Domain lookup

Enter any domain and see in seconds which IP address it points to, who hosts it, which name servers it uses and how its mail is set up. No sign-up, nothing to install.

What this tool tells you

Every time you type a domain into your browser, your device asks the domain name system which server to connect to. That query returns a set of public records anyone can read, and they say a lot about how a site is built: which provider it lives on, who manages its DNS, whether it receives mail and through which service, and what verifications it publishes.

What it is useful for

• Check whether a server migration has already taken effect worldwide.
• Work out why an email is not arriving: it is almost always in the MX, SPF or DKIM records.
• Find out which provider is behind a site before hiring it or contacting them.
• Confirm that a domain someone sent you really exists and was not created yesterday.

What each record means

• A and AAAA: the server IP address, in IPv4 and IPv6.
• MX: the servers that receive the domain mail. The number is the priority; the lowest is tried first.
• NS: the name servers, which have the final say over the domain DNS.
• TXT: free text. Mostly used for SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and to verify ownership with third parties.
• TTL: how many seconds the record may be cached before asking again.

Your lookups are not stored

We do not record which domains each visitor looks up. We keep the domain data so we do not have to query it on every visit, but not who asked.

Frequently asked questions

What does it mean when a domain does not resolve?

That the name system returns no address for it. Usually for one of three reasons: the domain is not registered, it expired and has not been released yet, or it is registered but has no name servers set up.

How do I know who hosts a domain?

From its A record, which gives the server IP address, and from the owner of that address. Bear in mind that if the site uses a delivery network such as Cloudflare, the IP you see belongs to that network rather than to the real server.

What are TXT records for?

Mainly two things. One, proving to external services that the domain is yours. And two, configuring mail security through SPF, DKIM and DMARC, which is what stops someone sending messages pretending to be your domain.

Why might the data not be up to date?

We keep the answer for a few days so we do not query the same thing over and over. If you have just changed something in your DNS, it may take a while to show here, just as it takes a while to propagate across the rest of the internet.

Can I look up any domain?

Yes. DNS records are public information by design: anyone on the internet can query them, and in fact your own device does so every time you visit a page.