Shopify Custom Domain DNS Setup: A Record, CNAME and Verification

Connecting a domain you bought elsewhere to Shopify comes down to two DNS records and a waiting period. Most failed setups are not caused by Shopify; they come from a leftover record at the registrar, a typo in the host field, or changing the wrong DNS zone. This guide walks through the records, how to verify them from the outside, and the mistakes to look for when the admin still says "not connected".

The two records Shopify has historically asked for

For a third-party domain, Shopify's documentation has long asked for the following. Confirm them in your admin before you copy anything:

A few details that trip people up:

• The @ symbol means "the bare domain" at most DNS hosts. Some hosts want the host field left blank, and a few want the full domain name. Your registrar's help page will say which.
• A CNAME cannot sit on the apex alongside other records, which is why the root uses an A record. Some DNS providers offer ALIAS, ANAME or flattening to get CNAME-like behavior at the root; see CNAME flattening and the apex domain. For Shopify, stick with the documented A record unless Shopify tells you otherwise.
• The value shops.myshopify.com has no https:// and no trailing path. Paste only the hostname.
• If your DNS host forces a trailing dot on hostnames (shops.myshopify.com.), that is normal zone-file syntax and fine.

Step by step

1. Decide the final address. Pick whether shoppers should land on example.com or www.example.com. You will mark one as primary in Shopify; the other will redirect to it.
2. Add the domain in Shopify. In the admin, go to Settings, then Domains, and choose to connect an existing domain. Enter the domain exactly as you want it.
3. Open the DNS zone that is actually live. This matters more than anything else in this guide. Find the authoritative nameservers with the नेमसर्वर लुकअप. If the nameservers belong to Cloudflare, you edit records in Cloudflare, not at the registrar where you bought the domain, even though the registrar's panel may still show an old zone.
4. Remove conflicting records. Delete any existing A record on @ that points at your old host, and any existing www record (A, AAAA or CNAME) that points elsewhere. A hostname cannot have a CNAME and another record type at the same time.
5. Add the two records from the table above, or the values your admin shows.
6. Return to Shopify and verify. Use the verify or connect action in the Domains page. If it says the domain is not yet connected, wait a few minutes and try again before changing anything.
7. Set the primary domain once both addresses are connected.

Check what the world sees rather than trusting the registrar's screen:

dig +short A example.com
dig +short CNAME www.example.com
dig +short AAAA example.com

The DNS चेकर runs the same lookups from several resolvers, which is useful when you suspect a cached answer. Remember that old answers may linger for the length of the previous record's TTL. How long does DNS propagation take explains why, and TTL explained shows how to lower it before a migration.

www versus apex: which should be primary?

Either works technically. The choice is about preference and how your DNS is hosted.

• Apex as primary (example.com) gives shorter, cleaner links. It relies on the A record, which is a single fixed address you do not control.
• www as primary (www.example.com) rides on the CNAME, which lets Shopify change the target address without you touching DNS. Some teams prefer this for resilience.

Whichever you choose, Shopify redirects the non-primary domain to the primary one once both are connected. Confirm that behavior from outside with the रीडायरेक्ट चेकर: you want a single permanent redirect (301) from the secondary host to the primary, then a 200. Two or three hops, or a redirect that bounces between HTTP and HTTPS, is a sign something else (a Cloudflare rule, a registrar forwarding service) is interfering. HTTP redirects 301 vs 302 explains the difference.

Verification and the certificate

Once DNS points correctly, Shopify provisions a free SSL certificate for the domain automatically. Shopify's documentation describes this as taking some time after the domain connects; check the current wording in the Help Center rather than relying on a fixed number. Until the certificate is ready, visitors may see a browser warning or a connection error on your domain. If the status stays on "pending" for a long time, read Shopify SSL certificate pending: how to fix it.

You can confirm certificate status yourself:

curl -vI https://www.example.com/ 2>&1 | grep -E "subject:|issuer:|expire date|HTTP/"

Or use the SSL Checker, which also shows the chain and expiry date.

Common mistakes and how to spot them

Editing the wrong DNS zone

You change records at the registrar but the domain uses nameservers at Cloudflare, your host or an email provider. Nothing happens because that zone is not live. Look up the nameservers first and edit where the answers actually come from. The WHOIS लुकअप also shows delegation.

Leaving the old A record in place

Two A records on the root, one for the old host and one for Shopify, means visitors are split between two servers. Half see the old site, half see Shopify, and verification flaps. Delete the old one.

An AAAA (IPv6) record pointing to the old host

If the old host also published an AAAA record, IPv6-capable visitors keep reaching it even though IPv4 users see Shopify. Run dig +short AAAA example.com and remove any AAAA record that does not belong to Shopify's instructions.

CAA records that block certificate issuance

A CAA record tells certificate authorities which ones may issue for your domain. If you have a CAA record that does not list the authority Shopify uses, issuance can fail and the certificate stays pending. Check with dig +short CAA example.com and read Shopify's current guidance on which authority to allow; or remove the record if you do not need it.

Cloudflare proxy in front of Shopify

An orange-cloud (proxied) record in front of Shopify can interfere with certificate validation and with redirects. Shopify's guidance on putting another proxy in front of a store has been restrictive; check their current documentation before enabling the proxy. If you must experiment, switch the records to DNS only (grey cloud) first and verify, then change one thing at a time. See Cloudflare setup, DNS and SSL modes for how the modes behave.

Forgetting email records

Changing nameservers (rather than just two records) wipes email-related MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC entries unless you copy them across. If you only need to point the website at Shopify, change only the two records and leave everything else alone. Check afterward with the Email DNS Checker.

Registrar forwarding or parking

Registrar "domain forwarding", "URL redirect" or "parked page" features create their own A records and hosting. Turn them off for the hostnames you use with Shopify.

After connecting: keep an eye on it

DNS is one of the quieter ways a store goes offline. A registrar renewal missed, a nameserver change by a well-meaning developer or an expired certificate can all take the shop down without any error inside Shopify itself. Set up an uptime monitor on both https://example.com/ and https://www.example.com/, and add a domain expiry watch so renewal is never a surprise. Domain expiry grace and redemption explains what happens when it slips.

अगले कदम

• Verify the live records with the DNS चेकर और नेमसर्वर लुकअप.
• Confirm HTTPS and certificate expiry with the SSL Checker.
• Test the www/apex redirect with the रीडायरेक्ट चेकर.
• Fix a stuck certificate: Shopify SSL certificate pending.
• Add monitoring with the uptime monitor.

सामान्य प्रश्न

What IP address does a Shopify store use?

Shopify's documentation has long listed 23.227.38.65 for the root A record, with shops.myshopify.com as the CNAME target for www. Confirm both against the values shown in your own Settings, Domains page before you save them.

How long until my Shopify domain connects?

Often within minutes, but it can take longer when resolvers are holding cached answers from the old records. Check with a public DNS lookup rather than your browser, which has its own cache.

Can I use Shopify with Cloudflare DNS?

Yes, for DNS hosting; the records are the same. Be careful with the proxy setting and follow Shopify's current guidance, because a proxy in front of the store can interfere with certificates and redirects.

Do I need to change my nameservers to connect a domain?

No. Pointing the two records is enough for a third-party domain, and it leaves your email DNS untouched. Changing nameservers moves the entire zone and means you must recreate every other record.

Why does www work but the bare domain does not?

Usually the root A record is missing, wrong, or competing with an old record or an AAAA record. Run dig +short A example.com and dig +short AAAA example.com and compare the results to what Shopify asks for.

यह पेज सामान्य जानकारी है, जिसे हमारी संपादकीय टीम ने लिखा है और दस्तावेज़ीकरण बदलने पर अपडेट किया जाता है। सर्वर और प्रदाता अलग-अलग होते हैं, इसलिए बदलाव पहले सुरक्षित तरीके से जाँचें। देखें: संपादकीय नीति और अस्वीकरण.