What is DNS lookup used for?

To see what a domain publishes in DNS: where its website is hosted (A, AAAA, CNAME), who handles its email (MX), which servers may send its mail (SPF), its DMARC policy, its name servers and its certificate rules. It's the first check when a site, email or domain verification isn't working.

How do I do a DNS lookup?

Enter the domain above and press Look up DNS to see every common record type at once. On a computer, nslookup -type=any example.com (Windows) or dig example.com ANY (Mac, Linux) also work, but many servers now refuse ANY queries, so you'd need one command per record type.

How do I look up DNS records for a domain?

Use a DNS lookup tool like this one, which queries A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, TXT, SOA and CAA in parallel and shows the email records explained. For one record type, the MX lookup or TXT record lookup gives a focused view.

How do I do a DNS lookup in CMD?

Open Command Prompt and run nslookup example.com for the address, or nslookup -type=mx example.com for mail servers and nslookup -type=txt example.com for TXT records. The answer comes from your configured DNS server, which may have older cached records than a public resolver.

What is a DNS lookup failure?

A query that got no usable answer. NXDOMAIN means the name doesn't exist; a timeout or SERVFAIL means the domain's name servers didn't answer properly. This tool says which: a missing domain is reported as not existing, and record types that timed out are listed separately.

DNS lookup: every record for a domain in one view

A DNS lookup asks the Domain Name System which records a name publishes: its IP addresses (A and AAAA), aliases (CNAME), mail servers (MX), name servers (NS), text records (TXT), zone details (SOA) and certificate rules (CAA). Enter a domain or host name to see all of them at once, with the email records explained.

Public DNS queries from our server; nothing is sent to the domain's own servers. 10 lookups a minute.

SimpleAPI

Sample result

acme.example resolves, and Google Workspace handles its email.

Host: acme.example
A: 192.0.2.10
MX: Google Workspace

What this means for you

A domain's main records in one place, handy when you set up or fix sending.

Next step:Run the full deliverability audit

A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, TXT, SOA and CAA
DMARC read from _dmarc as well
Names the provider behind each MX host
Keeps subdomains such as www as typed

By SimpleVerifier Team · Last updated October 17, 2026

How do I check all DNS records for a domain?

Enter a domain such as example.com, or a host name such as www.example.com. A pasted URL or email address is trimmed to the host.
Press Look up DNS. Nine queries run in parallel, including the DMARC record at _dmarc.
Read the email summary first: MX, SPF and DMARC, each with a link to the tool that checks it in depth.
Scan the full record list below it, and copy everything as zone-file text if you're moving DNS providers.

Example

You enter: The domain acme.example.
You get: It resolves to A 192.0.2.10, its MX aspmx.l.google.com is named as Google Workspace, SPF includes _spf.google.com, DMARC is p=quarantine, and a CAA record allows letsencrypt.org to issue certificates.
Limits: One name per lookup and 10 lookups a minute per connection.

What is a DNS lookup?

A DNS lookup is a query to the Domain Name System for the records published under a name. Browsers do it to find a website's IP address, mail servers do it to find where to deliver email, and certificate authorities do it before issuing a certificate. The record types and their format go back to RFC 1035.

This tool runs the queries from our server through a public resolver, so you see what the internet sees rather than what your own network or a local hosts file says. Records are cached across the internet for their TTL, so a change you just made can take minutes to hours to show everywhere.

What do the DNS record types mean?

A and AAAA records map a name to IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. A CNAME makes a name an alias of another, which is why www often has a CNAME and no A record of its own; when a name is an alias, the other records shown are the target's. NS records name the servers that answer for the zone, and the SOA record holds its serial number and timers.

MX records list the servers that accept email, lowest priority number first. TXT records hold free text, which in practice means SPF, DMARC and DKIM for email and verification tokens for services like Google and Microsoft 365; the TXT record lookup labels each one. CAA records, defined in RFC 8659, say which certificate authorities may issue certificates for the domain.

Which DNS records matter for email?

Three do most of the work. MX decides whether the domain can receive mail at all; SPF, a TXT record defined in RFC 7208, lists the servers allowed to send for it; and DMARC, a TXT record at _dmarc defined in RFC 7489, tells receivers what to do when a message fails authentication. DKIM keys live at a selector name that a plain lookup can't guess, so check them with the DKIM checker.

The summary at the top of the result flags the common problems: no MX, two SPF records (which counts as an SPF failure), and no DMARC. For the full list of what Gmail and Yahoo require from bulk senders, run the bulk sender checker.

Is this the same as nslookup or dig?

	This tool	nslookup / dig
Record types per run	All 8 common types plus DMARC	One type per command
Which resolver answers	A public resolver, from our server	Your network's configured resolver
Email records explained	Yes, with links to deeper checks	Raw output
Install needed	No	Built into Windows, macOS and Linux

Who uses this tool, and for what?

Email senders: Confirm MX, SPF and DMARC in one place before a campaign, then follow the links to the in-depth checkers for anything flagged.
Developers and IT: Check what the public internet sees after a DNS change, and copy the records as zone-file text before moving providers.
Sales and ops teams: See who hosts a prospect's email and website before outreach or a migration project.
Domain buyers: Check whether a domain is in use, where it points and whether it still receives mail.

What can’t this tool tell you?

Records are what a public resolver returns now; a recent change may still be propagating and caches can differ by location.
DKIM records live at selector names that can't be listed, so they aren't included; use the DKIM checker with your selector.
It shows the records of the exact name you enter. Subdomains such as mail.example.com have their own records.
Correct DNS doesn't mean an email address on the domain exists.

Common questions

What is DNS lookup used for?: To see what a domain publishes in DNS: where its website is hosted (A, AAAA, CNAME), who handles its email (MX), which servers may send its mail (SPF), its DMARC policy, its name servers and its certificate rules. It's the first check when a site, email or domain verification isn't working.
How do I do a DNS lookup?: Enter the domain above and press Look up DNS to see every common record type at once. On a computer, nslookup -type=any example.com (Windows) or dig example.com ANY (Mac, Linux) also work, but many servers now refuse ANY queries, so you'd need one command per record type.
How do I look up DNS records for a domain?: Use a DNS lookup tool like this one, which queries A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, TXT, SOA and CAA in parallel and shows the email records explained. For one record type, the MX lookup or TXT record lookup gives a focused view.
How do I do a DNS lookup in CMD?: Open Command Prompt and run nslookup example.com for the address, or nslookup -type=mx example.com for mail servers and nslookup -type=txt example.com for TXT records. The answer comes from your configured DNS server, which may have older cached records than a public resolver.
What is a DNS lookup failure?: A query that got no usable answer. NXDOMAIN means the name doesn't exist; a timeout or SERVFAIL means the domain's name servers didn't answer properly. This tool says which: a missing domain is reported as not existing, and record types that timed out are listed separately.

Sources

You audited one domain. Cold outreach means thousands.

This tool checks a domain you type in. It will not tell you which addresses at that domain are real.

Bulk mailbox verification with real SMTP checks
The email finder — name plus company to a verified address
Website enrichment for emails, owner names and socials

Get started — $29.99/mo See the published limits first

One plan, cancel anytime, no contract. Sign in with Google and your first 100 email checks are free, no card. The free tools stay free either way.