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Change Nameservers

Learning Focus

By the end of this lesson you will know how to change your domain's nameservers to Cloudflare at your registrar.

What This Step Does​

Changing nameservers delegates DNS resolution for your domain to Cloudflare. This is required for Cloudflare to manage DNS records, proxy traffic, and apply edge security.

Steps​

  1. Cloudflare will show you two nameservers, e.g.:
    • angela.ns.cloudflare.com
    • chad.ns.cloudflare.com
  2. Log into your domain registrar (Namecheap, GoDaddy, Cloudflare Registrar, etc.)
  3. Navigate to your domain's DNS / Nameserver settings
  4. Replace the existing nameservers with the Cloudflare-provided ones
  5. Save the changes

DNS Propagation​

Nameserver changes can take 1-48 hours to propagate globally, though they usually finish within a few hours.

# Check current nameservers
dig NS example.com +short

# Check if Cloudflare is active
dig example.com +short
# Should return Cloudflare's proxy IPs (not your server IP) if proxied
info

During propagation, some users may hit the old nameservers. This is normal and resolves on its own.

Key Takeaways​

  • Nameserver delegation is required for Cloudflare to work.
  • Propagation takes 1-48 hours — plan accordingly.
  • Verify with dig NS example.com to confirm the change.

What's Next​

  • Continue to DNS Records to configure A, CNAME, and other records.