DNS Lookup

DNS Lookup shows the main DNS records of any domain in one table: the IPv4 (A) and IPv6 (AAAA) addresses the site points to, its nameservers (NS), mail servers (MX), TXT records such as SPF and site verifications, and the SOA record that describes the zone. Each record comes with its TTL, so you can see how long resolvers will cache it. It is free and needs no sign-up.

How to use DNS Lookup

1. Enter a domain such as example.com.
2. Click the lookup button.
3. Read the records by type. Look up a subdomain such as www.example.com or mail.example.com separately, because each name has its own records.

What each record does

• A: the IPv4 address of the website, for example 93.184.215.14. This is what changes when you move hosting.
• AAAA: the IPv6 address. Optional, but more and more networks use IPv6 first.
• NS: the nameservers that hold the domain's DNS. They show who really controls the records, for example Cloudflare, your registrar or your host.
• MX: the mail servers that receive email for the domain, with their priority.
• TXT: free-text records. Most carry SPF rules (v=spf1 …), domain verifications for Google, Microsoft and others, or DMARC and DKIM data on special subdomains.
• SOA: the zone's start of authority: the primary nameserver, the admin email, a serial number that increases with each change, and the refresh, retry, expire and minimum TTL timers.

Understanding TTL

The TTL (time to live) is how many seconds resolvers may cache a record before asking again. 3600 means one hour. Before you change an important record, such as an A record when moving to a new host, lower its TTL to 300 a day ahead, so the switch spreads in minutes instead of hours.

When it comes in handy

• Checking that a domain points to the right server after moving hosting or changing DNS provider.
• Finding which company runs a domain's DNS and email.
• Verifying TXT records for Google Search Console, Microsoft 365 or an email service.
• Troubleshooting "site not found" and email delivery problems. A domain with no records at all may have expired; a domain age lookup shows its expiry date.

For other record types, use the DNS Propagation Checker, which also queries CNAME and CAA records and compares answers from 20 resolvers around the world. To check email authentication in detail, use the SPF, DKIM & DMARC Checker.

Frequently asked questions