How to Check a CNAME Record (and Your Email Tracking Domain)

To check a CNAME record, ask DNS for the CNAME of the exact host name. On Mac or Linux run dig +short CNAME track.yourdomain.com; on Windows run nslookup -type=cname track.yourdomain.com. The target comes back with a trailing dot. The CNAME lookup does this from a public resolver, follows the chain, checks it matches the target your sending tool expects and tests HTTPS.

If you set this up for Instantly, Smartlead or lemlist, the check below finds the common mistakes in a minute.

What a CNAME is

A CNAME (canonical name) record makes one name an alias of another. track.yourdomain.com CNAME prox.itrackly.com tells resolvers to look up the second name instead. RFC 1034 sets the main rule: a name with a CNAME cannot have other records, which is why you cannot add one to the bare domain next to its MX and TXT records. Aliases can chain, and the tool follows up to eight hops and flags loops.

Step 1: enter the full host name

Type the host you created, such as inst.yourdomain.com or track.yourdomain.com.

Step 2: choose the target

Pick Instantly, Smartlead or lemlist, enter another target, or just look up the CNAME. The target belongs to your tool, so use whatever its help centre or app shows. When the tool's data was last checked, on 7 October 2026, Instantly used host inst pointing to prox.itrackly.com and Smartlead used emailtracking pointing to open.sleadtrack.com. lemlist shows its target in the app. If your app differs, use the app. Our guide to custom tracking domains compares them.

Step 3: read the result

The check reports the chain, whether the target matches, whether HTTPS works and the domain's CAA records.

Step 4: fix the usual failures

• Doubled name. Typing the full host into the DNS host's name field creates track.yourdomain.com.yourdomain.com. Enter only track. The tool checks for the doubled name and says so.
• Cloudflare proxy. With the orange cloud on, the name returns Cloudflare addresses, not the CNAME. Set the record to DNS only.
• HTTPS fails on a new record. The sending tool usually issues the certificate after the CNAME verifies, so give it time.
• HTTPS keeps failing. Check the CAA records. They say which certificate authorities may issue for the domain (RFC 8659), and the tool warns when Let's Encrypt is not listed. See checking CAA records.

Then press verify in your sending tool. Answers can be cached for the record's TTL.

Why a tracking domain matters

Open pixels and tracked links otherwise use a host shared by every customer of the tool, so you share its reputation. A subdomain of your own is used only by your mail. If you are auditing aliases that point nowhere, see finding dangling CNAMEs.

What this check cannot do

• It cannot tell whether your sending tool has finished verifying the domain on its side.
• A proxied record hides the CNAME.
• Answers come from a public resolver and may be cached.
• It is not a CNAM (caller name) lookup for phone numbers.

Check the list behind the domain

A working tracking domain only helps if the addresses are real. Upload your list on the verify page: the first 100 email checks are free with a Google sign-in, no card. Each address comes back valid, risky or invalid with a reason, and nothing is sent to anyone on the list. For larger or recurring lists, see bulk email verification, list cleaning and pricing.

Check your CNAME now

Enter the host in the CNAME lookup.

The free tracking domain checker runs these CNAME checks on your own tracking domain.