Point your domain to Host Dada with an A record (keep your DNS where it is)

You don't have to move your nameservers to use Host Dada hosting. If you'd rather keep your DNS where it is (at your registrar, Cloudflare or your old host), change your domain's A record to point at your Host Dada hosting and delete any AAAA records. Your website then loads from Host Dada, and everything else in your DNS, including email, stays exactly as it is.

• Applies to: ProFlex hosting, Essential Web Hosting and WordPress Hosting
• Time: about 10 minutes, plus up to a few hours to take effect
• Difficulty: Beginner

Nameservers or A record: which should I use?

To move your nameservers instead, see What are nameservers? Point your domain to Host Dada and the guide for your registrar.

Before you start

• Your domain must already be added to your Host Dada hosting. For ProFlex we set this up when we create your account. For Essential and WordPress hosting, see Add a website or domain to your hosting package.
• If you're moving a website, upload it first and check it works before you switch. See Preview your site before changing DNS.
• Sign in to whoever manages your domain's DNS today. That's usually where you bought the domain, but it may be Cloudflare or your old web host. If you're not sure, a DNS checker set to NS shows whose nameservers your domain uses.
• Write down (or screenshot) the current A, AAAA and www records before you change them, so you can switch back if you need to.

The values to use

ProFlex hosting

You can also see this address in cPanel, under General Information → Shared IP Address.

Essential Web Hosting and WordPress Hosting

Each hosting package has its own IP address. It isn't the same for every customer, so copy yours from the Control Panel rather than from another site:

1. Open Manage DNS. In the Host Dada Control Panel go to Manage Services → Manage on your package → Manage DNS.
2. Copy the A record. Find the A record for your domain (the host is your domain on its own, or @) and copy its IP address, which looks like 185.151.30.xxx.
3. Note the AAAA record. You'll also see an AAAA record (an IPv6 address starting 2a07:7800::). Copying it is optional.

Step-by-step: change the A record

1. Open your DNS records. Sign in to your DNS provider and open the DNS settings for your domain (often called DNS, DNS Records, Manage DNS or Zone Editor). Our registrar guides, listed below, give the exact path for each provider.
2. Edit the root A record. Find the A record whose host is @, blank, or your domain name. Change its value to your Host Dada IP address and save. If there are two or more A records for @, delete the extras so only the Host Dada one is left.
3. Point www at the same place. If www is an A record, change it to the same IP address. If it's a CNAME pointing to your domain, leave it. If it's a CNAME pointing to something else (such as a website builder), delete it and add a CNAME to your domain, or an A record with the IP address.
4. Delete the AAAA records. Remove every AAAA record for @ and www.
5. Leave everything else alone. Don't change your MX, TXT or other records: that's what keeps your email and other services working.
6. Lower the TTL if you can. If your provider lets you set a TTL, 3600 (one hour) or lower means any later change takes effect faster.

How long does it take?

Most people see your site on Host Dada within an hour, but allow up to 24 hours, depending on the old record's TTL. Your free SSL certificate is issued automatically once the domain points at Host Dada: on ProFlex within about three hours, and on Essential and WordPress hosting usually sooner. Until then, visitors may see a certificate warning. Keep your old hosting running until the change has completed.

Check it has worked

• Use a public DNS checker (search for "DNS propagation checker") and look up your domain's A record: it should show your Host Dada IP address. Then look up AAAA: it should show nothing, or the address from your Manage DNS page on Essential and WordPress hosting.
• On a Mac or Linux computer, run dig A yourdomain.co.uk +short and dig AAAA yourdomain.co.uk +short in Terminal. On Windows, run nslookup yourdomain.co.uk in Command Prompt.
• Open your site on your phone using mobile data (not Wi-Fi). Mobile networks usually use IPv6, so this catches a leftover AAAA record.

Troubleshooting

Some people see the new site, others see the old one

Usually an AAAA record still points at your old host, or a second A record for @ is still there. Check both with a DNS checker and delete anything that isn't Host Dada's. Otherwise it's just caching: wait for the old TTL to expire.

"Your connection is not private" or a certificate warning

The free certificate is issued once the domain points at us. Give it a few hours after the change. If it still shows after that, check for leftover AAAA records or a Cloudflare proxy (orange cloud), then open a ticket and we'll issue it for you.

My provider won't let me edit or delete the record

Some providers lock the A record while their own website builder or hosting is connected to the domain. Disconnect the domain from the builder or hosting first, or change nameservers instead.

My email stopped working

Changing the A record doesn't affect email, unless an MX record pointed to your domain name itself (for example yourdomain.co.uk or mail.yourdomain.co.uk with an A record to your old host). In that case add an A record for mail with the old host's IP address, and point the MX at mail.yourdomain.co.uk, or ask your email provider for the correct records.

Last reviewed: October 2026