What is happening?
A registrar is the company where you bought your domain. DNS is like a phone book for the internet. A DNS record is a line in that phone book. Registrars check each record before saving it. If the line breaks a rule, they refuse it.
Common reasons and fixes
1. The record is in the wrong place
Records only work where your domain's nameservers point. If your nameservers are at your hosting, add records there. Records added at the registrar are ignored. Check this first.
2. A CNAME clashes with another record
A CNAME makes one name an alias of another. A name that has a CNAME cannot have any other record. You also cannot use a CNAME on the bare domain, like example.com. Use an A record there.
3. A CNAME or MX points to an IP address
CNAME and MX records must point to a name, not a number. Use a hostname like mail.example.com.
4. A typo or bad characters
- Do not add extra spaces.
- Do not type
http://or/in a DNS value. - Check for a full stop at the end where the registrar expects one.
- Do not repeat your domain name by mistake, like
www.example.com.example.com.
5. A TXT record is too long or has bad quotes
Long TXT records, such as DKIM keys, may need to be split into pieces. Some registrars add the quote marks for you. Do not type them twice.
6. The record type is not supported
Some registrars do not allow all types, like SRV or CAA. Use your hosting DNS instead.
7. A duplicate record
You may already have the same record. Look through the list and edit it.
8. Wrong value format
An A record needs an IPv4 address like 203.0.113.5. An AAAA record needs an IPv6 address. Check each number.
Steps to fix
- Read the exact error text.
- Check where your nameservers point.
- Compare your entry with the examples in the registrar's help.
- Remove spaces and extra text.
- Save again.
Quick recap
- Registrars check records before saving them.
- Most errors are typos, clashing CNAMEs or IP addresses in the wrong field.
- Add records where your nameservers point.
- Note your records before editing.