[Support Guide] I'm getting errors when adding my domain to Netlify or configuring DNS zones

Last checked by Netlify Support Team: September 2023.

There are a handful of errors you may receive when adding your domain to Netlify. We’ve covered some of these in past Support Guide publications and this guide aims to consolidate the key culprits.

“A DNS zone for this domain already exists on NS1”

  • If you are trying to use a domain name purchased through Name.com, please see the existing Support Guide guide.

  • Alternatively, this domain has been used with another service (such as Squarespace) who, like Netlify, utilise NS1 to deliver their service. It might have even have been used by somebody who owned the domain before you! There are two potential solutions:

    • Discover which other service you have used this domain with. You will need to contact that service and request them to remove the configuration for this domain at NS1. This is the only solution which will enable you to use our Netlify DNS with this domain name. Unfortunately, NS1 are unable to tell us the service provider where this domain is already configured. Additionally, until this service provider is able to resolve the issue, you may wish to perform the below step in the interim.

    • If you don’t know what other service created the DNS zone at NS1, you can contact the NS1 support team to have them delete it for you. The first step in creating a support ticket with NS1 is to sign-up for their service here: https://ns1.com/signup?plan=startup. After signing up (which was required last we checked), the next step is to contact their support team requesting that the DNS zone be deleted.

    • If nothing else above works , instead of using Netlify DNS, you can use the external DNS instructions to connect the domain name to the site at Netlify.

“A DNS zone for this domain already exists under a different account”

  • If you have access to the other Netlify account where the other site or DNS zone is configured, remove the domain from this account. This will allow the domain to be added to the new site and/or team.

  • If you do not have access to the other Netlify account, please read the support guide titled “Verifying domain ownership for Netlify custom domain”.

    After reading that guide and creating the verification DNS record, make a new post by clicking the ‘new topic’ button. In the new topic, please tell us the domain name you added the record for and our support team will remove the domain name from the other site or team.

    By the way, It helps to ensure that your support forum email address matches your Netlify team email address as we may reach out via email with a resolution or request for additional information.

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