Connect a domain name to WordPress.com to use a domain you registered elsewhere with your WordPress.com site, while it stays registered with your current provider. This guide shows you how to connect your existing domain name, step by step.
This feature is available on sites with the WordPress.com Personal, Premium, Business, and Commerce plans. For free sites, upgrade your plan to access this feature.
In this video, you will learn how to connect a domain name you already own to your WordPress.com site, so visitors can find you at your own web address.
Connecting (or “mapping”) a domain to your WordPress.com site means the following:
- Your domain name will point at the site you created on WordPress.com, and you can then set it as your site’s primary address that visitors see.
- You will continue to renew the domain name through the company you purchased it from (also known as your domain registrar).
- Your DNS records will be managed in your WordPress.com account.
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Not sure whether to connect your domain name or transfer it? Learn the difference between connecting and transferring a domain to choose the right option for you.
You can connect your domain at any time – before, during, or after building your site. Your content and design won’t be affected by connecting a domain.
To connect your domain to your WordPress.com website, start with the following steps:
- Visit your Hosting Dashboard.
- Click the title of the site you want to add your domain to:
- On the left side, select Domains:
- Click the “Add domain name” button in the upper right corner, then select “Use a domain name I own“.
- Type the domain name into the box and click the Continue button:
- On the next screen, you will have two options: transfer or connect. Choose the “Connect your domain name to this site” option. It may take a few moments to be redirected to the next screen.
If you see a message that the domain is already connected to a site, follow these steps to move it to the site you want.
After adding your domain to your site in step 1, you’ll now update some settings with your domain provider to complete the connection. On the next screen, you will be presented with two options:
- Update your name servers: Choose this option if you’re not yet using other services with your domain, such as a custom email address (like contact@yourgroovydomain.com, for example). The rest of this guide will show you how to update your name servers (and you can add a custom email address later if you wish).
- Update your DNS records: Choose this option if you already have a custom email address that you don’t want to interrupt, or otherwise cannot change your domain’s name servers. Visit our guide for instructions on how to connect your domain using A and CNAME records instead.
If you navigated away from this screen, you can return to it by visiting your Hosting Dashboard and clicking the “Setup connection” link for the domain you added:
To update your domain’s name servers, follow these steps:
- Choose the “I only use this domain name for my website” option, where you’ll be guided through the process to update your domain’s name servers:
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Some domain providers support automatic setup. If your provider supports it (for example, GoDaddy), you’ll see a “Domain Connect available” message. Click “Start setup,” then click “Connect” to connect your domain automatically. You can skip the manual name server steps below.
- Log in to your domain provider: In a new browser tab, log in to your domain provider account (such as Namecheap, Bluehost, or Crazy Domains) and locate the domain’s settings page.
- Back up DNS records: In your domain provider account, locate the current DNS records and save a copy of them by taking a screenshot or copying the text into a document. It’s likely you won’t need this, but it’s good to have a backup of your current DNS records just in case.
- Update name servers: Replace all of your domain’s name servers with the three WordPress.com values below, then save the changes with your provider. If you struggle with this step, see further information just below.
- Back in WordPress.com, check the box through each step and then click the “Verify Connection” button:
- You will see a message confirming that we are verifying your connection and letting you know you have successfully started the domain connection process.
The name servers for WordPress.com are:
ns1.wordpress.com
ns2.wordpress.com
ns3.wordpress.com
Remove your old name servers when you add the WordPress.com name servers. Your name servers should be set to only the three values listed above.
Use all three name server values above—one per line. Some registrars may appear to only accept two values but usually display a third box once you have entered the first two name servers.
If you are not sure how to update your domain’s name servers, click to expand the list below and find the instructions for popular domain registrars:
Instructions for common domain providers (click to reveal)
Wix (Note: In addition to this linked guide, Wix also requires you to add a CNAME record for www pointing to @.)
If you can’t update your name servers yourself, contact your registrar’s support team and ask them to make the change for you. Here is a sample message:
I would like to use my domain for a WordPress.com site. To accomplish this, I need to point my domain’s name servers to the following:
ns1.wordpress.com
ns2.wordpress.com
ns3.wordpress.com
If you have already connected multiple domain names to your WordPress.com site, you may be asked to verify your domain ownership before starting the setup.
Once you have changed your domain’s name servers, it can take up to 72 hours before your domain is fully functional on your new site. During that time, you may still see your old site when visiting the domain name. Your default site address (example.wordpress.com) will continue to work with your WordPress.com site.
You can check the status of your domain by visiting your Hosting Dashboard. If your domain’s status still says Verifying, try waiting a few hours before taking the next step. Once you see the status change to Active, then your domain is connected.
If the domain is still not loading the correct site, you may need to clear your browser’s cache to see the changes.
To check whether your name server changes have propagated globally, use a tool like whatsmydns.net and select NS (for Name Servers) from the dropdown menu.
Once your domain status changes to Active, WordPress.com automatically issues a free SSL certificate for your domain. The SSL certificate usually takes a few minutes to provision but can take up to 24 hours. During this time, visitors may see a security warning—this resolves on its own once the certificate is issued. If it has been more than 24 hours and your site is still not showing a secure connection, you can manually provision the SSL certificate.
After your domain is active and the SSL certificate has been issued, you can select your newly connected domain name as the primary address people will see when they visit your site. Learn how to set your connected domain name as your site’s primary address.
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Transfer your domain name to WordPress.com
Want to manage your domain name and website all in one place, instead of with two separate companies? Transfer your domain’s registration to your WordPress.com account, which you can do before or after connecting the domain name. You would no longer pay any domain registration fees to your current domain provider, and would instead renew both your domain and website plan here at WordPress.com.
My domain is already registered with WordPress.com. Do I need to connect it?
No. A domain you registered with WordPress.com already points to WordPress.com, so the steps in this guide do not apply to it. What you do next depends on where that domain sits in your account:
- If the domain is not attached to any site, attach the domain to a site.
- If the domain is attached to a different WordPress.com site, move the domain to the site you want.
- If the domain is on the right site but visitors still see your
.wordpress.comsite address, set the domain as your site’s primary address.
Why does my domain still show my old site after I connected it?
Name server changes can take up to 72 hours to take effect, so your domain may still load your old site during that time. If it has been longer, confirm your domain’s name servers are set to only ns1.wordpress.com, ns2.wordpress.com, and ns3.wordpress.com, then clear your browser cache. You can check the domain’s status in the Domains section of your Hosting Dashboard. It reads Active once the connection is complete.
