MX Record Lookup

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Querying DNS records for …

Primary Mail Server

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📍 Mail Server Locations Showing resolved IP locations

📋 MX Records

Sorted by priority — lower number = higher priority (tried first)

🔒 Email Authentication Records

How to Use the MX Record Lookup Tool

Enter a Domain Name

Type any domain name into the input field — such as gmail.com or yourdomain.com. The tool automatically strips https://, www., and trailing slashes. MX records only exist for domain names, not IP addresses.

Click Look Up or Press Enter

Press the Look Up button or hit Enter on your keyboard. The tool queries DNS records in real time via the QuickITTools API and returns all MX records sorted by priority — lowest priority number first.

Review Mail Server Results

Each MX record is shown with priority, hostname, resolved IP address, PTR reverse DNS record, TTL with human-readable label, hosting location, and detected email provider. The primary server is highlighted at the top and marked on the map.

Check DMARC and SPF Authentication

Scroll to the Email Authentication section to see the domain's DMARC policy and SPF record. These records control email spoofing protection. Copy all results to clipboard with one click using the Copy Results button.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an MX record?

An MX (Mail Exchange) record is a DNS record that tells the internet which mail servers are responsible for receiving email for a domain. Every domain that can receive email must have at least one MX record. Each MX record contains a priority number and a mail server hostname. Lower priority numbers are tried first — a server with priority 5 is contacted before one with priority 10.

What does the priority number mean?

The priority number determines which mail server is tried first when delivering email. Lower numbers have higher priority — a server with priority 5 is tried before one with priority 10. If two MX records share the same priority, the sending server picks one at random for load balancing. If the primary server is unavailable, email automatically routes to the next highest priority server, providing redundancy and failover.

What is TTL in an MX record?

TTL stands for Time to Live — the number of seconds other DNS servers are allowed to cache your MX record before re-checking. A TTL of 3600 means one hour. If you are planning to switch email providers or change your mail server, lower your TTL to 300 (5 minutes) at least 48 hours before making the change. This allows the update to propagate quickly once made.

What is a PTR record and why does it matter for email?

A PTR record is a reverse DNS record — it maps an IP address back to a hostname. For mail servers, a missing or mismatched PTR record is a common reason emails get flagged as spam or rejected outright. Major email providers including Gmail and Microsoft 365 check that the sending mail server's IP has a valid PTR record that matches the mail server's hostname. This is called Forward-Confirmed Reverse DNS (FCrDNS).

What is DMARC and what do the policy values mean?

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance) is an email authentication policy that tells receiving mail servers what to do with messages that fail SPF or DKIM checks. The three policy values are: none — monitor only, take no action on failures; quarantine — send failing messages to the spam folder; reject — block failing messages entirely and return them to sender. A policy of reject provides the strongest protection against email spoofing and phishing.

What is an SPF record?

An SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record is a DNS TXT record that lists which mail servers are authorized to send email on behalf of your domain. It helps prevent spammers from spoofing your domain in the From address. An SPF record starts with v=spf1 and includes mechanisms such as include:, ip4:, and ends with -all (hard fail) or ~all (soft fail). A hard fail -all is more secure and tells receivers to reject any email that does not match the authorized senders.

Why does my domain show no MX records?

If no MX records are found for a domain, it cannot receive email. This may mean the domain has no email service configured, the MX records were accidentally deleted during a DNS migration, or the domain is used purely for a website. Without MX records, sending servers fall back to the domain's A record per RFC 5321 — which typically points at a web server with no mail daemon, resulting in bounced messages.

How to Use the MX Record Lookup Tool

Frequently Asked Questions

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