Bare CNAME Records

What Are CNAME Records?

Canonical records, or CNAME records, are a powerful type of DNS record that will override any other DNS record with the same record host. For example, because MX records do not have a record host, a blank (bare) CNAME record will break email routing. To prevent these problems from happening, you must always have something before your domain name in the host section of a CNAME record to prevent it from breaking other DNS records.

The Problem with Bare CNAME Records

A “bare” CNAME record is one that is set on the root/apex of your domain (e.g., example.com rather than www.example.com). According to DNS standards (RFC 1034), a CNAME record cannot coexist with any other record type at the same hostname. Since the zone apex typically needs other records like MX (for email) and NS (for nameservers), placing a CNAME there will conflict with those records and can:

Break email delivery — MX records will be overridden
Cause DNS resolution failures — NS records may be affected
Create unpredictable behavior across different DNS resolvers

How to Handle a Bare CNAME Record

Sometimes, a hosting provider will only give you a CNAME record and nothing else. This is a problem, because you need the bare domain to work but can’t set a CNAME on it. Here are your options:

Option 1: Use URL Forwarding

Set up a URL forward on the bare domain:

Log in to your registrar’s DNS management.
Leave the domain/host field blank (for the bare domain).
Put the CNAME target domain in the URL field (e.g., if your CNAME is on www.yourdomain.com, forward the bare domain to http://www.yourdomain.com).
Select Redirect as the type.
Click Add Forwarding.

Option 2: Use an ANAME/ALIAS Record

If your DNS provider supports ANAME or ALIAS records, you can use one at the zone apex. This provides CNAME-like functionality without the conflicts. See our ANAME/ALIAS record guide for details.

Option 3: Use A Records

If you can determine the IP address that the CNAME target resolves to, you can use A records instead. However, this approach has a downside: if the hosting provider changes their IP address, you’ll need to manually update your A records.

Note: Some hosting providers require you to go back to them to finish activating the site. Ask your hosting provider if problems persist.