DNS Lookup

What a DNS lookup shows

The Domain Name System is the phone book of the internet. It translates human-readable domain names into the IP addresses and routing information that computers use to connect. A DNS lookup queries authoritative name servers and returns the records that define how a domain behaves: where it is hosted, how email is routed, which servers are authoritative, and what verification or policy records exist.

This tool retrieves the most commonly needed record types for a given host and displays them in a readable format, so you can verify configuration without opening a terminal or logging into a DNS provider.

Record types explained

• A maps a hostname to an IPv4 address. This is what points a domain to a web server.
• AAAA maps a hostname to an IPv6 address for modern, IPv6-capable hosting.
• CNAME aliases one hostname to another, commonly used for subdomains and CDN setups.
• MX specifies the mail servers responsible for accepting email for the domain, along with priority values.
• NS lists the authoritative name servers that hold the domain's DNS records.
• TXT stores arbitrary text, often used for domain verification, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC policies.
• SOA contains administrative information about the zone, including the primary name server, responsible contact, serial number, and refresh/retry/expire timers.

Practical uses

DNS data is useful for troubleshooting and verification. If a website is unreachable, checking the A record confirms whether the domain points to the expected IP address. When email is not delivered, MX and TXT records reveal whether mail routing and SPF or DKIM policies are configured correctly. CNAME records help confirm CDN or third-party service integrations. NS records show which provider controls the zone, which matters during migrations. SOA serial numbers are used by secondary DNS servers to detect changes.

Limitations and interpretation

DNS results reflect the state of the authoritative servers at the moment of the query. Propagation delays, negative caching, and TTL values can cause different resolvers to return different answers temporarily. This tool queries DNS records directly; it does not crawl websites, test HTTP responses, or verify that services are running. A valid record does not guarantee that the destination server is online or correctly configured. Use the lookup as a starting point and combine it with other diagnostics when troubleshooting.