How to Look Up DNS Records for a Domain

Q: What happens if I do not enter a domain or record type?

If you omit the inputs, the lookup uses example.com with the A record type. Otherwise, enter a valid domain and select the record type you want to inspect.

What a DNS lookup does

DNS Lookup helps you check the DNS information published for a domain. Choose a domain and a record type to request data through a network DNS resolver, then use the returned values to inspect records such as a website address, mail routing, name servers, or domain configuration details. The tool supports A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, SOA, TXT, and CAA records. It is useful when you want a focused lookup without requesting unrelated record types.

How to look up a DNS record

Enter the domain name you want to check. You can provide it with or without a final dot. The input is trimmed, converted to an ASCII-compatible lowercase form, and checked against the accepted domain-name format.
Select the DNS record type you need: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, SOA, TXT, or CAA. The selected value is trimmed and converted to uppercase before it is validated.
Submit the lookup. If you leave the inputs omitted, the defaults are example.com and the A record type.
Review the returned data. A successful lookup shows the normalized domain, the selected record type, returned records with textual values, a resolver-supplied TTL when available, and the number of returned records.

How to read the result

Read the result according to the record type you selected. An A lookup returns IPv4-related record values, while an AAAA lookup returns IPv6-related values. CNAME results concern aliases, MX results concern mail-routing records, NS results identify name-server records, and SOA results provide start-of-authority data. TXT and CAA results contain textual DNS data used for purposes such as domain configuration and certificate-authority policy.

A successful result reflects what the configured resolver returned for that request. A missing result is not presented as a successful record set: the tool reports failure when the domain is invalid, the record type is unsupported, the resolver raises an exception, or the lookup returns no records. The resolver is configured with a 2-second timeout and a 4-second lookup lifetime, so a slow or unavailable DNS response can end as a failure.

Worked example

You want to inspect the mail-routing records associated with example.com.

Enter example.com, select MX, and submit the lookup. Review the returned fields for the normalized domain, selected type, mail-related record values, available TTL, and record count.

The result contains the normalized domain, the selected record type, returned textual records, a TTL when available, and a returned-record count, or a failure outcome.

Limitations

The lookup is limited to eight supported DNS record types. Invalid domains, unsupported types, resolver exceptions, and lookups with no records produce a failure instead of returned record data.
The configured resolver uses a 2-second timeout and a 4-second lookup lifetime, so a response that does not arrive within those settings can fail.

Common errors

A lookup can fail when the domain contains an invalid format or the requested type is outside the supported list. Correct the domain spelling and select A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, SOA, TXT, or CAA before submitting again.

FAQ

Which DNS record types can I look up?

The tool supports A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, SOA, TXT, and CAA lookups. Other record types are unsupported and cause the lookup to fail.

What happens if I do not enter a domain or record type?

If you omit the inputs, the lookup uses example.com with the A record type. Otherwise, enter a valid domain and select the record type you want to inspect.

What information does the result include?

A successful result includes the normalized domain, selected type, returned textual record values, a resolver-supplied TTL when available, and the number of returned records.