The Cloudflare proxy routes a name's web traffic through Cloudflare: the site is faster and protected against attacks. It only applies to A, AAAA and CNAME records, and must stay off for email and for services that are not web.
Change a record's mode
Find the record
In the “Managed DNS zone” table, the “Proxy” column shows “Proxy” (traffic through Cloudflare) or “DNS only”.
Open it
Click “Edit” on the row of the A, AAAA or CNAME record.
Tick or untick the box
Tick “Cloudflare proxy (CDN + anti-DDoS)” to turn it on, untick it to switch back to DNS only.
Save and check
Click “Save”, then check the table's “Proxy” column.
The common pitfall
Never proxy a name that serves email (mail, webmail, the server named in an MX), FTP or an admin panel, nor a CNAME pointing to an external website builder: most of them reject proxied traffic, and the site goes into error. A record you create yourself starts as DNS only.
If it doesn't work
- A “Proxy incompatible” badge appears on the row: click “Disable the proxy” and confirm — the name will be served as DNS only.
- The box is not offered: the record type is not A, AAAA or CNAME.
