MX Record Lookup Tool

What is a DNS MX Record?

An **MX (Mail Exchange)** record is a type of DNS record that specifies the mail servers responsible for accepting email messages on behalf of a domain. When someone sends an email to user@example.com, the sending mail server performs a DNS lookup to find the MX records for example.com. These records direct the email to the correct mail server for processing and delivery.

The Importance of Priority

MX records include a **priority** number (a lower number means higher priority). This allows domain administrators to set up primary and backup mail servers.

• Primary Server: The record with the lowest priority number (e.g., 10) is the main mail server. All email will be sent here first.
• Backup Servers: Records with higher priority numbers (e.g., 20, 30) act as backup servers. If the primary server is unavailable, the sending server will try the next highest priority server in the list.
• Redundancy: This system ensures that email can still be received even if the primary mail server goes down, preventing lost messages.

MX Record Format

An MX record has the following structure:

[Domain Name] [TTL] IN MX [Priority] [Mail Server Hostname]

• Domain Name: The domain that receives the email (e.g., example.com).
• TTL (Time To Live): How long the record can be cached by DNS resolvers.
• IN: Stands for Internet.
• MX: Specifies that this is a Mail Exchange record.
• Priority: A number indicating the server's preference. The lowest number is tried first.
• Mail Server Hostname: The domain name of the mail server (e.g., mx.provider.com). Note that this must be a hostname, not an IP address.

Our tool queries for these records and displays them sorted by priority, so you can easily see your primary and backup mail configurations.