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Domain & DNS

DNS record lookup

Query A, AAAA, MX, TXT, NS, CNAME and SOA records.

Domain or IP Enter a domain. For PTR choose it as the only type and enter an IP.
Record types
PTR lives in the reverse (arpa) zone and cannot be combined with other record types.
Resolver
Try: example.com google.com cloudflare.com
Domain
example.com
Resolver?
Google (8.8.8.8)
Records
9
Query time
266.45 ms
A records (2)?
Host TTL? Value
example.com 300 172.66.147.243
example.com 300 104.20.23.154
AAAA records (2)?
Host TTL? Value
example.com 300 2606:4700:10::ac42:93f3
example.com 300 2606:4700:10::6814:179a
MX records (0)?
No MX records returned.
TXT records (2)?
Host TTL? Value
example.com 300 _k2n1y4vw3qtb4skdx9e7dxt97qrmmq9
example.com 300 v=spf1 -all
NS records (2)?
Host TTL? Value
example.com 4823 elliott.ns.cloudflare.com
example.com 4823 hera.ns.cloudflare.com
SOA records (1)?
Host TTL? Value
example.com 673 elliott.ns.cloudflare.com dns.cloudflare.com serial 2409709709
Raw Output
example.com.  300  IN  A  172.66.147.243
example.com.  300  IN  A  104.20.23.154
example.com.  300  IN  AAAA  2606:4700:10::ac42:93f3
example.com.  300  IN  AAAA  2606:4700:10::6814:179a
example.com.  300  IN  TXT  "_k2n1y4vw3qtb4skdx9e7dxt97qrmmq9"
example.com.  300  IN  TXT  "v=spf1 -all"
example.com.  4823  IN  NS  elliott.ns.cloudflare.com.
example.com.  4823  IN  NS  hera.ns.cloudflare.com.
example.com.  673  IN  SOA  elliott.ns.cloudflare.com. dns.cloudflare.com. 2409709709 10000 2400 604800 1800
What does each field mean?

Field reference

TTL

Seconds a downstream resolver is allowed to cache the record before re-asking the authoritative server. Short TTL (60–300) means changes propagate fast but every resolver hits you more often; long TTL (1h–1d) reduces load but slows DNS changes.

A record

Maps a hostname to a 32-bit IPv4 address (e.g., <code>example.com → 93.184.216.34</code>). Most common DNS record type; web traffic begins with an A lookup.

AAAA record

IPv6 equivalent of A — 128-bit address (e.g., <code>2606:2800:220:1::93:184:216:34</code>). Modern hosts publish both A and AAAA; the resolver picks one per the client's connectivity.

MX record

Lists the hostname(s) of mail exchangers plus a priority number — lowest priority is tried first. Without an MX, email cannot be delivered to the domain. Examples: <code>10 mail.example.com</code>.

CNAME

Canonical Name: tells the resolver "to find me, look up X instead". Cannot coexist with any other record on the same name and cannot exist at the zone apex (the bare domain). Useful for CDNs and SaaS providers.

TXT

Originally arbitrary text, today carries machine-readable policies: SPF (allowed mail senders), DKIM (signing keys), DMARC (email-auth policy), and domain-ownership tokens for Google/Microsoft/AWS.

NS

Lists the servers that hold the actual zone data. The TLD registry returns NS records during the referral chain; resolvers then ask these servers for everything else. Changing NS effectively re-delegates the domain.

PTR

Maps an IP back to a name. Required for mail servers — many providers reject SMTP from IPs with missing or generic PTR. The owner of the IP block (not the domain owner) controls PTR records.

SOA

Each zone has exactly one SOA: master NS, contact email, serial number (incremented on changes — secondaries use it to detect updates), refresh/retry/expire timers, default negative-cache TTL.

CAA

Certification Authority Authorization restricts which CAs may issue certificates for the domain. Example: <code>0 issue "letsencrypt.org"</code> blocks every CA except Let's Encrypt. CAs are required to honor CAA before issuance.

Resolver

Public recursive resolver we asked: Cloudflare (1.1.1.1), Google (8.8.8.8), Quad9 (9.9.9.9). Different resolvers may return different answers because of TTL races, anycast, or geo-targeted DNS.

About this tool

A DNS lookup asks an authoritative or recursive resolver what records a domain publishes. Our tool runs a live query against Google, Cloudflare, or Quad9 and shows you every record with its TTL — the same data dig prints on the command line, formatted for quick scanning.

You can pull the common record types on a single page: A and AAAA for hosts, MX for mail routing, TXT for SPF/DKIM/verification strings, NS for delegation, SOA for zone metadata, plus CNAME, SRV, CAA, and reverse PTR. Pick only the types you need to keep the answer compact.

When to use this tool

  • After a DNS change. Query multiple resolvers to confirm a new record is live before pointing traffic at it.
  • Debugging email deliverability. Inspect MX, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records in one pass.
  • Verifying ownership. Pull the TXT record a third-party service asked you to publish.
  • Reverse DNS. Run a PTR query on an IP to find the hostname a mail server or logger will attribute to it.

Why you may see different answers

Public resolvers cache records for the TTL you configured at your authoritative nameserver. Google may still serve the old value while Cloudflare already shows the new one. Switch the resolver to compare — the TTL column tells you when the cache will expire. For a global view across 20+ vantage points, see the propagation check linked below.

Frequently asked questions

Which DNS resolver should I use?
All three (Google 8.8.8.8, Cloudflare 1.1.1.1, Quad9 9.9.9.9) are public, anycasted, and return authoritative-sourced answers. Cloudflare tends to be the fastest; Quad9 filters known-malicious names; Google has the most predictable behaviour across regions. Switch between them to see whether an issue is global or resolver-specific.

What is the TTL column?
Time-to-live in seconds — how long a downstream resolver is allowed to cache this record. A low TTL (60–300s) means changes propagate quickly; a high TTL (3600–86400s) means the record is stable. If you are about to change a record, lower its TTL first and wait for the old TTL to elapse before cutting over.

Do you query the authoritative nameserver directly?
No — we query the public resolver you select, the same way a browser or mail server would. That is usually what you want: it matches what the rest of the internet sees. If you need to verify what the authoritative server currently publishes, use a +norecurse dig or a hosting-specific tool.

Why do PTR records look different?
A PTR lookup resolves an IP back to a hostname and uses the .in-addr.arpa (IPv4) or .ip6.arpa (IPv6) reverse zone. To avoid mixing record types that live in different zones, pick PTR on its own and enter an IP address instead of a domain.

Is the result cached?
We cache resolver answers for five minutes so repeated lookups against the same domain and resolver do not waste upstream query budget. If you need to force a fresh query, switch the resolver or wait out the five-minute window. Authoritative TTLs are reported unchanged — our cache only affects how often our backend re-queries.