Help
Welcome to the help documentation. Here you'll find comprehensive guides on monitoring your DNS records, configuring providers, understanding DNS record types, and using our tools to keep your zones secure.
General
Learn about ZoneWatcher features and security
Zone Tags
Import provider tags and add custom tags that syncs never overwrite
Anycast CDN Detection
Automatically detect and monitor Anycast CDN providers
Product Roadmap
See what we've shipped, what's in progress, and what's planned next
Understanding the Client Role
Learn about the read-only Client role for external stakeholders
Read-Only Provider API Credentials
Which DNS providers support read-only API credentials
Volume Discounts
How graduated per-domain pricing works across each plan
DNS Blocklist Monitoring
Continuous checks against email, malware, and family-content blocklists
DNS Change Management
Stage, review, approve, and apply DNS changes with audit trails and propagation monitoring
DNS Change Rollback
One-click reverse changesets and per-check Revert Change for safe undo
How to Ignore DNS Record Alerts
Silence a hostname or wildcard pattern without losing change history
Our Security Posture
Learn about our security practices and compliance
Single Sign-On (SAML 2.0)
Set up SSO with Google, Entra ID, Okta, JumpCloud, OneLogin, and more
DNS Providers
Step-by-step guides for connecting your DNS provider
Monitoring Alibaba Cloud DNS
Monitoring AWS Route 53
Monitoring Ascio DNS
Monitoring Atom DNS
Monitoring DNS via Zone Transfers (AXFR)
Monitoring Azure DNS
Monitoring Bunny.net DNS
Monitoring Civo DNS
Monitoring Contabo DNS
Monitoring CSC Global DNS
Monitoring Cloudflare DNS
Monitoring ClouDNS
Monitoring deSEC DNS
Monitoring DigitalOcean DNS
Monitoring DNS Made Easy
Monitoring DNSimple
Monitoring DreamHost DNS
Monitoring Dynadot DNS
Monitoring EasyDNS
Monitoring eNom DNS
Monitoring Gandi DNS
Monitoring Gcore DNS
Monitoring GoDaddy DNS
Monitoring Google Cloud DNS
Monitoring Hetzner DNS
Monitoring Hostinger DNS
Monitoring Huawei Cloud DNS
Monitoring IBM Cloud DNS
Monitoring Interserver DNS
Monitoring INWX DNS
Monitoring IONOS DNS
Monitoring Katapult DNS
Monitoring LeaseWeb DNS
Monitoring Linode DNS
Monitoring MarkMonitor DNS
Monitoring Namecheap DNS
Monitoring Name.com DNS
Monitoring NameSilo DNS
Monitoring Netlify DNS
Monitoring No-IP DNS
Monitoring NS1 DNS
Monitoring Oracle Cloud DNS
Monitoring OVH DNS
Monitoring Porkbun DNS
Monitoring PowerDNS
Monitoring a Domain through the Public DNS records
Monitoring Rackspace DNS
Monitoring Scaleway DNS
Monitoring Digicert UltraDNS
Monitoring Spaceship DNS
Monitoring Vercel DNS
Monitoring Vultr DNS
Monitoring Wix DNS
Monitor Network Solutions DNS
Health Monitors
Background checks that watch each zone's certificates, DNS hygiene, and email authentication
SSL Certificate
Monitors expiring and recently expired SSL/TLS certificates and verifies a same-issuer replacement covering the same domains has been issued
Domain Expiry
Monitors domain registration expiry date
Domain Lock
Monitors WHOIS lock states (transfer, hold, redemption) to detect unauthorized changes
Nameserver Health
Monitors the health and responsiveness of nameservers
IPv4 Nameservers
Monitors IPv4 (A) reachability of the zone's nameservers
IPv6 Nameservers
Monitors IPv6 (AAAA) reachability of the zone's nameservers
DNSSEC Status
Monitors DNSSEC configuration and validation
CAA
Monitors CAA records and verifies issued certificates comply with the published policy
DMARC
Monitors DMARC policy presence and configuration
DKIM
Inspects existing DKIM selector records on the zone for validity
SPF
Monitors SPF record presence and configuration
HSTS
Monitors HTTP Strict Transport Security header presence and configuration
Safe Browsing
Monitors Google Safe Browsing for malware, phishing, and unwanted software flags
Notifications
Configure alerts and notifications for DNS changes
How to Ignore DNS Record Alerts
Skip alerts for an exact name or wildcard pattern while still recording the change
How to Setup Slack Notifications
Get instant alerts in your Slack workspace
How to Setup Microsoft Teams Notifications
Get instant alerts in your Teams channels
How to Setup Discord Notifications
Get instant alerts in your Discord server
How to Setup Webhook Notifications
Send alerts to your custom webhook endpoint
How to Setup JIRA Notifications
Automatically create issues in your JIRA project
How to Setup Autotask Notifications
Automatically create tickets in your Autotask instance
How to Setup HaloPSA Notifications
Automatically create tickets in your HaloPSA instance
How to Setup GitHub Issues Notifications
Automatically create issues in your GitHub repository
DNS Security
Understand the threats to your DNS and how to defend against them
What is DNS Hijacking?
How redirection attacks work and how to prevent them
What is Domain Hijacking?
Protecting your domain from unauthorized transfers
What is Subdomain Takeover?
How dangling DNS records get hijacked
What is a Dangling DNS Record?
The forgotten records that lead to takeovers
What is DNS Spoofing?
Cache poisoning and how DNSSEC defends against it
What is DNS Tunneling?
How DNS is abused for data exfiltration and C2
What is a DNS Amplification Attack?
How DNS is weaponized for DDoS, and how to mitigate it
What is Typosquatting?
Lookalike domains used for phishing and brand abuse
What is a Homograph Attack?
Unicode lookalike domains and how to spot them
DNS Security Best Practices
A practical checklist for hardening your DNS
Email Authentication
Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to stop spoofing and improve deliverability
How to Set Up an SPF Record
Authorize the servers that send mail for your domain
How to Set Up DKIM
Sign outgoing email so it can be verified
How to Set Up DMARC
Set a policy and move safely to enforcement
SPF vs DKIM vs DMARC
How the three email authentication standards fit together
What is a DMARC Report?
Read aggregate reports to reach enforcement
What is BIMI?
Show your logo in the inbox with a BIMI record
What is MTA-STS and TLS-RPT?
Enforce TLS for inbound mail and get failure reports
Why Is My Email Going to Spam?
A DNS-first deliverability checklist
How-To Guides
Practical, step-by-step DNS troubleshooting
How to Check if DNS Has Propagated
Verify a record change with dig, nslookup, and resolvers
How to Check Your DNS Records
Query any record with dig, nslookup, and online tools
How to Find Your Nameservers
Find the nameservers a domain is delegated to
How to Change Your Nameservers
Move a domain to new nameservers safely
How to Point a Domain to an IP
Set up an A or AAAA record step by step
How to Verify Domain Ownership
Prove ownership with a TXT or CNAME record
How to Check DNSSEC Status
Confirm a zone is correctly signed
Who Hosts a Domain's DNS?
Identify the DNS host, web host, and registrar
How to Perform a WHOIS Lookup
Look up a registrar, expiry date, nameservers, and status
DNS Concepts
Plain-English explanations of how DNS works
What is DNS?
How the Domain Name System works, end to end
What is a Nameserver?
The servers that hold and answer for your records
What is a DNS Resolver?
How recursive resolvers find an answer for you
Authoritative vs Recursive DNS
The two server roles and how they interact
What is a DNS Zone?
Zones, zone files, and delegation explained
What is TTL in DNS?
How caching duration works and how to choose it
What is DNS Propagation?
Why DNS changes take time and how long to expect
What is DNS Cache and How to Flush It
Clear stale DNS entries on Windows, macOS, and Linux
What is Reverse DNS (PTR)?
PTR records and why they matter for email
What is DNSSEC?
How signing protects DNS from forged answers
What is Anycast DNS?
Serving DNS from many locations at one address
What is GeoDNS?
Answering DNS based on the client location
What is Round-Robin DNS?
Simple load distribution with multiple records
What is a Wildcard DNS Record?
Catch-all subdomains and their trade-offs
What is a Glue Record?
How in-zone nameservers resolve at all
What is DNS over HTTPS (DoH)?
Encrypted DNS with DoH and DoT
DNS Record Comparisons
Side-by-side guides to commonly confused record types
DNS Record Types
Understand different DNS record types and their purposes
DNS Lookup Tools
Free online tools to query and verify DNS records