What is a DNS lookup?
The Domain Name System (DNS) is the internet's address book: it translates human-friendly domain names like example.com into the IP addresses and service records computers actually use. A DNS lookup queries authoritative nameservers and returns the records published for a domain. This tool checks the most useful record types in a single query so you can see a domain's complete public DNS footprint at a glance.
Our lookup queries fast public resolvers (Google 8.8.8.8 and Cloudflare 1.1.1.1) and reports A, AAAA, MX, TXT, NS, CNAME and SOA records together, making it easy to debug configuration problems or map out how a domain is hosted and where its email is delivered.
The DNS record types explained
- —A — maps the domain to an IPv4 address.
- —AAAA — maps the domain to an IPv6 address.
- —MX — mail exchange servers that receive email for the domain, listed by priority.
- —TXT — free-form text records used for SPF, DKIM, DMARC, domain verification and more.
- —NS — the authoritative nameservers responsible for the domain.
- —CNAME — an alias that points one name to another canonical name.
- —SOA — the start-of-authority record holding the primary nameserver and zone serial number.
Why DNS records matter for recon
DNS records reveal a great deal about an organisation's infrastructure. MX records expose the email provider (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, a self-hosted server), TXT records often list third-party services authorised to send mail or verify ownership, and A/AAAA records point to the hosting environment or CDN in use.
For investigators and sysadmins alike, checking DNS is an essential first step: it confirms whether a domain is live, where it resolves, whether email is configured securely with SPF/DKIM/DMARC, and which providers sit behind the scenes.