Domain not verifying on Vercel even after configuring DNS correctly

Discussions
1

Hi, community!

I’ve been trying to connect my domain synedica.de to my Vercel project for a few hours, but the verification won’t complete. I’ve tried everything and need help.

What I’ve already tried:

  • Deleted and re-added the domain on Vercel

  • Removed DNS records from Cloudflare and reconfigured them

  • Removed the domain from other Vercel accounts I had

  • Deleted synedica-related projects from other accounts

  • Configured the A record pointing to the IP that Vercel requested

  • Configured the TXT record _vercel with the correct verification value

  • Changed from A record to CNAME as Vercel started requesting

  • Disabled Cloudflare proxy (grey cloud / DNS only)

The problem:

Even after doing all of this, Vercel keeps showing the message: “This domain is linked to another Vercel account. To use it with this project, add a TXT record at _vercel.synedica.de to verify ownership.”

The TXT record is already correctly configured in Cloudflare, but the verification doesn’t happen.

My current Cloudflare configuration:

  • CNAME: @ → ae5bf38468ae0d32.vercel-dns-017.com (proxy disabled)

  • TXT: _vercel → vc-domain-verify=synedica.de,f68c8855807b3b241abb

Has anyone experienced this before? I appreciate any help!

2

Hi Zenyxmed,

Since Vercel is still asking for _vercel.synedica.de, I’d first verify what the public authoritative DNS actually returns, not only what Cloudflare shows in the dashboard.

Try these:

dig NS synedica.de +short
dig TXT _vercel.synedica.de +short
dig A synedica.de +short
dig CNAME synedica.de +short
dig CNAME www.synedica.de +short

A few things I’d check:

  1. The NS output should point to Cloudflare nameservers. If the registrar is still delegated somewhere else, the Cloudflare records will not be seen by Vercel.

  2. The TXT output should exactly match the current value Vercel shows after the most recent time you added the domain. If you deleted/re-added the domain, Vercel may have generated a new verification value, so an older _vercel TXT can look correct in Cloudflare but still fail verification.

  3. For the apex domain synedica.de, use the DNS method Vercel is currently showing in the dashboard. Vercel’s docs usually show apex domains using an A record and subdomains using a CNAME, so I would avoid switching between A/CNAME unless the dashboard is explicitly asking for that exact target.

  4. Make sure the Cloudflare record is DNS-only, not proxied, while verifying. The orange-cloud proxy can hide the real target from Vercel.

If the dig TXT _vercel.synedica.de +short result does not show the current Vercel token, the issue is DNS/delegation. If it does show the exact current token and Vercel still says the domain is linked elsewhere, then I’d leave the TXT record in place and ask Vercel staff to check the ownership verification state for that domain.