Point your existing domain at CanSpace hosting

If you've bought hosting with us but your domain is registered somewhere else — GoDaddy, Namecheap, Google Domains, Squarespace, or any other registrar — you need to update the domain's nameservers at that registrar so visitors are routed to your new hosting. This article walks through the general process and shows where to find the setting at a few common registrars.

What are the right nameservers?

When your hosting was set up, we emailed you a welcome email containing two nameservers specific to the server your account is on. They look like:

ns27.canspace.ca
ns28.canspace.ca

The exact numbers will be different for your account. Check the original welcome email from us for the correct pair — they're not interchangeable. If you can't find the email, open a support ticket and we'll resend it.

The general process

Every registrar has its own interface, but the steps are always the same:

1. Log in to the registrar where the domain is registered.
2. Find the domain management page — usually under "My Domains" or "Domains."
3. Look for a Nameservers or DNS section.
4. Switch from the default/registrar nameservers to Custom Nameservers.
5. Enter the two nameservers from your welcome email.
6. Save.

After saving, DNS propagation takes anywhere from 30 minutes to 24 hours. See DNS propagation — what it is and how to check it.

GoDaddy

1. Sign in to GoDaddy and go to My Products.
2. Scroll to the Domains section and click the three-dot menu next to your domain, then Manage DNS.
3. Scroll down to the Nameservers section and click Change.
4. Select I'll use my own nameservers (or Enter my own nameservers).
5. Enter the two nameservers from your welcome email. Click Save.
6. GoDaddy will ask you to confirm — check the box acknowledging the risk and click Continue.

Namecheap

1. Sign in to Namecheap and go to Domain List.
2. Click Manage next to your domain.
3. On the Domain tab, scroll to Nameservers.
4. Change the dropdown from Namecheap BasicDNS to Custom DNS.
5. Enter the two nameservers from your welcome email, one per field. Click the green checkmark to save.

Google Domains / Squarespace Domains

Google sold its domain business to Squarespace in 2023, so the interface depends on whether your domain has been migrated yet.

1. Sign in at account.squarespace.com/domains (or domains.google.com if you haven't transitioned).
2. Click your domain.
3. Go to the DNS section.
4. Look for Nameservers — change from the default (Use Squarespace nameservers) to Use custom nameservers.
5. Enter the two nameservers from your welcome email and save.

Cloudflare (as registrar)

If your domain is registered at Cloudflare, you typically want to keep using Cloudflare's nameservers rather than switching to ours — Cloudflare's CDN and security features only work when its nameservers are active. Instead of changing nameservers, set up an A record in Cloudflare's DNS pointing at our server's IP:

1. Log in to Cloudflare and select your domain.
2. Open the DNS tab.
3. Find the A record for your domain (the one with name yourdomain.com or @). If there isn't one, create it.
4. Set the content to the IP address of your hosting server (from your welcome email).
5. Do the same for the www record — either another A record with the same IP, or a CNAME pointing at yourdomain.com.
6. On the SSL/TLS tab, set the encryption mode to Full (strict).

This lets Cloudflare keep handling your DNS and CDN while routing actual traffic to our server. See our article on SSL activation for notes about SSL certificates when using Cloudflare.

Other registrars

The same pattern works everywhere. Search the registrar's help documentation for "change nameservers" or "custom nameservers" if you can't find the option. If you're stuck, open a support ticket with us and let us know which registrar holds the domain — we've seen most of them and can usually tell you exactly where the setting is.

After you change the nameservers

Once you've saved the change at the registrar, you don't need to do anything else on your end. DNS will begin propagating automatically. Within a few hours (24–48 at the absolute longest), visitors to your site will be routed to our servers.

Once propagation completes, your site will be live on our servers and email for your domain will start being delivered to the mailboxes you have set up in cPanel.

SSL is not set up automatically by default — open a support ticket once DNS has propagated and we will issue and install the certificate for you. Once it is in place, it renews itself every 90 days from that point on.

See How to preview your site before updating DNS if you want to check that everything works on our server before making the nameserver change — this is the safest way to do a migration with zero downtime.

Should I transfer the domain to CanSpace?

You don't have to. Pointing the nameservers at our servers is enough — the domain can stay registered at its current registrar indefinitely. Transferring is a separate, optional step. Many clients prefer to consolidate everything with us for simpler billing and management; others prefer to keep domain registration and hosting separate. Both are fine.

If you do want to transfer, see How do I transfer a domain to CanSpace?.

Related articles

• DNS propagation — what it is and how to check it
• How to preview your site before updating DNS
• How do I transfer a domain to CanSpace?

Still stuck? Open a support ticket