Where Can I See The DNS Records Of A Domain?

Where to View DNS Records for Any Domain: Full Guide

As you work with the domain names and web hosting, sooner or later you inevitably face DNS-a kind of records. DNS records form the backbone of how the whole internet works by translating memorable domain names, such as example.com, to an IP address that computers can understand and communicate with each other.

Knowing how to check the DNS records of a domain is an important skill for website administrators, developers, or even curious users. Whether it's troubleshooting of a website issue, verification of your domain's configuration, or gathering information for a business opportunity, viewing DNS records can provide valuable insight into how a specific domain is configured.

In this article, we will explore what DNS records are, why they matter, and the different ways you can view DNS records for any given domain.

What Are DNS Records?

DNS records are configuration settings that determine the exact handling of a domain name by DNS servers. They help route internet traffic by showing which path a website, email, and all the other services should take. There are a few kinds of DNS records; each is made to fill an alternate need:

A Record: A record which points a domain name to an IPv4 address. For example, example.com could set out to 192.0.2.1.
A Record: Mapping the domain name to an IP address.
CNAME: Record alias for another domain name. For example, www.example.com can be featured example.com.
MX Record: Provides a list of the mail servers hosting your domain that will accept forwarded emails.
TXT Record: General text data record and is utilized for things like email confirmation, for example, SPF records.
NS Record: Lists hostnames of authoritative DNS servers for your domain.
SOA Record: It contains subtleties on the DNS zone of the space, for example, the fundamental nameserver and the email address of the area administrator.
PTR Record: Reverses DNS lookups to point a domain name back to an IP address.
 
Each one serves an important function in the routing of Internet traffic, delivery of emails, and security related to a wide variety of online services.

Why Would You Want to See DNS Records?

DNS records viewed for a domain might be used for a number of reasons, such as but not limited to:

Troubleshooting Website Issues: Sometimes, if your website isn't loading properly, you can find out through DNS records whether there's an issue with A records set up incorrectly or an MX record missing for emails.

Ownership Verification: When setting up a domain with a new website or email service, DNS records, such as TXT or MX records, are used to verify domain ownership.

Security Audits: Most DNS records, including TXT records, can be configured to validate that a domain has security protocols like SPF or DKIM properly set up to prevent spoofing of emails.

SEO and Marketing: In doing competitive analysis or managing multiple domains yourself, being able to view DNS records allows you to see where and how a domain is hosted or which third-party services are used.

Domain Investigation: When buying a domain or researching a competitor, it is good to check their DNS records as part of understanding their infrastructure and the services they offer online.

Where to View a Domain's DNS Records

There are several ways and tools through which one can search for DNS records of a domain. The methods range from online services to command-line utilities. Below are some common ways to look at DNS records.

1. Using Online DNS Lookup Tools

The easiest way to view DNS records is by using online utilities. These utilities provide easy-to-use interfaces for users and full view of all the DNS records a domain has.

Among the few popular online DNS lookup utilities are:

MXToolbox (https://mxtoolbox.com/): MXToolbox is a detailed DNS lookup tool whereby you will be able to view not just DNS records, but also specific ones like MX, TXT, SPF, DKIM, and many others. You can search by domain name and see the details of various types of DNS record in a clean, readable format.

DNS stuff [https://www.dnsstuff.com/]: DNSstuff is another tool that gives detailed information about a domain's DNS records. It supports various queries like A records, MX records, and even reverse DNS lookups.

Google Admin Toolbox: https://toolbox.googleapps.com/apps/dig/ Google's DNS lookup tool, which is called "Dig," will let you check DNS records by domain. It's a really powerful tool for both the beginners and the advanced users who might want to get DNS information from authoritative servers.

IntoDNS: https://intodns.com/ IntoDNS gives an elaborate DNS record; not only will it show DNS records, but it also shows errors or issues with the configuration of the domain. It allows you to track misconfiguration or security concerns in your DNS setup.

WhatsMyDNS: https://www.whatsmydns.net/ This tests the propagation of DNS records across different servers around the world. It's really useful if you're looking at troubleshooting any issues to do with the propagation of DNS after records have been updated.

2. Using the Command Line - dig and nslookup

Those who feel comfortable with the command line can use two powerful commands, namely dig and nslookup, in order to query DNS records for any domain. Such commands will let you fetch DNS records directly from DNS servers, which could be helpful for troubleshooting, scripting, or advanced DNS analysis.

dig Command (Linux/MacOS)

The dig order implies Space Data Groper and is a device utilized for questioning DNS records. The basic usages would look something like this:

Open your terminal.

To query the A record, which is otherwise known as the IPv4 address for a domain, you would enter:

This will return the A record alongside other DNS data.

To query a particular type of DNS record, such as MX for mail servers, you would enter:

This will return the mail server records for the space.

You can also query all the available DNS records using:

This will list every one of the records accessible for the space.

nslookup Command (Windows/MacOS/Linux)

nslookup or Name Server Lookup is another command-line utility that can be executed on almost any operating system, such as Windows, MacOS, and Linux. Here's a description of how to use this utility:

Open your command prompt if you are working on Windows or terminal if working on MacOS or any flavor of Linux.

Perform the following command in order to look up the A record of any domain:

For other record types, such as MX or TXT, type:

This will give you the MX records for the area.

To inquiry against a particular DNS server, use:

Here, for example, the query is against Google's public DNS server (8.8.8.8).

While dig does provide more options and has more flexibility in general, nslookup is simpler for a beginner and is normally good enough for general DNS lookups.

3. Using the WHOIS Services

While mostly used to get domain registration information such as the owner of the domain, the registrar, and dates of registration, sometimes WHOIS will show DNS information, including those authoritative nameservers for a domain, the NS records.

WHOIS Lookup Tools: Whois.domaintools.com or ICANN WHOIS provide the basic WHOIS information. Some WHOIS results contain DNS server information; however, for further detailed DNS record analysis, one should try a dedicated DNS lookup tool.

4. DNS Server Query Tools

You can query authoritative DNS servers for a domain by using specialized tools like DNSQuery.org or the command-line utilities dig and nslookup to run DNS queries against specific nameservers. This is very useful in case one wants to check what DNS records are stored on an authoritative DNS server and not just get some cached results.

5. Using cPanel or DNS Management Tools

In case you are the domain owner with its hosting account-say, cPanel, Plesk, or any other DNS management service-you will directly have access to the DNS records of your domain.

One may directly go to, say, "DNS Zone Editor" via cPanel to view and manage A records, MX records, CNAME, TXT, and other DNS settings of your domain.
Almost all hosting providers have a similar DNS management interface where you can observe all the configured DNS records for your domain.

Conclusion

DNS records are the backbone of how domains and services on the Internet are routed and connected. Knowing how to view and interpret DNS records is vital to anyone involved in managing websites, emails, or domains.

From problem troubleshooting and service configuration to security auditing, the tools and techniques covered here-online DNS lookups, command-line utilities such as dig and nslookup, hosting control panels-will let you easily view the DNS records for any domain.