Custom DNS records are special settings that change how your domain works. They allow you to connect your domain to third-party services that are not hosted on WordPress.com, such as an email provider.

Before you begin, make sure you receive the records that would need to be entered from your service provider. You may want to check their support site or contact them for more information.

Custom DNS records are only available if you already added a custom domain to your blog.

Editing your DNS records

Your DNS records live in your Domains page. Every custom domain you added to your blog will have its own section here. You can find a specific domain’s DNS by clicking on it from the list.

 

When you select a domain from the list, your screen will display information about the domain, as well as a list of different settings you can edit:

 

Select Name Servers and DNS from this list to edit your DNS settings. You will see these options:

 

Here, select DNS Records, and you will see your current records:

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Adding Custom DNS Records

At the top of this DNS page, you’ll see five records that are set in place by default. Three of the records will be followed by a “handled by WordPress.com” message. In order for your domain to work correctly on your WordPress.com site, you’ll need to leave these in place.  If you need to add separate DNS records, you’ll want to add them in addition to the preset records.

Custom DNS records are comprised of several pieces of information that have to be entered in the correct order. The actual information required depends on the type of record you are trying to add.

For example, a domain’s MX Record directs your emails to the right place. Using a custom MX record, you can point any email on your domain to a third-party email provider. This will allow you to create email addresses using your custom domain and use them with your preferred email service provider.

An MX record is comprised of the following pieces of information:

• Your domain (or subdomain)
• Your provider’s domain
• Priority

You can get this information from your email service provider.

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Editing DNS records

To edit an existing DNS record, hover over it with the mouse and click the pencil icon on the right. Note that some default records cannot be edited directly.

For more information about editing your A record and pointing your domain to another host, see the Setting a Custom A Record page.

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More Information

Our DNS editor currently allows up to 255 characters for TXT records.