---
title: Change your nameservers (Full setup) · Cloudflare DNS docs
description: If you want to use Cloudflare as your primary DNS provider and manage your DNS records on Cloudflare, your domain should be using a full setup.
lastUpdated: 2024-10-24T09:09:14.000Z
source_url:
  html: https://hyperlint-automation-repository-scan-0098fc0.preview.developers.cloudflare.com/dns/zone-setups/full-setup/setup/index.md
  md: https://hyperlint-automation-repository-scan-0098fc0.preview.developers.cloudflare.com/dns/zone-setups/full-setup/setup/
---

If you want to use Cloudflare as your primary DNS provider and manage your DNS records on Cloudflare, your domain should be using a full setup.

This means that you are using Cloudflare for your authoritative DNS nameservers.

## Before you begin

Before you update your domain nameservers, make sure that you:

* Already own a domain name (such as `example.com` or `cloudflare.com`).

Note

If you do not already have a [domain name](https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/dns/glossary/what-is-a-domain-name/), get one at-cost through [Cloudflare Registrar](https://dash.cloudflare.com/?to=/:account/domains/register).

All domains purchased through Cloudflare Registrar automatically use Cloudflare for authoritative DNS, which means you can skip the rest of this tutorial.

* Have previously created a [Cloudflare account](https://developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/setup/account/create-account/).
* Disabled [DNSSEC](https://developers.cloudflare.com/dns/concepts/#dnssec) at your registrar (where you bought your domain name).

Note

If your previous provider allows you to add DNSKEY records on the zone apex and use these records in responses to DNS queries, refer to this [migration tutorial](https://developers.cloudflare.com/dns/dnssec/dnssec-active-migration/) to learn how to migrate a zone with DNSSEC enabled.

## Add site to Cloudflare

In the Cloudflare dashboard, [add your domain](https://developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/setup/manage-domains/add-site/).

If Cloudflare is unable to identify your domain as a registered domain, make sure you are using an existing [top-level domain](https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/dns/top-level-domain/) (`.com`, `.net`, `.biz`, or others).

Cloudflare requires your `apex domain` to be one level below a valid TLD defined in the [Public Suffix List (PSL)](https://github.com/publicsuffix/list/blob/master/public_suffix_list.dat). Enterprise customers can onboard lower-level subdomains using [Subdomain setup](https://developers.cloudflare.com/dns/zone-setups/subdomain-setup/).

## Review DNS records

When you start using Cloudflare's nameservers for authoritative DNS and your zone is in a full setup, Cloudflare will become your primary DNS provider. This means that your DNS records in Cloudflare need to be accurate for your domain to work properly.

Cloudflare can [automatically scan for common records](https://developers.cloudflare.com/dns/zone-setups/reference/dns-quick-scan/) and add them to the [DNS zone](https://developers.cloudflare.com/dns/concepts/#zone) for you, or you can add records manually. These records show up under your domain on the **DNS** > **Records** page of the dashboard.



Note

If you add a zone via the [API](https://developers.cloudflare.com/api/resources/zones/methods/create/), you can manually invoke the quick scan with the [Scan DNS Records endpoint](https://developers.cloudflare.com/api/resources/dns/subresources/records/methods/scan/).

Since the quick scan is not guaranteed to find all existing DNS records, you need to review your records, paying special attention to the following:

* [Zone apex records (`example.com`)](https://developers.cloudflare.com/dns/manage-dns-records/how-to/create-zone-apex/)

* [Subdomain records (`www.example.com` or `blog.example.com`)](https://developers.cloudflare.com/dns/manage-dns-records/how-to/create-subdomain/)

* [Email records](https://developers.cloudflare.com/dns/manage-dns-records/how-to/email-records/)

Note

If you activate your domain on Cloudflare *without* setting up the correct DNS records for your domain and subdomain, your visitors may experience [DNS\_PROBE\_FINISHED\_NXDOMAIN](https://developers.cloudflare.com/dns/troubleshooting/dns-probe-finished-nxdomain/) errors.

## Update your nameservers

Once you have added a domain (also known as a *zone*) to Cloudflare, that domain will receive two assigned authoritative nameservers.

Warning

If your domain is particularly sensitive to downtime, review our suggestions to [minimize downtime](https://developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/performance/minimize-downtime/).

### Get nameserver names

1. Log in to the [Cloudflare dashboard](https://dash.cloudflare.com) and select your account and domain.

2. On **Overview**, locate the nameserver names in **2. Replace with Cloudflare's nameservers**.

   ![Find nameserver names on the Overview page of your domain](https://developers.cloudflare.com/_astro/nameserver-names.ubREU1lB_17qcRW.webp)



1. Keep this window open while you perform the next step.

Note

Cloudflare automatically assigns nameservers to a domain and these assignments cannot be changed. For more details, refer to [Nameserver assignments](https://developers.cloudflare.com/dns/zone-setups/reference/nameserver-assignment/).

### Update your registrar

1. Log in to the admin account for your domain registrar. If you do not know your provider, use [ICANN Lookup](https://lookup.icann.org/).

Note

Depending on your use case, you may have to perform this step on the DNS records management of your domain parent zone, or at a domain reseller, instead. Refer to [Nameservers](https://developers.cloudflare.com/dns/nameservers/update-nameservers/#specific-processes) for details.

1. Remove your existing authoritative nameservers.

2. Add the nameservers provided by Cloudflare. If their names are not **copied exactly**, your DNS will not resolve correctly.

Note

To avoid common issues, refer to our [Nameserver replacement checklist](https://developers.cloudflare.com/dns/zone-setups/full-setup/troubleshooting/).

### Verify changes

Wait up to 24 hours while your registrar updates your nameservers.

When your domain is **Active**:

* You will receive an email from Cloudflare.
* Your domain will have a [status](https://developers.cloudflare.com/dns/zone-setups/reference/domain-status/) of **Active** on the **Websites** page of your account.
* Online tools such as <https://www.whatsmydns.net/> will show your Cloudflare-assigned nameservers (most of these tools use cached query results, so it may take longer for them to show the updated nameservers).
* CLI commands will show your Cloudflare-assigned nameservers

```txt
*Linux/Unix*
dig <DOMAIN_NAME> +trace @1.1.1.1
dig <DOMAIN_NAME> +trace @8.8.8.8


*Windows*
nslookup <DOMAIN_NAME> 1.1.1.1
nslookup <DOMAIN_NAME> 8.8.8.8
```

Note

If you see unexpected results, refer to our [troubleshooting suggestions](https://developers.cloudflare.com/dns/zone-setups/full-setup/troubleshooting/) and check with your domain registrar.

## Re-enable DNSSEC

When you updated your nameservers, you should have also disabled DNSSEC at your registrar.

You should now [enable DNSSEC](https://developers.cloudflare.com/dns/dnssec/) to protect from domain spoofing.
