Cannot verify my domain: "Another site is already using this domain"

[luke]

Hi, @AniruddhSringeri. There is an inactive DNS zone for that domain here:

https://app.netlify.com/account/dns/makemytimetable.com

That must be deleted or activated. Leaving inactive will cause issues. There is more about why this must be fixed and how to do so here:

[Support Guide] How to detect and fix inactive Netlify DNS zones

What is an “inactive Netlify DNS zone”? First, it would help to define the term “DNS zone”. Quoting wikipedia, it says: A DNS zone is any distinct, contiguous portion of the domain name space in the Domain Name System (DNS) for which administrative responsibility has been delegated to a single manager. To paraphrase, a DNS zone is a collection of all the DNS records for a custom domain. When you add custom domains to Netlify DNS we create a DNS zone which stores all the DNS records for tha…

Now, about the domain showing a different site. This is because you don’t have it added to your site settings (under Site Name > Settings > Domain management > Custom domains). It is linked to a different site at Netlify. I can unlink the domain from the existing site if you create a verification DNS record:

[Support Guide] Verifying domain ownership for Netlify custom domain

When you’re setting up the custom domain for your site, we may have to ask you to verify that you own the domain. To do this, you’ll have to create a DNS record that we then check: Go to do your domain host (Bluehost, Gandi, Google, etc.) Add a TXT record with the following characteristics: Name: verified-for-netlify. (many DNS hosts want the dot at the end, so try creating the record both with and without it if the first attempt doesn’t work) TTL: default Text/Value: link to your public pos…

Once the domain as been removed from the other site and team, it can then be added to your site here:

https://app.netlify.com/sites/happy-hopper-281b11/settings/domain#custom-domains

Last but not least, the external DNS configuration of this site is not configured as we recommend. These are the current records:

makemytimetable.com.      3600   IN   A       104.198.14.52
www.makemytimetable.com.  3600   IN   CNAME   makemytimetable.com.

However, the recommended record would be this:

makemytimetable.com.      3600   IN   A       104.198.14.52
www.makemytimetable.com.  3600   IN   CNAME   happy-hopper-281b11.netlify.app. 

Note, you should make the www subdomain the primary custom domain if this is done. If you make the apex domain primary, it sends all traffic to one IP address and that is not ideal. This is also what the current (incorrect) DNS configuration is doing - sending all traffic to a single IP address.

​Please let us know if you create the verification DNS record or if there are any questions.

[AniruddhSringeri]

Thank you, @luke
I’ve configured the TXT record as you’ve recommended.

[jen]

Hey there,
Thanks so much for verifying! I’ve gone ahead and removed the custom domain that was attached the other site, so you should now be able to use it on yours. Please give us a shout if you run into any issues with that.