Nameservers determine where your domain’s DNS is hosted and managed. This guide will show you how to change your domain’s name servers to point to WordPress.com or any other host.
In this guide
Changing your domain name’s servers means changing where your domain’s DNS records are managed. DNS records control many things, including:
- the website available at that domain address.
- custom email addresses used with your domain.
- other platforms your domain is verified with.
- subdomains.
Before you change your domain name’s name servers, make sure you’ve set up all the necessary DNS records you need with your new domain host.
If you have an email address with your domain, it may stop working after changing the domain’s name servers. To avoid this disruption in your email services, add the necessary DNS records (usually a type of DNS record called ‘MX’) to your new DNS provider first.
For example, if you are changing your name servers to WordPress.com, first add the necessary DNS records to the domain in your WordPress.com account. You can contact your current email provider to obtain these DNS records and follow these steps to add the records. Doing so will ensure your email continues to work after changing the domain’s name servers.
Changing the name servers does not change who you pay for your domain name. Your domain name is still registered (paid for) with your existing domain provider, but your domain’s DNS records are managed where the name servers are set. If you want your billing managed through a single provider, you can transfer your domain name to WordPress.com or away from WordPress.com.
You can change your name servers to point your domain to a WordPress.com website. Before changing the name servers, make sure you read these important considerations.
The steps to change your domain’s nameservers depend on where your domain is registered:
By default, all domains registered through WordPress.com will use WordPress.com name servers, but you may have changed them to point away from WordPress.com and would like to change them back.
Another reason to use these steps is if you have recently transferred your domain to WordPress.com. Your name servers will not change automatically after the transfer is complete.
- From your site’s 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.
It can take up to 72 hours for these changes to become fully active, but you may see them take effect much sooner.
If your domain is registered elsewhere and you are connecting your domain to WordPress.com, log into your domain provider and change your name servers there to the following:
ns1.wordpress.com
ns2.wordpress.com
ns3.wordpress.com
If you don’t know where your domain is registered, look it up in the Site Profiler.
If you are unsure how to change these name servers, please contact your current registrar for further assistance. You can find a list of common domain providers and their steps here.
Before changing name servers, make sure you read these important considerations.
If you want to point your domain away from WordPress.com to a site hosted elsewhere, you can change the domain’s name servers or transfer the domain registration.
In some cases, the transfer option may not be available. For example, if you just registered your domain, you won’t be able to transfer it for the first 60 days due to ICANN’s transfer lock policy (ICANN is the governing body of all domain registrars.) Also, some hosts don’t support domain registration transfers. Therefore, you can point your domain to your new host by changing the domain’s name servers even if you cannot transfer the registration.
Name servers are unique to each hosting provider. The best way to find your new host’s name servers is to search your host’s help section or contact their support. Here are some links to popular hosts and their name servers:
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If your new hosting provider does not use name servers, you can instead set A records (IP addresses) to point your domain to your new hosting provider.
To change the name servers on your WordPress.com-registered domain to a different host, take the following steps:
- From your site’s dashboard, navigate to Upgrades → Domains (or Hosting → Domains if using WP-Admin).
- Select the domain you want to edit.
- Click the “Name servers” option.
- Click the toggle to disable the “Use WordPress.com name servers” option.
- Enter the name servers given to you by your new hosting provider. After entering two nameserver values, boxes will appear to add additional values.
- Click the “Save custom name servers” button:
It can take up to 72 hours for the changes you make to your DNS to be fully active, but you may see the changes take effect much sooner.
