NS records list the authoritative name servers for a domain. They control which servers hold the real answers for every other record.
Name server records sit at the top of the DNS hierarchy for your zone. The registry for your TLD publishes NS records that delegate your domain to a DNS provider, and that provider's own NS records must agree. When you move DNS hosting, for example from your registrar to Cloudflare or Route 53, you change the NS records at the registrar and then wait for the delegation to update across the internet.
NS changes are among the slowest to propagate because the delegation lives at the parent zone and is often cached for a day or more. During the transition, different resolvers may consult different name servers, so your other records can appear inconsistent until the NS change settles. This checker shows which name servers each location currently sees as authoritative, making it easy to confirm the delegation has fully moved to the new provider. If some resolvers still list the old name servers, propagation is ongoing and you should keep both providers serving identical records until it completes.
Frequently asked questions
- Why do NS changes take so long?
- Delegation is cached at the TLD level, frequently for 24–48 hours, so the switch propagates slowly.
- Should I keep the old DNS host during a migration?
- Yes. Keep identical records on both until every resolver sees the new name servers.