such as CNAME and MX values; some add it themselves, and typing it yourself can result in a double dot. Follow the panel's example text.

Quotes

Some panels want TXT values with quotes and some do not. If you see literal quotes in the stored value after a lookup, remove them and re-save. See TXT records explained.

Underscore names

Names such as _dmarc and selector._domainkey are valid. A few panels reject underscores unless the type is TXT or CNAME; check that you chose the right type.

Two records where one is allowed

You can only have one SPF record and one DMARC record per name. Edit the existing one instead of adding another.

Changing nameservers drops records

Moving a domain to a new DNS host does not move its records. Export or copy them first.

Which records does an email sending setup need?

This depends on the service. For a typical sending service you add authentication records only: an SPF entry (or an include in your existing SPF), one or more DKIM records (TXT or CNAME) and a DMARC record for your policy. Optionally you add CNAME records for a tracking domain and a return-path domain. You do not change MX records to send. For ours, copy the exact records from the domain settings in your dashboard. A walk-through of the concepts is in authenticating your sending domain, and the record types are covered in DNS records for email explained.

Confirm that it worked

1. Look up each record with dig or nslookup against a public resolver and against the authoritative nameserver.
2. Compare the result with the instructions character by character where it matters.
3. Use the service's verify button, after waiting for caching to expire.
4. Run the checker. The free SPF, DKIM and DMARC checker tests the authentication records.
5. Send a test message and read the authentication results in the headers. See reading email headers.

If it still fails

• Wait for the old TTL to pass. See TTL and propagation.
• Check for a conflicting record at the same name.
• Confirm you edited at the authoritative DNS host.
• Ask your provider's support to confirm what is stored; panels sometimes show a record that was not published.

References and further reading

• RFC 1035: Domain Names, Implementation and Specification
• RFC 7208: Sender Policy Framework
• RFC 6376: DKIM Signatures