DNS Lookup

Use this free DNS Lookup tool to check every DNS record for any domain instantly — no command line, no sign-up. Enter a domain name or full URL and this tool queries Google and Cloudflare’s DNS-over-HTTPS APIs in parallel, returning A, AAAA, MX, TXT, NS, CNAME, SOA, SRV, CAA, and PTR records in one clean view.

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What Are DNS Records?

DNS (Domain Name System) records are instructions stored in a domain’s DNS zone that tell the internet how to handle traffic for that domain. Every time someone visits a website, sends an email, or connects to a service, a DNS lookup happens behind the scenes to translate the domain name into the right destination.

Different record types handle different jobs — routing web traffic, directing email, verifying domain ownership, and more. Understanding what’s configured for a domain helps you diagnose delivery problems, verify changes after migration, and confirm your security settings are in place.

DNS Record Types Explained

  • A Record — Maps a domain to an IPv4 address (e.g. 93.184.216.34). This is the most fundamental record — without it, your domain has no web address.
  • AAAA Record — The IPv6 equivalent of an A record. Maps a domain to a 128-bit IPv6 address. Increasingly important as IPv4 addresses become scarce.
  • CNAME Record — Canonical Name. Creates an alias from one domain to another (e.g. www.example.com → example.com). Used heavily for subdomains and CDN setups.
  • MX Record — Mail Exchange. Tells email servers where to deliver messages sent to your domain. Includes a priority value — lower numbers have higher priority. Misconfigured MX records are the most common cause of email delivery failures.
  • TXT Record — Stores freeform text. Used for SPF (anti-spoofing), DKIM (email signing), DMARC (email policy), Google site verification, and dozens of third-party domain verifications.
  • NS Record — Name Server. Specifies which DNS servers are authoritative for the domain. These records determine where all other DNS records are managed.
  • SOA Record — Start of Authority. Contains administrative information about the DNS zone: the primary name server, the administrator’s email, the zone’s serial number, and refresh/retry intervals.
  • SRV Record — Service Locator. Specifies the hostname and port for specific services like SIP, XMPP, or Microsoft Teams. Format: priority, weight, port, target.
  • CAA Record — Certification Authority Authorization. Restricts which certificate authorities (CAs) are allowed to issue SSL/TLS certificates for the domain. A security record that helps prevent unauthorized certificate issuance.
  • PTR Record — Pointer. Used for reverse DNS lookups — finding the domain name associated with an IP address. Common in email server configurations and server logging.

How to Use This DNS Lookup Tool

  1. Enter your domain in the search field — type example.com, a subdomain like mail.example.com, or paste a full URL like https://www.example.com. The tool strips the protocol and path automatically.
  2. Click Lookup (or press Enter). The tool queries all 10 record types simultaneously so results appear in one go, typically in 1–3 seconds.
  3. Filter by record type using the tabs that appear above the results — useful if you only care about MX or TXT records.
  4. Expand or collapse each record section by clicking its header.
  5. Copy any value with the Copy button next to each record — handy for pasting IPs, SPF strings, or nameservers into other tools.

Common Use Cases

  • Verifying DNS after a domain migration — After moving a site to a new host, check that A and NS records are pointing to the right servers before your old hosting expires.
  • Troubleshooting email delivery problems — Inspect MX records to confirm they exist and point to the correct mail server. Check TXT records to verify your SPF and DKIM entries are present and correctly formatted.
  • Confirming SSL certificate setup — Check CAA records to see which certificate authorities are permitted to issue certificates for the domain.
  • Investigating a domain you don’t own — DNS records are public. Use this tool to research a competitor’s hosting setup, mail provider, or CDN configuration.
  • Checking DNS propagation — Run a lookup immediately after changing a record to see the current value. Note that DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to fully propagate across all resolvers globally.

FAQ

How accurate are the DNS results?

Results are fetched live from Google’s Public DNS (8.8.8.8) via DNS-over-HTTPS, with Cloudflare DNS (1.1.1.1) as a fallback. These are among the fastest-updating public resolvers, so results reflect what most users around the world would see. However, if you changed a record very recently, some resolvers may still be serving the old cached value until the TTL expires.

Why don’t I see all record types in the results?

Only record types that actually exist for the domain are shown. It’s completely normal for a domain to have no PTR, SRV, or CAA records configured. A missing record type just means it hasn’t been set up, not that something is broken.

What is TTL and why does it matter?

TTL (Time To Live) is measured in seconds and tells DNS resolvers how long to cache a record before checking for updates. A TTL of 3600 means resolvers will hold the record for 1 hour. When you’re about to make DNS changes, lowering TTL in advance (to 300 or 60 seconds) reduces the time it takes for changes to propagate globally.

Can I look up DNS records for a subdomain?

Yes. Enter the full subdomain — for example mail.example.com or api.example.com. Each subdomain can have its own independent set of DNS records.

Is there a limit to how many lookups I can do?

No. The tool uses public DNS-over-HTTPS APIs from Google and Cloudflare, which are free and unauthenticated. There are no accounts, no rate limits imposed by this tool, and no data is stored.

Why does my domain show different results from other DNS tools?

Different tools query different DNS resolvers, and resolvers cache records for different amounts of time. If you changed a DNS record recently, you may see the old value on resolvers that haven’t refreshed their cache yet. This is normal DNS propagation behavior.

What’s the difference between a DNS lookup and a WHOIS lookup?

A DNS lookup retrieves the technical routing records for a domain (A, MX, TXT, etc.). A WHOIS lookup retrieves ownership and registration information — who registered the domain, when it expires, and with which registrar. This tool only does DNS lookups.