If a domain you registered, transferred, or connected on WordPress.com isn’t working, this guide will cover the most common causes and share how to get your domain working again.
In this guide
If you don’t see the website you built on WordPress.com when you visit your domain address, or you see an old site or the wrong site, check the following aspects of your registered, connected, or transferred domain:
A newly registered domain can take up to 72 hours to become active. Or, if you’ve transferred your domain from another registrar, the process can take 3-5 days to complete. Follow these steps to verify that your domain name is active:
- Visit your site’s dashboard.
- Navigate to Upgrades → Domains (or Hosting → Domains if using WP-Admin).
- Next to your domain, check to make sure the Status is listed as Active.
If your domain status is not listed as Active, check any error messages or next steps listed on the domains page. Or, check the additional instructions below to ensure your domain is active and ready to use on WordPress.com
A domain’s “name servers” ensure that when someone wants to visit your website, their request is routed to the right place on the internet where your website is located. If your domain is not using WordPress.com’s name servers, it may not display your website correctly.
If your domain name is registered through WordPress.com, you can verify or update your name servers by following these steps:
- Visit your WordPress.com dashboard.
- Navigate to Upgrades → Domains (or Hosting → Domains if using WP-Admin).
- Click on the domain you want to edit.
- Select the “Name servers” option.
- Enable the “Use WordPress.com Name Servers” setting.
Any changes to your domain’s name servers may take up to 48 hours to fully propagate. During that time, you may not see any changes to your domain or the issue you’re trying to resolve.
If your domain name is registered with another provider and connected (mapped) to your WordPress.com site, verify with your domain provider that your domain’s name servers are set to WordPress.com.
Step-by-step instructions for updating your name servers.
Transferring a domain name can take 3-5 business days to complete. You can check the status of the transfer of your domain name to WordPress.com through your WordPress.com dashboard.
To check the status of your domain’s transfer:
- Visit your WordPress.com dashboard.
- Navigate to Upgrades → Domains (or Hosting → Domains if using WP-Admin).
- The “Status” column next to your domain will display the status of the domain transfer.
Learn more about the step-by-step process for transferring your domain name to WordPress.com.
Most commonly associated with a completed transfer in of your domain name to WordPress.com, DNS records (like A Records and CNAME records) are imported when your domain is transferred. In other cases, conflicting DNS records can cause your domain not to show your site.
To reset your DNS records to use the necessary details for your WordPress.com site, take these steps:
- Visit your WordPress.com dashboard.
- Navigate to Upgrades → Domains (or Hosting → Domains if using WP-Admin).
- Click on the domain you want to edit.
- Click on the “DNS records” option.
- Click the three dots to the right of the “Add a record” button.
- If there are DNS records that can be reset to the default, click the “Restore default” option.
Allow up to 48 hours for the changes you’ve made to your DNS to fully propagate. During that time, you may not see any changes to your domain or the issue you’re trying to resolve.
If the options are grayed out, congratulations, you’re using the WordPress.com default DNS records!
Learn how to manage Your DNS records.
In rare cases, you may have transferred, connected, or registered your domain on the wrong WordPress.com site. If you have more than one WordPress.com site, visit the Domains section of your profile to see which site the domain is attached to.
If it’s attached to the wrong site, follow these steps to transfer your domain to the correct WordPress.com site:
- Visit your WordPress.com dashboard.
- Navigate to Upgrades, then Domains (or Hosting → Domains if using WP-Admin).
- Click on the domain you want to edit.
- Click the “Transfer” button.
- Click the “Continue” button next to the option to transfer the domain “To another WordPress.com site”
- Select the WordPress.com site to which you want to transfer the domain and click the “Confirm Transfer” button.
If you visit your website and you do not see the correct domain in your browser’s address bar, make sure you have set your domain as your site’s primary address.
To set your domain as your site’s primary address:
- Visit your WordPress.com dashboard.
- Navigate to Upgrades → Domains (or Hosting → Domains if using WP-Admin.)
- In the “Primary site address” box, click on the drop-down menu and select the domain you want to make primary.
- Click the button labeled “Set as primary.”
Learn more about setting a primary site address.
If the SSL is not working yet or your domain comes up with a not secure warning, make sure to check that your domain is using our name servers or DNS, and allow time for the SSL certificate to provision. WordPress.com includes a free security certificate (SSL) for all sites hosted on the WordPress.com platform.
If it has been more than 24 hours since any issues with your domain have been corrected, and you still do not see your SSL certificate, contact us for additional assistance.
Learn more about SSL on WordPress.com.
ICANN is the organization that governs domain ownership which all domain registrars (such as WordPress.com) must comply with. As per ICANN policy, all domain owners are required to provide current and valid contact information. An email with a link is sent to verify your contact information when you register a domain or update the domain contact information.
You may also find the following error message in your dashboard:
You must respond to the ICANN email to verify your domain email address or your domain will stop working. Please check your inbox and respond to the email.
ICANN suspends the domain name if you do not click the email link within 14 days. Once the contact information is verified, a suspended domain name will come back online shortly.
Learn how to verify your domain contact information.
When you register your domain, you purchase the right to use that domain for as long as you keep the registration active. If your domain is registered through WordPress.com we will email you notifications of an upcoming renewal, along with notices once the domain expires.
If your domain name is expired, you will likely see an error message like the one below:
DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN
If you connected your domain to WordPress.com you will need to visit your domain registrar to check the status of your domain renewal.
Use our Site Profiler if you’re not sure where your domain name is registered.
Learn more about the domain expiration process on WordPress.com.
If you receive a message that your domain is taken or owned by someone else, the following possibilities are the most likely reasons for this message:
- You own the domain with another provider, and you’re trying to register it again on WordPress.com. Instead, you can connect or transfer your domain to your website.
- You’ve already added the domain to your WordPress.com account, but to the wrong website. In this situation, you can move your domain to the correct site.
- You have typed the domain incorrectly. Double-check the spelling, including the part after the period (.com, .net, or otherwise).
- Someone else legitimately owns the domain. In this case, you cannot register it. Consider registering a domain with a different spelling,.
