Before you start
- A login at the registrar where the domain is registered
- The two (or more) nameserver hostnames of the new DNS provider — for Serverlys hosting, they are in your welcome email
- A copy of every DNS record the domain has today
Step 1: Copy the current DNS zone
Nameservers decide who answers for ALL of the domain's records, not just the website. List every record at the current DNS provider — A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, every TXT (SPF, DKIM, DMARC, site verification) and any SRV. Many providers can export the zone as a text file; if yours cannot, take screenshots.
Step 2: Recreate those records at the new provider first
The new nameservers must already hold the records before the domain is pointed at them. On cPanel hosting, adding the domain to the account creates the website and mail records automatically; open Zone Editor and add anything else from your copy, especially MX and TXT records for Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or any newsletter platform.
Step 3: Check whether DNSSEC is switched on
If the registrar shows DNSSEC enabled with DS records from the OLD provider, remove them before changing nameservers. A DS record that does not match the new provider's keys makes validating resolvers reject every answer, and the domain disappears for a large share of the internet. Re-enable DNSSEC with the new provider's values afterwards if it offers it.
Step 4: Replace the nameservers at the registrar
The setting is usually called Nameservers, DNS management or Custom nameservers. Remove every old entry and enter the new hostnames exactly as given, one per field. Do not keep one old nameserver alongside the new ones — resolvers pick among them at random, so visitors would get two different answers.
ns1.example-dns.com ns2.example-dns.comStep 5: Confirm the delegation changed
Ask the registry, not your own computer. A WHOIS lookup shows the nameservers on record, and dig can ask a nameserver directly. For a .com, the gTLD servers hold the delegation.
dig NS yourdomain.com @a.gtld-servers.net +norecurse dig +short A yourdomain.com @ns1.example-dns.comStep 6: Allow up to two days for everyone to follow
The TTL on a delegation is set by the registry, not by you — for .com it is two days — so lowering your own TTLs does not speed this particular change up. Because both old and new providers now hold the same records, visitors get the same answer either way while caches expire.
The mistake people make
Switching nameservers before the new provider has the MX and TXT records. The website looks fine on the new host, and mail quietly stops arriving or starts failing SPF.