Your DNS records appear locked because your domain is set up with Forwarding by default. Forwarding points your domain to its marketplace page and requires certain locked records (A, NS, SOA, TXT).
- To manage your own DNS records, you’ll need to remove Forwarding under My Domains → Forwarding → Delete all forwardings.
- It takes about 30 minutes for the change to apply.
- Some records (SOA and NS) will always stay locked because they are essential for DNS to function.
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Why Records Appear Locked
When you register a DNS domain with Unstoppable Domains, it is automatically set up with Forwarding. This applies to both the primary domain and the www subdomain, which point to your domain’s marketplace page.
Forwarding is added once your domain registration leaves the Processing stage. Before Forwarding is fully set up, you may see a Pending Changes banner on your domain page.
When Forwarding is active, DNS Records cannot be managed or added. Instead, you’ll see several locked records that are required for Forwarding to work:
- A Records – point your domain to the marketplace page.
- NS Records – identify the authoritative nameservers.
- SOA Record – contains essential information about your domain’s DNS zone.
- TXT Records – include ACME challenges for the SSL certificate.
What is an SSL Certificate?
An SSL certificate helps secure your domain by enabling HTTPS (the lock icon you see in a browser). It encrypts the connection between your website and your visitors, ensuring that data such as passwords, credit cards, and other sensitive information is transmitted safely.
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How to Unlock DNS Records
To manage your DNS records, you’ll first need to remove Forwarding:
- Go to My Domains
- Click on the domain you want to update
- Click Forwarding
- Select Delete all forwardings
Forwarding removal usually takes about 30 minutes to process.
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Locked Records After Removing Forwarding
Even after removing Forwarding, you may still see several locked DNS records if your domain is using Unstoppable Domains’ default nameservers. These records cannot be deleted because they are essential:
- SOA Record (Start of Authority): Defines the primary source of information about your domain, including the default refresh times for DNS resolvers. Without it, your domain would not function properly.
- NS Records (Nameservers): Tell the internet which servers are authoritative for your domain. These must stay in place so your domain can resolve correctly.
Since Unstoppable Domains uses Google Cloud DNS, your default nameservers will include Google in their names.
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Tip: If you need full control over your DNS (including replacing default locked records), you can update your domain to use custom nameservers instead of Unstoppable Domains’ defaults.