What does the DNS lookup show?
DNS is the “phone book” of the internet: it translates names like example.ch into the addresses of the right servers. If you want to check after a website move whether everything is set up correctly, you’ve come to the right place. If you simply want to find out who is hosting a website or where, the website hosting checker is the better choice.
Our DNS lookup reads the most important record types at the same time and displays them clearly:
| Type | What it’s used for |
|---|---|
| A | The server’s IPv4 address, e.g. 192.0.2.10 |
| AAAA | The server’s IPv6 address, e.g. 2001:db8::10 |
| CNAME | Alias that points to another name, e.g. www → example.ch |
| MX | Mail servers that accept email for the domain |
| NS | Name servers responsible for the zone |
| TXT | Free text, e.g. SPF, DMARC or verifications for Google and Microsoft |
| SOA | Administrative data of the zone: primary name server, serial number, timers |
| CAA | Which certificate authorities are allowed to issue SSL certificates |
For IP addresses, we show the PTR record (reverse DNS), which is the name assigned to an address.
Typical use cases
After moving a website, you see right away whether the A record already points to the new server. If the address is correct but you still see the old site, it’s usually down to the cache of your internet provider or browser.
When setting up email, you can check MX and TXT records. For a complete check of SPF, DKIM and DMARC, use the email checker.
Before switching name servers, for example to Cloudflare, write down all existing records. That way nothing gets lost during the move. Our domain migration checklist walks you through the process step by step.
Understanding TTL and DNSSEC
Next to each record you see the TTL in seconds. It tells resolvers how long they may cache an answer. Before planned changes, it’s a good idea to lower the TTL to 300 seconds one or two days in advance.
If a domain is signed with DNSSEC and the signature is valid, we show a green notice. DNSSEC prevents attackers from slipping in fake DNS answers. All record types are explained in detail in our guide DNS records explained.