DNS is the system that tells the internet where your domain actually lives. Get a record wrong and your site, your email, or a connected service stops working. Get it right and nobody ever thinks about it again.
This guide assumes you already have a Bluehost account and a domain to manage. If you are still deciding whether to sign up, our Bluehost review covers hands-on performance and support testing, and our Bluehost coupons page tracks current signup discounts if you decide to go ahead.
- Bluehost separates nameserver management from individual DNS record management.
- Most routine domain changes can be handled from the DNS tab without changing nameservers.
- Exporting your DNS zone before major changes gives you a way to restore your existing configuration.
- Bluehost supports common DNS record types including A, AAAA, MX, CNAME, TXT, SRV, NS, and CAA.
- Email DNS depends heavily on properly configured MX, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records.
- DNS changes can take up to 24 to 48 hours to fully propagate.
A Note on Which Interface You’re Looking At
Bluehost has migrated most accounts to a unified Account Manager, and everything in this guide reflects that current interface. If your dashboard looks different, particularly if you land in a cPanel-style DNS Zone Editor instead of the Domains section shown below, you are likely on an older account that has not moved to the newer platform yet.
The record types and concepts here still apply, but the exact screens and click paths will differ.
If that is what you see, check Bluehost’s own knowledge base for the Legacy DNS Zone Editor steps rather than following the screenshots in this guide literally.
Where to Find DNS Settings in Bluehost
- Log in to your Bluehost Account Manager
- Click Domains in the left sidebar
- Select the domain you want to manage
- You will land on the domain’s Overview tab, with four more tabs across the top: Nameservers, DNS, Contacts, and Move & Access
The Nameservers tab controls which DNS system answers for your domain. The DNS tab controls the individual records inside that system. These are two different levels of control, and knowing which one you need saves you from editing the wrong thing.
Nameservers vs DNS Records: What’s the Difference
Think of nameservers as choosing which company manages your domain’s DNS, and records as the specific instructions inside that management system.
- Change your nameservers when you want a different company (Bluehost, Cloudflare, another host) to control your DNS entirely
- Edit your DNS records when you want to keep Bluehost managing DNS but need to point a subdomain somewhere specific, add an email service, or verify a third-party tool
Most people only need the DNS records tab. Nameserver changes matter more when you are moving a domain’s DNS management away from Bluehost, or pointing a domain that lives elsewhere to Bluehost’s hosting.
How to Change Your Bluehost Nameservers
- Go to Domains, select your domain, and click the Nameservers tab
- By default, your domain uses Bluehost’s nameservers: NS1.BLUEHOST.COM and NS2.BLUEHOST.COM, shown with a “using default nameservers” status label
- To switch to a different provider’s nameservers, click Change Nameservers
- To add your own custom nameservers instead, scroll to the Custom Nameservers section and click Add
- In the modal that appears, enter the nameserver hostname (for example, ns1.example.com) and, if required, up to 13 IP addresses separated by commas or line breaks
Bluehost flags this area with a direct caution: custom nameservers are meant for advanced users who understand DNS management, and it recommends checking with a network or DNS specialist if you are not sure what a change will do.
Take that seriously. A nameserver change affects everything tied to the domain, not just one record.
How to Add or Edit a DNS Record in Bluehost
- Go to Domains, select your domain, and click the DNS tab
- You will see the Manage Advanced DNS Records page, listing every existing record with its Type, Host Record, Point To value, and TTL
- Click Add Record in the top right
- Choose Single record to add one record at a time, or Multiple records to add several records of the same type in bulk
For a single record:
- Select the record Type from the dropdown (A, AAAA, MX, CNAME, TXT, SRV, NS, or CAA)
- Set what the record Refers to, which appends to your domain automatically
- Enter the destination in the Points to field (a numeric IP address for an A record, a hostname for a CNAME, and so on)
- Choose a TTL, the length of time other servers cache this record before rechecking it. Bluehost defaults new records to 4 hours
- Click Add
Note that the fields shown can vary by record type. MX records, for instance, typically need a priority value alongside the destination, so expect an extra field to appear when you select MX from the Type dropdown.
For multiple records:
- Select the record type you want to add in bulk from the Select Record Type dropdown
- Bluehost then lets you enter several records of that type in one pass, useful when you are setting up a batch of subdomains or migrating a full record set at once
Importing and Exporting Your DNS Zone
Bluehost includes a bulk option for handling your entire DNS zone at once. Click the Actions dropdown next to Add Record, and you will find:
- Import DNS Zone, which lets you upload a zone file to add or restore a full set of records in one step
- Export DNS Zone, which downloads your current records as a zone file
Export your zone file before making major changes, before migrating to another host, or before switching nameservers away from Bluehost. It is the fastest way to restore your setup if something goes wrong, and it gives you a working record of every A, CNAME, MX, and TXT entry your domain relies on.
Understanding Bluehost’s Default Email DNS Records
If you activate email hosting on a Bluehost domain, Bluehost auto-populates a set of records to support it.
Here is what that looks like on a live domain, and what each entry actually does.
Mail-related A and CNAME records Bluehost adds A records for autoconfig, autodiscover, mail, webmail, and webdisk, plus CNAME records pointing imap, pop, and smtp to your mail subdomain. These exist so mail clients can auto-discover your server settings instead of you entering them by hand.
MX record A single MX record routes mail for the domain (host @) to your mail subdomain. This tells the internet where to deliver email sent to your addresses.
SPF record (TXT) Bluehost sets a default SPF record with a structure like this:
v=spf1 a mx include:websitewelcome.com ~all
SPF lists which servers are allowed to send mail on your domain’s behalf. The default includes websitewelcome.com, which is part of Bluehost’s mail infrastructure. If you later add a third-party sender (Google Workspace, Mailchimp, a transactional email service), you need to add their include to this same record rather than replace it outright, or their mail can fail SPF checks. The ~all at the end is a soft fail, meaning mail from unlisted servers gets flagged rather than outright rejected.
DKIM record (TXT) Bluehost auto-generates a DKIM record under a host like default._domainkey, with a structure like:
v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=[long public key string]
DKIM lets receiving mail servers verify that a message actually came from your domain and was not altered in transit. You do not need to write this record yourself. Bluehost generates it automatically when you set up mail hosting, and the public key value is unique to your domain.
DMARC record (TXT) Bluehost’s default DMARC record typically looks like:
v=DMARC1; p=none
DMARC tells receiving servers what to do with mail that fails SPF or DKIM checks. A policy of p=none means monitor only, so failing mail is not rejected or quarantined. This is a sensible starting default, but if deliverability becomes a concern, moving to p=quarantine or p=reject once you have confirmed SPF and DKIM are both passing gives you stronger protection against spoofing.
Tip: If your email is landing in spam after a DNS change, check these three records first. A missing SPF include, a DKIM record that got deleted during an edit, or a DMARC policy set too aggressively before SPF and DKIM are confirmed working are the most common causes.
Connecting a Third-Party Email Provider
If you move your email to Google Workspace, Zoho Mail, Microsoft 365, or a similar provider, you generally need to:
- Replace the default Bluehost MX record with the MX record(s) your new provider supplies
- Add their SPF include to your existing SPF record rather than creating a second, competing SPF TXT record
- Add any TXT record they require for domain ownership verification
- Add the DKIM record they provide, since it will replace or sit alongside Bluehost’s own
Your provider’s own setup documentation will give you the exact values to use, since these can change and vary by provider and by which data center your account is provisioned in. Add them through the same Add Record flow covered above.
Running Cloudflare in Front of Bluehost
A common setup among more technical Bluehost users is pointing the domain’s nameservers to Cloudflare rather than keeping them on Bluehost, then adding an A record inside Cloudflare’s own dashboard that points back to your Bluehost server’s IP address.
Bluehost still serves the site, but Cloudflare handles DNS resolution, CDN caching, and DDoS protection in front of it.
Once you do this, you manage records from Cloudflare’s dashboard, not the Bluehost DNS tab, so keep that in mind if a record you expect to find is not there anymore.
How Long Bluehost DNS Changes Take
Bluehost states directly on the DNS management page that changes can take up to 24 to 48 hours to fully take effect.
This is standard across the hosting industry and comes down to DNS caching, not anything specific to Bluehost. Other servers around the internet hold onto your old record until its TTL expires, then check again and pick up the new value.
In practice, many changes show up within a few hours, especially if the record’s previous TTL was already short. Plan around the full 24 to 48 hour window anyway, particularly for anything tied to email, since a mid-propagation window can cause inconsistent delivery.
Troubleshooting: DNS Not Updating
If a change does not appear to be working:
- Confirm it saved. Go back to the DNS tab and check the record is actually listed with the value you expect. A form that did not submit correctly is more common than an actual propagation problem.
- Check propagation from outside your network. A free DNS lookup tool lets you see what different locations around the world are currently resolving for your domain, rather than relying on what your own device shows, which may be using a cached result.
- Clear your local DNS cache and browser cache. Your own computer or router can hold onto an old record well after the rest of the internet has updated.
- Verify you are editing the right place. If your nameservers point somewhere other than Bluehost (Cloudflare, another registrar), editing records inside Bluehost’s DNS tab will not do anything, since Bluehost is not the authority for that domain anymore.
- Give it the full window. If everything above checks out, wait out the full 24 to 48 hours before assuming something is broken.
Does Bluehost Support DNSSEC?
During hands-on testing across the Nameservers and DNS tabs, no DNSSEC toggle or setting was visible anywhere in the current Account Manager interface. Some third-party listings describe Bluehost as offering DNSSEC, but that may reflect a different plan tier, a legacy account type, or a feature that requires contacting support directly rather than a self-service option.
If DNSSEC matters for your setup, confirm directly with Bluehost support or its knowledge base rather than assuming it is available in the dashboard.
Common DNS Tasks and Which Record to Use
- Pointing your domain to a website hosted elsewhere: usually an A record (for an IP address) or a CNAME record (for a hostname), added on the DNS tab
- Moving your whole domain to a different host or DNS provider: change your nameservers instead of editing individual records
- Setting up email through a third-party provider: replace the MX record and update SPF, as covered above
- Verifying domain ownership for an external tool: usually a TXT or CNAME record, following the exact value the tool provides
- Subdomain pointing to a separate service: a CNAME or A record scoped to that specific host, like blog or shop
