How to Check DNS Records for Any Domain

Whether you're verifying a DNS change has taken effect, debugging email delivery problems, checking nameservers before a migration, or just inspecting how another domain is configured, knowing how to query DNS records is a core skill. This guide covers browser-based tools, command-line methods, and how to interpret what you see.

Browser-Based Tools

No installation needed, these work from any device.

• DNS Propagation Checker: checks a record type against DNS resolvers in dozens of countries simultaneously. The best tool for monitoring propagation after a DNS change, you can see which regions have the new value and which still have the old one.
• DNS Lookup: query any record type (A, MX, TXT, NS, CNAME and more) and see the full response including TTL values. Queries multiple resolvers so you can see exactly what different parts of the internet are returning.
• MX Checker, SPF Checker, DKIM Checker, DMARC Checker: dedicated tools for email DNS records. Each one validates the record, flags misconfigurations, and explains what needs fixing.
• Blacklist Checker: checks your domain or IP against major spam blacklists to see if your sending IP is listed as a spam source.

Using dig (Mac and Linux)

dig is the standard DNS lookup tool on Unix systems. It's pre-installed on macOS and available in any Linux distribution. Open Terminal and use the following commands.

Look up an A record (IPv4 address):

dig yourdomain.com A

Get just the IP without the verbose output:

dig yourdomain.com A +short

Look up nameservers:

dig yourdomain.com NS +short

Look up MX records (email routing):

dig yourdomain.com MX +short

Look up TXT records (SPF, DKIM, domain verification):

dig yourdomain.com TXT +short

Check a DMARC record:

dig _dmarc.yourdomain.com TXT +short

Query a specific DNS server directly (bypasses your local cache and ISP resolver):

dig @8.8.8.8 yourdomain.com A +short

Query the authoritative nameserver directly (confirms the record at the source, not cached):

dig @ns1.hosted-server.net yourdomain.com A +short

Look up all record types at once (note: not all providers honour the ANY query type):

dig yourdomain.com ANY

Using nslookup (Windows, Mac, Linux)

nslookup comes pre-installed on Windows and is also available on Mac and Linux. Open Command Prompt on Windows or Terminal on Mac/Linux.

Basic A record lookup:

nslookup yourdomain.com

Look up a specific record type:

nslookup -type=MX yourdomain.com
nslookup -type=NS yourdomain.com
nslookup -type=TXT yourdomain.com

Query a specific DNS server:

nslookup yourdomain.com 8.8.8.8

Interactive mode (enter multiple queries without retyping the command):

nslookup
> set type=MX
> yourdomain.com
> set type=TXT
> yourdomain.com
> exit

Reading dig Output

The dig output can look verbose at first. The important sections are:

• ;; QUESTION SECTION: what was asked.
• ;; ANSWER SECTION: the actual DNS records returned. Contains the hostname, TTL (in seconds), record class (IN = Internet), record type, and value.
• ;; AUTHORITY SECTION: which nameservers are authoritative for this domain.
• ;; SERVER: which resolver answered the query.

A full answer section example:

;; ANSWER SECTION:
yourdomain.com.  3542  IN  A  93.184.216.34

This reads as: yourdomain.com has an A record with 3542 seconds remaining in cache, pointing to 93.184.216.34.

Checking Propagation After a DNS Change

After making a DNS change, the workflow for confirming it's working:

1. Query your authoritative nameserver directly to confirm the change is in place at the source: dig @ns1.hosted-server.net yourdomain.com A +short
2. Query Google's public resolver to see what they're returning: dig @8.8.8.8 yourdomain.com A +short
3. Use our DNS Propagation Checker to check from multiple global locations simultaneously.
4. If your local machine still shows old results, flush your DNS cache and check again.

If the authoritative nameserver returns the correct value but public resolvers don't, your change is correct, resolvers are just waiting for cached records to expire based on the previous TTL.