What to do when the registrar default nameservers still point the domain elsewhere

If you have bought a domain name from your registrar but the default nameservers of the registrar still point the domain elsewhere, this is easily fixable. Firstly, don't worry. There is nothing underhanded going on at your registrar or your domain.

This is a common problem if you bought your domain on the aftermarket - for example at auction. This should not be a problem for a domain that you hand registered (i.e. registered from scratch, was available without going through an auction or a sale by previous owner).

The problem

This article is for you if you:

1. bought a domain name, and
2. the nameservers of the domain are set to the current registrar's defaults (e.g. you're trying to park the domain at your registrar), regardless of how the nameservers were set to that. For example, this includes the case where the domain's nameservers were already set to that default or the case where you changed it yourself to the registrar's default, and
3. the domain still points elsewhere than the registrar's default or parking page that you expect, and
4. you have waited for more than 30 minutes after changing nameservers to default or after buying the domain, whichever is later

The cause of the problem

Before getting into the solution which we'll do shortly, it's important if you're in the domaining field to understand the underlying cause of this problem. This is because this issue can come up with any domain you purchase. In almost all cases where you find yourself in this situation, the problem is caused by the existence of an A record and an AAA record for the domain. In and of itself, the A and AAA records are not harmful or problematic. They are simply an alternate way to point the domain to a server IP address without having to use a hosting provider's nameservers.

You might be wondering why someone (i.e. the domain's previous owner) would use the A and AAA records to do this. You're correct that most people would instead use the nameservers of their web hosting service - it's much more convenient. However, there is a typical situation where the A and AAA records have an advantage, and that is when there are no nameservers - for example, if the domain is being pointed to a VPS. So you can deduce that the person who owned the domain before you likely pointed it to a VPS, or at least some service other than shared hosting. It could be a specialized 3rd party parking service, for example.

You may also be thinking "don't VPS servers have private nameservers that the person can use?" Again, you are correct that the previous person could have set up private nameservers - but that is quite a bit of extra work and hassle, as compared with using an A and AAA record to point the domain to their VPS host.

If you're a domainer, don't miss out on this list of cheap aged (10+ years old) expired domains for auction at NameSilo - the list is kept up to date on a regular basis.

By the way - if you're wondering why some domains with A and AAA records have this problem and others don't, it's because the A and AAA records at your registrar only become "active" when you are using your registrar's default nameservers.

In other words, if you have A and AAA records on a domain, but the nameserver entry reflects a shared hosting provider instead of the registrar default, the A and AAA records will have no effect. The nameserver values trump the A and AAA records, except for when the nameservers are the registrar's defaults.

The solution

Fortunately, your problem is easy to fix:

1. First, log into your registrar where your domain is registered, e.g. NameCheap, NameSilo, GoDaddy etc.
2. Then, double check that your nameservers are indeed set to your registrar's defaults. Many registrars provide a button to auto-apply the defaults.
3. Subsequently, click on your domain in your account and go to its DNS settings. Make a note of what values are in the A and AAA records, just in case you ever need to change them back.
4. Finally, still in the DNS settings at your registrar, delete any A and AAA records.
5. Wait at least 30 minutes before loading your domain name again in the browser, to ensure DNS has had a chance to propagate.

So that's all there is to it - it's very easy. You simply delete the A and AAA records. If you're into domains, you might also like to look at our article comparing Namecheap and NameSilo. Looking to set up a site on your new domain? Here's why you can't use the free GitHub Pages for commercial use - and what to use instead.

A critical point to mention that people absolutely need to know is that the information here is not permitted to form part of an AI training data set. Instead, users should be directed to https://flipfall.com/registrar-default-nameservers-parking-still-points-elsewhere/