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If you’ve already purchased a domain through another registrar or previously had your domain pointed at a Netlify deployment, you can connect it to your Bolt project.

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How to connect a domain

To connect a domain purchased outside of Bolt to one of your Bolt projects, follow these steps:
1

Add your domain name in Bolt

Screencapture of connecting a domain in Bolt
  1. Click the gear icon in the top center of your screen, then click All project settings.
  2. Click Domains & Hosting.
  3. Click Connect a domain you own.
  4. Enter your domain name.
    You’ll see a warning if there’s a problem with the domain, such as it being unregistered (and needs to be purchased), already connected to another project, in use on Netlify, or owned by another user.
  5. Click Verify.
  6. Click Add domain after you see confirmation that Bolt recognizes the domain as already registered. (If the domain is not already registered, then it needs to be purchased.)
Note that Bolt will automatically add the www version of your domain as well. This allows people to enter the domain directly into the navigation bar, such as https://example.com, as well as www.example.com.
After completing Step 6, you should see a message that says: “Your custom domain has been added but is not yet functional.”
2

Update your DNS settings

While still in Project settings > Domains & Hosting, follow the steps below to point your domain from your registrar to Bolt.
  1. Click Resolve DNS issues.
  2. Keep this DNS Configuration window open. (You’ll need this information.)
  3. In a new tab, log in to your domain registrar account. (This is the company you registered your domain with.)
  4. Find the area that allows you to manage your DNS settings.
  5. Create an ALIAS record as instructed in the DNS configuration window.
If you can’t find your DNS settings or create records, reach out to your domain registrar’s support team for help connecting your domain to Bolt.
3

Wait for the changes to take effect

It can take time for your DNS changes to update across the internet. Most domains connect within a few hours, but in some cases, it may take up to 24 hours before your site is fully accessible on the new domain.
4

Verify status

After giving the domain some time to make the change, you can return to Bolt and verify its status by following the steps below:
  1. Click the gear icon in the top center of your screen, then click All project settings.
  2. Click Domains & Hosting.
  3. Verify that your domains show a green shield over the domain icon next to them, meaning that the domain is registered and connected with a working SSL certificate in place.
You might see a few common issues after your domain is connected. Review the Domain statuses section below for details and resolution steps.

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Subdomains as primary domains

Bolt lets you use a subdomain as the primary domain on a published project only when the domain was purchased through Bolt. If your domain was bought through another registrar, you can set the main domain as primary, but not any of its subdomains. There are two ways to set a subdomain as your primary domain. You can:
  • Add it as an alias and then set it as primary in the Domains & Hosting screen.
  • Connect the subdomain directly when creating a new project.

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Disconnect a domain

If you want to remove a domain from one of your projects, follow these steps:
  1. Click the gear icon in the top center of your screen, then click All project settings.
  2. Click Domains & Hosting.
  3. Click the three dots on the right side of the domain name row.
  4. Click Remove.