Question 1

What is a DNS lookup?

Accepted Answer

A DNS lookup queries the Domain Name System for the records associated with a domain — where its website lives (A/AAAA), which servers receive its email (MX), which nameservers are authoritative (NS), its SPF configuration (TXT), and more. This tool queries live resolvers, so you see the records as they exist right now.

Question 2

Which DNS record types can I check?

Accepted Answer

A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS, SOA, and CAA — the eight record types that cover virtually everyday debugging: web hosting, email delivery, aliases, verification tokens, nameserver delegation, zone authority, and TLS certificate policy.

Question 3

What does TTL mean?

Accepted Answer

TTL (time to live) is how many seconds a resolver may cache a record before asking again. A 3600-second TTL means changes can take up to an hour to propagate; a 60-second TTL means near-instant changes at the cost of more queries.

Question 4

What does 'domain does not exist (NXDOMAIN)' mean?

Accepted Answer

NXDOMAIN is the authoritative answer that the domain name simply doesn't exist in DNS — it is not registered, or it has no delegation. It's different from 'no records of this type', which means the domain exists but has none of the requested record type.

Question 5

Is this DNS lookup tool free?

Accepted Answer

Yes — completely free with no signup or query cap. Lookups run from your browser against the Google Public DNS and Cloudflare resolvers over DNS-over-HTTPS.

Type	What it does	Common use
A	Maps the domain to an IPv4 address	Pointing websites at a server
AAAA	Maps the domain to an IPv6 address	Modern IPv6 hosting
CNAME	Aliases one name to another	www → apex, CDNs, custom domains
MX	Lists mail servers and their priority	Receiving email (Google Workspace, etc.)
TXT	Free-form text records	SPF, DKIM, domain verification
NS	Delegates the domain to nameservers	Choosing who manages your DNS
SOA	Zone authority and settings	Primary nameserver, serials, timers
CAA	Restricts allowed certificate authorities	TLS certificate policy

Free DNS Lookup — Live DNS Record Checker

DNS Record Types Explained

When You Need a DNS Lookup

Frequently Asked Questions