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AnotterToolbox
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DNS Lookup

Query DNS records for any domain

What is DNS?

The Domain Name System is the internet's distributed directory service. When you type anottertoolbox.dev into a browser, a series of DNS queries happens in milliseconds to translate that name into an IP address your browser can connect to. This process is called DNS resolution.

DNS is hierarchical — a query for www.example.com first asks the root servers, then the .com nameservers, then Example's own nameservers, progressively narrowing down to the authoritative answer.

How to use the DNS Lookup tool

  1. Enter a domain name — just the domain (like google.com), no https:// needed. The tool strips those automatically.
  2. Select record types to query — by default, the most common types (A, AAAA, MX, NS, TXT, CNAME) are selected. Toggle types to add or remove them.
  3. Click Lookup — results appear grouped by record type, with TTL values shown for each record.
  4. Copy all results using the button at the top right of the results section.

This tool uses Google's public DNS-over-HTTPS API (dns.google) for real-time, accurate DNS queries.

DNS record types explained

A — Maps domain to IPv4 address. The most fundamental record.

AAAA — Maps domain to IPv6 address.

MX — Specifies mail servers for the domain, with priority values.

NS — Lists the authoritative nameservers for the domain.

TXT — Free-form text records, used for SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and verification.

CNAME — Alias from one name to another.

SOA — Start of Authority — contains administrative information about the zone.

CAA — Certification Authority Authorization — specifies which CAs can issue SSL certificates for the domain.

Common DNS troubleshooting uses

Verifying DNS propagation — after changing DNS records, use this tool to check if the new records are visible globally. Remember that TTL determines how long old records are cached.

Debugging email delivery — look up MX records to verify mail server configuration. Check TXT records for SPF and DKIM entries that affect deliverability.

Checking SSL setup — look up CAA records to verify which certificate authorities are authorized, and TXT records for ACME challenge verification.

Investigating domain configuration — NS records show you which nameservers control a domain, which is useful for understanding who manages the DNS.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is DNS?+
DNS (Domain Name System) is often called the "phone book of the internet". It translates human-readable domain names (like google.com) into IP addresses (like 142.250.80.46) that computers use to connect to each other. Without DNS, you'd need to memorise IP addresses to visit websites.
What is an A record?+
An A (Address) record maps a domain name to an IPv4 address. It's the most fundamental DNS record — it tells the internet which server to connect to when someone visits your domain. Most domains have one or more A records pointing to their web server's IP address.
What is an AAAA record?+
An AAAA record (pronounced "quad-A") maps a domain name to an IPv6 address. It's the IPv6 equivalent of an A record. Many modern sites have both A and AAAA records to support both IPv4 and IPv6 clients.
What is an MX record?+
An MX (Mail Exchange) record specifies which mail servers handle email for a domain. When someone sends an email to user@example.com, their mail server queries the MX records for example.com to find out where to deliver the message. MX records have a priority number — lower numbers are tried first.
What is a TXT record used for?+
TXT records contain arbitrary text data and are used for many verification and configuration purposes — SPF records (to prevent email spoofing), DKIM keys (email signing), DMARC policies, domain verification for Google Search Console, SSL certificate validation (DNS-01 challenge), and more.
What is a CNAME record?+
A CNAME (Canonical Name) record creates an alias from one domain name to another. For example, www.example.com might be a CNAME pointing to example.com. Rather than having its own IP address, the www subdomain follows wherever example.com points. CNAMEs cannot coexist with other record types at the same name.
What is TTL in DNS?+
TTL (Time To Live) is the number of seconds that DNS resolvers should cache a record before checking for updates. A TTL of 3600 means resolvers cache the record for 1 hour. Lower TTLs allow faster DNS changes but increase query load on your nameservers. Before making DNS changes, lowering your TTL in advance is recommended.
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