DNS Lookup

What is a DNS lookup?

A DNS lookup asks the Domain Name System which records are published for a domain name. DNS is the internet's address book: it turns a name like example.com into the IP addresses of its web server, tells email servers where to deliver mail, and stores text records used for email security and domain verification. This free DNS lookup tool shows the A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS, SOA and CAA records of any domain, with the time-to-live (TTL) of each record and a plain-English explanation of any error such as NXDOMAIN.

Website owners, developers and SEO professionals use a DNS checker to confirm that a site points to the right server after a migration, that email records are set up correctly, and that verification records for services like Google Search Console have been published.

How to use this tool

1. Type a domain such as example.com. You can also paste a full URL — https://, paths, query strings and port numbers are removed automatically.
2. Choose a record type, or keep ALL to query the eight common types at once.
3. Choose the resolver — Cloudflare or Google. If the first one does not answer, the tool automatically tries the other.
4. Press "Look up DNS records". Each record type gets its own table with name, type, TTL and value.
5. Read the status badge — NOERROR means the query worked; NXDOMAIN means the name does not exist; a yellow NOERROR badge means the name exists but has no record of that type.
6. Copy the results as plain text to share with your hosting provider or team.

How it works

Browsers cannot send classic DNS packets, so the tool uses DNS over HTTPS (DoH). Your browser sends a request such as https://cloudflare-dns.com/dns-query?name=example.com&type=A with the header accept: application/dns-json, and Cloudflare's public resolver (1.1.1.1) replies with JSON. The fallback is Google Public DNS at https://dns.google/resolve. Your queries therefore go to Cloudflare or Google public DNS resolvers — not to MavexTech — and are covered by their privacy policies.

Each answer includes a status code (RCODE) and a list of records. The TTL is the number of seconds a resolver may cache the record. Because public resolvers cache answers, the TTL you see is often the remaining cache time and counts down between lookups.

Example: a lookup of google.com for MX returns one record like 10 smtp.google.com., shown as "Priority 10 → smtp.google.com". A lookup of CAA for google.com returns 0 issue "pki.goog", meaning only Google Trust Services may issue certificates for the domain. Asking for A records of a name that does not exist returns status 3, shown as NXDOMAIN.

DNS record types explained

• A — IPv4 address of the domain (for example 192.0.2.10).
• AAAA — IPv6 address.
• CNAME — an alias pointing to another name (common for www and CDN setups).
• MX — mail servers for the domain; lower priority numbers are tried first.
• TXT — free text used for SPF, DKIM, DMARC and site-ownership verification.
• NS — the authoritative nameservers that host the domain's DNS zone.
• SOA — start of authority: primary nameserver, admin contact, serial number and timers.
• CAA — which certificate authorities are allowed to issue SSL/TLS certificates.

Tips

• After changing DNS at your registrar, compare Cloudflare and Google: if they differ, one of them still has the old record cached until its TTL runs out.
• Lower the TTL (for example to 300 seconds) a day before a planned migration so the switch spreads faster.
• Check MX and TXT together when email stops working: SPF lives in a TXT record starting with v=spf1.
• A root domain usually cannot have a CNAME, so expect A/AAAA records on example.com and a CNAME on www in many setups.

Limitations & notes

Results come from public recursive resolvers, so they reflect what most visitors see, including caching. They are not read directly from your domain's authoritative nameservers, and a change you just made may take until the old TTL expires to appear. Private or internal domains, split-horizon DNS and records on your local network cannot be seen. Some networks block DNS-over-HTTPS endpoints; in that case the lookup fails with a clear message. The ALL option queries the eight common types one by one — it is not the obsolete DNS "ANY" query.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which DNS servers does this DNS lookup tool use?

It uses DNS over HTTPS to Cloudflare's public resolver (1.1.1.1) and Google Public DNS (8.8.8.8). Your query goes from your browser to those resolvers; MavexTech does not see or store the domains you look up.

What does NXDOMAIN mean?

NXDOMAIN (status 3) means the domain name does not exist in DNS. Usually the domain is misspelled, not registered, expired, or the subdomain was never created.

What does it mean when there are no records but the status is NOERROR?

The name exists, but it has no record of the type you asked for. For example, a domain may have A records but no AAAA records if it does not support IPv6.

What is TTL in DNS?

TTL (time to live) is how many seconds a resolver may cache a record before asking again. A TTL of 3600 means one hour. Public resolvers show the remaining cache time, so the number can be lower than the value set in your DNS zone.

Why do Cloudflare and Google show different results?

Each resolver caches records separately. Right after a DNS change, one may still hold the old record until its TTL expires. Some domains also return different answers depending on location.

How long does DNS propagation take?

It depends on the TTL of the old records. Most changes are visible within minutes to a few hours; records with a TTL of 86400 seconds can take up to a day to update everywhere.

Can I look up a URL instead of a domain?

Yes. Paste the full URL and the tool removes the http or https prefix, the path, the query string and the port, then looks up the domain name.

Related tools

SSL Certificate Checker · HTTP Headers Checker · Redirect Checker · Domain Age Checker · Subnet Calculator · My IP & Browser Info