Manage DNS records
When you add a new site to Cloudflare, Cloudflare automatically scans for common records and adds them to the DNS zone. The records show up under the respective zone DNS > Records page.
Since this scan is not guaranteed to find all existing DNS records, you need to review your records, paying special attention to the following record types:
- Zone apex records (
example.com
) - Subdomain records (
www.example.com
orblog.example.com
) - Email records
If you want more control over which DNS records are imported and how, import a zone file.
To create a DNS record in the dashboard:
-
Log in to the Cloudflare dashboard and select an account and domain.
-
Go to DNS > Records.
-
Click Add record.
-
Choose a record Type.
-
Complete the required fields, which vary per record. Particularly important fields (for some records) include:
- Proxy status: For
A
,AAAA
, andCNAME
records, decide whether hostname traffic is proxied through Cloudflare . - TTL: Short for Time to Live, this field controls how long each record is valid and — as a result — how long it takes for record updates to reach your end users.
- Comment and Tag: Record attributes meant for your reference.
- Proxy status: For
-
Click Save.
To create records with the API, use a POST request. For field definitions, select a record type under the request body specification.
For specific API examples, refer to DNS record types.
To edit DNS records in the dashboard:
- Log in to the Cloudflare dashboard and select an account and domain.
- Go to DNS > Records.
- On a specific record, click Edit.
- Make any necessary changes.
- Click Save.
To update part of a record with the API, use a PATCH request. If you want to overwrite the entire existing record, use a PUT request.
To delete DNS records in the dashboard:
- Log in to the Cloudflare dashboard and select an account and domain.
- Go to DNS > Records.
- On a specific record, click Edit.
- Click Delete.
- Click Delete again to confirm.
To delete records with the API, use a DELETE request.