How to Set Up a DNS Zone in cPanel (Zone Editor Guide)

Overview

The cPanel DNS Zone Editor is where you control how your domain behaves on the internet — which server it points to, where your email goes, and how external services like Google Workspace or Cloudflare verify your domain. If you’ve just connected a domain to your hosting account or need to add a specific DNS record, this is the tool you’ll use.

Most users land here for one of three reasons: they’ve bought a new domain and need to point it at their hosting server, they’re setting up a third-party email service and need to add MX or TXT records, or something broke and they need to check what records are actually in place.

This guide covers the full process — from opening the Zone Editor to adding individual record types — with notes on the mistakes that actually cause problems. If you’re on our Shared Hosting plans, your cPanel account comes pre-configured with a default zone, so you may only need to add or modify a few records rather than build one from scratch.

Prerequisites

• Active cPanel account (version 106 or later — the UI changed significantly in that release)
• A domain already added to your cPanel account under Domains or Addon Domains
• Your server’s IP address (find this under cPanel > General Information on the right sidebar)
• Name servers for your host already set at your domain registrar — DNS changes won’t propagate if the registrar is still pointing elsewhere
• DNS propagation can take anywhere from a few minutes to 48 hours depending on the TTL of existing records and your ISP’s resolver cache

Step-by-Step: Setting Up a DNS Zone in cPanel

Step 1 — Open the Zone Editor

Log into cPanel, then search for Zone Editor in the top search bar, or find it under the Domains section. Click it.

You’ll see a list of domains on your account. Each one has two buttons: Manage and +DNSSEC. Click Manage next to the domain you want to edit.

📝 Note: If you don’t see a domain listed here, it hasn’t been added to cPanel yet. Go to Domains first and add it as an addon domain or alias.

Step 2 — Review the existing zone records

Before you change anything, scroll through the existing records. cPanel auto-generates a default zone when a domain is added, which typically includes:

• An A record pointing the root domain to your server IP
• A CNAME for www pointing to the root domain
• Default MX records if cPanel’s mail server is enabled
• NS records for the authoritative name servers
• An SOA record (don’t edit this unless you know exactly what you’re doing)

⚠ Warning: Don’t delete NS or SOA records. Removing them will break DNS resolution for the entire domain.

Step 3 — Add an A Record (point domain to an IP)

This is the most common task. If you want yourdomain.com to resolve to your server’s IP address:

1. Click + Add Record at the top right of the zone table.
2. A row will appear with fields for Name, TTL, Type, and Record.
3. Set Type to A.
4. In Name, enter @ for the root domain, or a subdomain like shop for shop.yourdomain.com.
5. In Record, enter the IPv4 address — e.g. 198.51.100.42.
6. Leave TTL at 14400 unless you have a specific reason to change it.
7. Click Save Record.

📝 Note: If you’re pointing to a Host & Tech VPS, your server’s dedicated IP is shown in the VPS control panel under Network. It won’t match your shared hosting IP if you’re also running sites there.

Step 4 — Add a CNAME Record (subdomain alias)

CNAMEs map a subdomain to another hostname rather than an IP. Common use: pointing www to your root domain, or connecting a service like Shopify or HubSpot.

1. Click + Add Record.
2. Set Type to CNAME.
3. In Name, enter the subdomain — e.g. www or blog.
4. In Record, enter the target hostname with a trailing dot — e.g. yourdomain.com.
5. Click Save Record.

⚠ Warning: Never point a CNAME at an IP address — that’s what A records are for. A CNAME must point to a hostname. Also, you can’t set a CNAME on a bare domain (@) — only subdomains.

Step 5 — Add MX Records (email routing)

If you’re using Google Workspace, Zoho Mail, or any external mail provider, you’ll need to replace or add MX records. Your provider will give you the exact values.

Google Workspace example:

Name: yourdomain.com.
TTL:  3600
Type: MX
Priority: 1
Record: ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.

Name: yourdomain.com.
TTL:  3600
Type: MX
Priority: 5
Record: ALT1.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.

Add each MX record separately using + Add Record, setting Type to MX and filling in the priority and destination fields.

⚠ Warning: If you’re switching from cPanel’s default mail to an external provider like Google Workspace, delete the existing cPanel MX records first. Having conflicting MX records with equal or overlapping priorities causes inconsistent mail delivery — some messages will arrive, others won’t, and it’s a nightmare to diagnose.

Step 6 — Add a TXT Record (SPF, DKIM, domain verification)

TXT records cover a lot of ground: SPF for email authentication, domain ownership verification for Google Search Console or SSL providers, and DKIM keys.

1. Click + Add Record.
2. Set Type to TXT.
3. In Name, enter @ for the root domain, or a specific subdomain if your provider requires it (DKIM records typically go under something like google._domainkey).
4. Paste the full TXT string into Record — include the quotes if your provider shows them, or omit them if cPanel adds them automatically (it does).
5. Click Save Record.

A basic SPF record looks like this:

v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:hostandtech.com ~all

📝 Note: You can only have one SPF record per domain. If there’s already an SPF record on @, edit it to add new mechanisms rather than creating a second one. Two SPF records will cause SPF to fail outright.

Step 7 — Verify and test propagation

After saving records, use a DNS lookup tool to verify they’re live. From the command line:

# Check A record
dig yourdomain.com A +short

# Check MX records
dig yourdomain.com MX +short

# Check TXT records
dig yourdomain.com TXT +short

# Check a specific CNAME
dig www.yourdomain.com CNAME +short

If you’re on Windows, use nslookup or the online tool at Google Admin Toolbox.

📝 Note: If your records aren’t showing up and you’re querying your local machine, flush your local DNS cache first — it won’t reflect new records otherwise.

# macOS
sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

# Linux (systemd-resolved)
sudo systemd-resolve --flush-caches

# Windows
ipconfig /flushdns

Common Issues & Troubleshooting

“Record already exists” error when adding a new record

cPanel won’t let you save a duplicate record. This usually happens when there’s already an A record or CNAME for the same name. Scroll through the zone table, find the conflicting record, and either edit it in place or delete it before adding the new one. The table has a search/filter field at the top right — use it.

DNS changes aren’t propagating after 24 hours

First check: are your domain’s name servers actually pointing to Host & Tech? If the registrar still has the old name servers (e.g., pointing at a previous host), your cPanel zone is invisible to the world. Log into your registrar and confirm the NS records match the ones in your cPanel zone. Tools like DNSChecker.org let you see propagation status across multiple global resolvers at once.

Email stopped working after editing MX records

Almost always caused by either leaving old MX records in place alongside new ones, or a missing or broken SPF record. Check your MX records with dig yourdomain.com MX +short and confirm only the intended records are present. Then verify your SPF record exists and includes the new mail server’s sending range.

www subdomain returns a DNS error but the root domain loads fine

The www CNAME is missing or misconfigured. In the Zone Editor, look for a CNAME where the Name is www and the value points to your root domain or server. If it’s absent, add it. If it exists but points to the wrong place, edit it. This sometimes gets accidentally deleted when cleaning up old records.

Zone Editor shows the correct records but the site still loads the old content

Your browser or OS has cached the old DNS response. Flush your local DNS cache (commands above) and try again in a private/incognito window. If it still shows old content after 10 minutes and other resolvers show the correct IP, it’s a browser cache issue — not a DNS problem.

FAQ