DNS Lookup
Query DNS records for any domain
DNS Lookup tool
DNS Lookup: key facts
- What it does
- Query DNS records for any domain
- Category
- Network Tools
- Cost
- Free, with no account, sign-up, or install.
- Your data
- The domain name and record type you enter are sent to Google Public DNS, which resolves them and returns the records.
- Last reviewed
- . Report an incorrect result.
What this tool is for
Every domain name relies on DNS records to point traffic to the right place — web servers, mail servers, verification strings, and more. The DNS Lookup tool queries those records for any domain and shows you what is actually published, grouped by record type.
It is a staple for anyone managing domains: verifying that an A record points to the new server after a migration, confirming MX records are set before email goes live, or checking the TXT records that hold SPF and domain-verification strings. You can request several record types in a single lookup and see them side by side.
Lookups are resolved through Google's public DNS service over a secure HTTPS query, so the domain you enter is sent to Google to be resolved — worth knowing if you are checking something confidential.
How to use the DNS Lookup
- Enter the domain name you want to inspect (for example, example.com).
- Select one or more record types to query — A, AAAA, MX, TXT, NS, CNAME, or SOA.
- Click Lookup.
- Read the results grouped under each record type, with "No records found" shown where a type is empty.
- Use the per-type copy button to grab a record's values, and check the query time displayed at the top.
Resolution over Google Public DNS
Queries are sent to Google Public DNS over its HTTPS resolution endpoint, which is what makes DNS lookup possible from a browser at all — the DNS protocol itself is not available to web pages. The domain you enter is transmitted to that service; the results come back as JSON and are displayed.
Because resolution happens at Google's resolver rather than yours, the answers reflect what that resolver sees. That is usually an advantage for diagnosis, since it bypasses your ISP's resolver and any local caching or filtering, but it does mean the result may differ from what your own machine would resolve.
The common record types each answer a different question: A and AAAA give addresses, MX gives mail servers, TXT holds verification and policy records, NS gives the authoritative nameservers, and CNAME points one name at another.
- An A record returns an IPv4 address; AAAA returns IPv6.
- MX records carry a priority, and the lowest number is tried first.
- TXT records hold SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and domain-verification strings.
What the DNS Lookup gets right
- You can query seven record types — A, AAAA, MX, TXT, NS, CNAME, and SOA — and select several at once for a combined view in one lookup.
- Results are resolved through Google Public DNS, a fast, widely trusted resolver, rather than whatever your local network happens to cache.
- Each record type has its own copy button, so pulling a single TXT or MX value into a config or ticket is one click.
- It runs in any browser with no install, and reports the query time so you can gauge resolver responsiveness.
Propagation, TTLs, and why answers disagree
DNS changes are not instant, and the reason is caching rather than propagation in any literal sense. Each record carries a time-to-live, and resolvers hold the old answer until it expires — so a change takes up to that long to be seen everywhere, and different resolvers will disagree in the meantime. Lowering the TTL before a planned change, then raising it afterwards, is the standard way to shorten that window.
That is also why a lookup here and a lookup on your own machine can differ legitimately. Neither is wrong; they have cached at different times. Checking the authoritative nameservers directly is how you see the current truth rather than a cached copy.
Two things worth knowing. A CNAME cannot coexist with other records at the same name, which is why a bare domain usually cannot be a CNAME and hosting providers offer ALIAS or ANAME records instead. And DNS was designed without authentication — DNSSEC adds cryptographic signing, and encrypted transports such as DNS over HTTPS protect the query in transit, but neither is universally deployed.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do the different DNS record types mean?
A and AAAA records map a domain to IPv4 and IPv6 addresses; MX records direct email to mail servers; TXT records hold arbitrary text such as SPF and verification strings; NS records list the authoritative name servers; CNAME records alias one name to another; and SOA records carry administrative details about the zone.
Is the domain I look up kept private?
The lookup is performed by querying Google Public DNS over HTTPS, so the domain name you enter is sent to Google's resolver to be answered. The tool itself does not store your queries, but the request does leave your browser to reach the DNS service.
Why don't I see any records for a type I expected?
A "No records found" result usually means that record type simply is not published for the domain — for example, a domain with no email service may have no MX records. It can also reflect recent changes that have not propagated yet.
Why might these results differ from my own computer's DNS?
Your device or network may be caching older records or using a different resolver. This tool queries Google Public DNS directly, which can reflect a more current or simply different answer than your local cache during propagation.
