Look up any domain’s DNS records from 60+ servers across the globe. Check A, AAAA, MX, CNAME, TXT, NS, and other record types in seconds. Free, no sign-up required.
DNS Results
60+
Global DNS Servers
12
Record Types
6
Continents Covered
24/7
Availability
How This DNS Checker Works
Enter a domain name, pick a record type, and hit check. The tool queries DNS servers in North America, Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, and Oceania, then returns the results side by side. You get the raw response from each server — no caching, no filtering.
This matters because DNS records do not update everywhere at the same time. After you change a nameserver, swap an IP address, or add a new MX record, it can take anywhere from a few minutes to 48 hours before every resolver on the planet sees the update. Running a lookup from a single location only tells you what that one server knows. Checking from dozens of servers at once shows you the full picture.
Propagation Tracking
Changed your DNS records and need to know when the update has reached every corner of the internet? Run repeated checks to watch propagation happen in real time. Useful during domain migrations, hosting changes, or CDN rollouts.
Record Validation
Verify that your A, AAAA, MX, CNAME, TXT, NS, SRV, SOA, CAA, and other records return the values you expect. Catch misconfigurations before they cause downtime or email delivery failures.
Troubleshooting
When a website loads for some users but not others, inconsistent DNS is often the cause. Comparing responses across servers quickly reveals whether the problem is a stale cache, a wrong record, or a nameserver that is not responding.
DNS Record Types Explained
Every domain relies on a set of DNS records that tell the internet where to send traffic, how to route email, and which services are authorized to act on the domain’s behalf. Here is what each supported record type does and when you would check it.
A and AAAA Records
A records point a domain to an IPv4 address. AAAA records do the same for IPv6. These are the most basic records — if your site is not loading, checking A/AAAA records is usually the first step. Multiple A records on the same domain enable round-robin load balancing.
CNAME Records
A CNAME maps one hostname to another. Common uses include pointing www to a root domain or routing a subdomain to a CDN endpoint. One important rule: a CNAME cannot coexist with other records at the same name, so you cannot put a CNAME on the zone apex alongside an MX or TXT record.
MX Records
MX records tell other mail servers where to deliver email for your domain. Each MX record has a priority number — lower numbers are tried first. If your main mail server goes down, backup MX entries handle the overflow. Misconfigured MX records are one of the most common reasons email stops working after a DNS change.
TXT Records
TXT records hold arbitrary text and serve several purposes: SPF records for email authentication, DKIM public keys, DMARC policies, domain ownership verification for services like Google Search Console, and more. If you are troubleshooting email deliverability, checking TXT records is essential.
NS Records
NS records define which nameservers are authoritative for a domain. When you register a domain or transfer it to a new host, the NS records at the registrar must point to the correct nameservers. Wrong NS records mean your entire DNS zone is unreachable.
SOA Records
The SOA (Start of Authority) record contains administrative information about a DNS zone: the primary nameserver, the responsible party’s email, a serial number that increments with each change, and timers that control how often secondary servers refresh their data.
SRV Records
SRV records specify the host and port for specific services. They are used by protocols like SIP, XMPP, and some Microsoft services to discover where a service is running without hardcoding addresses.
CAA Records
CAA records restrict which certificate authorities are allowed to issue SSL/TLS certificates for your domain. Setting a CAA record is a straightforward way to reduce the risk of unauthorized certificate issuance.
DNS Propagation: Why Changes Take Time
When you update a DNS record, the change does not take effect everywhere simultaneously. DNS is a distributed system with caching built into every layer. Your ISP’s resolver, Google Public DNS, Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1, and thousands of other resolvers around the world each keep their own cached copy of your records. They only go back to the authoritative nameserver when the cached copy expires — and that expiration is governed by the TTL (Time to Live) value.
A record with a TTL of 3600 seconds will be cached for up to one hour. Change the record, and some resolvers will still serve the old value until their cache expires. This is why DNS changes can appear to work instantly on one network but take hours on another.
If you are planning a migration or switching IP addresses, the practical move is to lower your TTL to something short — 300 seconds, for example — well before the actual change. Once the low TTL has had time to propagate (wait at least as long as the old TTL), make the change. After everything looks correct, raise the TTL back to a longer value to reduce query load.
This tool lets you check what each server currently returns, so you can track propagation as it happens rather than guessing.
Common DNS Problems and Fixes
Site not loading after a hosting change
Check your A/AAAA records. If some servers return the old IP and others return the new one, propagation is still in progress. If all servers return the old IP, the record was likely never updated at the DNS provider level.
Email not arriving
Pull up MX records. If they are missing or pointing to the wrong mail server, that is the problem. Also check TXT records for SPF — a missing or incorrect SPF record will cause receiving servers to flag or reject your messages.
SSL certificate errors
If you use DNS-based domain validation for SSL, make sure the required CNAME or TXT record is in place and has propagated. CAA records can also block certificate issuance if they do not include your CA.
“Domain not found” errors
Check NS records first. If the nameservers listed at your registrar do not match the ones actually hosting your zone, the entire domain will be unresolvable.
When to Use This Tool
Before a domain migration
Verify that all records are configured at the new provider before switching nameservers. Run a check against the new nameservers directly to confirm everything resolves correctly.
After changing DNS records
Monitor propagation across different regions. What Google DNS sees might differ from what a resolver in Tokyo or Sao Paulo returns for several hours.
Debugging email deliverability
Look up MX, TXT (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and A records for your mail domain. Inconsistencies between servers can explain why email works for some recipients but not others.
Verifying DNSSEC
If you have enabled DNSSEC, check DS and DNSKEY records to confirm the chain of trust is intact. A broken DNSSEC setup is worse than no DNSSEC at all — it will cause validation failures and make your domain unreachable for resolvers that enforce DNSSEC.
Routine audits
Periodically check that your records have not been modified unexpectedly. Unauthorized DNS changes can redirect traffic, intercept email, or issue rogue certificates.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does DNS propagation take?
It depends on the TTL of the old record. Most changes reach major public resolvers like Google (8.8.8.8) and Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) within minutes. Smaller ISPs with aggressive caching can take up to 48 hours. Lowering the TTL before making changes speeds things up significantly.
What is the difference between authoritative and recursive DNS?
An authoritative nameserver holds the actual DNS records for a domain. A recursive resolver is the middleman — it takes your query, finds the answer by walking the DNS hierarchy (root server, TLD server, authoritative server), and caches the result. When you type a URL in your browser, your query goes to a recursive resolver first.
Can I use this tool to check internal or private DNS?
No. This tool queries public DNS servers. It cannot reach private or internal DNS zones that are not exposed to the internet. For internal DNS debugging, use dig or nslookup pointed at your internal resolver.
Why do different servers return different results?
Usually because of caching. Each resolver caches records independently based on the TTL. After a record change, servers that cached the old record will return it until the cache expires. Geo-DNS setups can also intentionally return different results based on the location of the requesting server.
What should I check if my website is down?
Start with A records to confirm the IP address is correct. Then check NS records to make sure nameserver delegation is intact. If those look fine, the problem is likely at the server or network level rather than DNS.
How do I fix slow DNS resolution?
Use a DNS provider with an anycast network so queries are answered from the nearest point of presence. Set reasonable TTL values — longer TTLs reduce the number of lookups. On the application side, enable DNS prefetching in your HTML headers and keep connections alive to avoid repeated lookups for the same hostname.