Introduction

DNS (Domain Name System) lays out the fundamentals and builds up the core component of how the Internet works. It acts like a phonebook, translating domain names, such as “yourdomain.com” into IP addresses that computers, or in this case, servers use to identify one another and exchange information. DNS records determine where your domain name points and what type of service it is associated with. For example, some DNS records direct a domain name to a web server, allowing users to type in this domain name in their web browser and view a website hosted there. Other DNS records determine where the domain name will receive its emails. 

The Plesk web hosting control panel gives you full control over your domain’s DNS zone. Whether you need to add a new record, edit existing ones, or reset your DNS settings entirely, Plesk offers an intuitive interface to help you manage everything from A and CNAME records to MX and TXT entries.

In this tutorial, we’ll guide you through how to view, add, edit, and delete DNS records for your domain using the Plesk control panel.

Let’s get started!

Accessing the DNS Settings

First and foremost, make sure you are logged in to your Plesk control panel. To do that, please enter your IP address, hostname, or domain name inside your web browser’s search bar and add “:8443” at the end. It should look something like: “https://yourdomain.com:8443”. By doing that, you will be prompted by a login form requesting your username and password.

After logging in with your username and password, Plesk will automatically display the “Websites & Domains” page, which will be your index page from where you can manage everything related to your websites and domains on Plesk. 

From the index page, to navigate to the DNS editing area, please click on the “Hosting and DNS” tab, located somewhere around the middle of the screen.

Performing this action will unveil three functionalities: “Hosting”, “Apache & nginx”, and “DNS”. 

Please click on the “DNS” functionality, located on the far right side under the “Hosting & DNS” tab.

Doing the above will redirect you to the DNS settings page for the domain you selected (in our case, hostarmadatutorials.com). In the middle, you will see a table section containing your domain’s DNS records. Before we proceed with the explanations, let’s go over some of the most commonly used DNS records and what they are used for.

• A Record - This is the most commonly used DNS record. Its main purpose is to point your domain or subdomain to an IPv4 address.
  AAAA Record - This is a DNS record that has recently gained more popularity. It is exactly the same as the A record; however, it is used to point your domain or subdomain to an IPv6 address.
• CNAME: The simplest way you can understand this record is that it works in the same way as an A record, however, instead of using an IP address, you point your domain or subdomain to a hostname or another domain name. For example, you can create the “www.yourdomain.com” and point it to ”yourdomain.com”.
  MX Record: This type of DNS record defines where the domain’s incoming emails will be routed to.
• TXT Record: This type of DNS record serves a variety of purposes. It associates the domain name with third-party services or is used to verify the domain in front of a vendor, such as an email provider. Having this record in your DNS zone proves that your domain is permitted to relay emails through the email service. An example of a TXT record that serves this purpose is an SPF or DKIM.
• NS Record: This DNS record is commonly used to specify the authoritative nameservers for your domain. Authoritative nameservers indicate where the domain’s DNS zone is located and where DNS changes should be made.

Now that we have familiarized ourselves with some of the most widely used DNS records, let’s go over the process of actually managing them.

Adding a New DNS Record

The first action with DNS records we are going to discuss is actually adding them. While on the DNS settings page, please point your attention to the top left corner. There, you should see an “Add Record” button. Please click on it.

Performing the action above will redirect you to a page containing a form with information you must fill in order to add the DNS record. Let’s go over the requirements.

• Record type - Please use the drop-down menu to select the type of DNS record you want to add.
• Domain name - Please use this text field to type in the domain you want to associate the record with.
• TTL - TTL stands for (time to live). It is a setting that tells DNS resolvers how long to store a DNS record before requesting a fresh copy from the authoritative DNS server. Please use this text field to type in the TTL value for this record.
• IP Address - This text field will be available only if you select A record or AAAA record. Please use it to add the IPv4 or IPv6 value.
• Canonical Name - This text field will be available only if you select a CNAME record. Please use it to add the canonical name you want to associate with the domain.
• Name Server - This text field will be available only if you select a Name Server record. Please use this text field to type in the name server you want to associate the domain with.
• TXT Record - This text field will be available only if you select a TXT record. Please use this text field to add the required text, string, or value you want to associate the domain with.
• Mail Exchange Server - This text field will be available only if you select an MX record. Please use this text field to add the hostname of the mail server you want to start receiving incoming emails for the domain.
• Priority - This drop-down menu will be available only if you select an MX record. It will set a priority (from 0 to 50, with 0 being the highest) that will designate the domain’s primary mail exchange server. If you set this record to have a priority of 0, this means that mail delivery will be attempted towards that email server, unless it is not running for one reason or another. If that is the case, then another server with the second-highest priority value will be selected, and an email delivery will be attempted there.

After selecting and filling in all the configuration options for the DNS record, please click on the blue “OK” button located on the bottom left side of the form.

Performing the action above will return you to the previous page, containing a table section with the DNS records, and you will see the new one inside.

Now that we know the process of adding DNS records, let’s go over the process of editing them!

Editing Existing DNS Records

To modify an existing DNS record, please click the record itself, which should be highlighted in blue and appear as a link.

Doing so wil redirect you to a familiar page from above, the same one you used to add a DNS record. From there, you have the option to change and modify everything - from the record type itself, to the IP, TTL, or anything else you would like to change.

Once you are done making the change, please click on either the “Apply” or “Ok” buttons located at the bottom of the modification form. The only difference between these two buttons is that the “Apply” button will update the records as per your changes and you will remain on the same page, while the “Ok” button will redirect you back to the previous page containing all your DNS records.

Coming up next is the method of deleting DNS records.

Removing DNS Records

To delete a DNS record from your DNS zone in your Plesk control panel, please use the checkboxes located on the far left side of the domain’s row. Place a tickbox inside the checkbox corresponding to the DNS record you want to delete, and then, please press the blue “Remove” button located above the table section towards the far right end.

Performing this action will trigger a prompt that will ask for your confirmation. Please click on the red “Yes, remove” button to finalize the deletion process. 

Doing this will refresh the page, and the DNS zone will no longer be available inside your DNS zone.

IMPORTANT: Be very careful when deleting records, especially A, MX, or NS records. Removing critical entries may disrupt your website or email services. Always consult with a specialist if you are not sure!

Applying Changes to the DNS Zone

After adding, editing, or removing records, Plesk may display a message that changes are pending. To ensure that the changes you have performed are accepted and working, please click on the “Update” button, which will be located inside a Yellow content box at the very top of the page.

If you wish to believe you made a mistake with the DNS records, you can also click on the “Revert” button located on the right side of the “Update” button to revert all the changes you performed.

Resetting DNS Settings to Default

Lastly, we will discuss resetting the DNS zone to its default value. If you have made several changes to your DNS zone and forgotten what they were, or if you want to revert to your default DNS templates but are not confident in manually deleting these records, Plesk offers a way to reset this zone.

To reset this and apply your default DNS zone templates, please click on the “Apply DNS Templates” button, located on the left side of the “Remove” button.

This action will remove all custom DNS entries and restore the default ones that were set when the domain was added.

IMPORTANT: After performing any types of DNS changes, it may take up to 24–48 hours for them to start working across the internet. This period is known as the “DNS propagation period,” and sometimes these changes could be reflected within a few minutes to a few hours. For more information about DNS propagation, please refer to our knowledge article on the matter.

Conclusion

Managing DNS records in Plesk is a straightforward and robust process. Whether you’re setting up a new mail service, configuring domain verification, or migrating servers, Plesk gives you full control over your domain’s DNS zone with a clear and user-friendly interface.

We hope that following our tutorial gave you the confidence to add, edit, and remove DNS records and gave you a sense of control to point your domain’s services exactly where you need to.