Free Tool
MX Record Lookup
Check which mail servers handle email for any domain. Instantly see MX records, priorities, and the detected email provider.
What are MX Records?
MX (Mail Exchange) records are a type of DNS record that specifies which mail servers are responsible for receiving email on behalf of a domain. When someone sends an email to an address like user@example.com, the sending mail server looks up the MX records for example.com to determine where to deliver the message.
Each MX record contains two pieces of information: a priority value and the hostname of the mail server. The priority value determines the order in which mail servers are tried -- lower numbers indicate higher priority. If the highest-priority server is unavailable, the sending server will attempt delivery to the next server in the list, providing built-in redundancy for email delivery.
MX records are fundamental to how email works on the internet. Without properly configured MX records, a domain cannot receive email. Most email providers like Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and Zoho Mail require you to set specific MX records in your DNS configuration to route mail through their servers.
Why Check MX Records?
- Verify email configuration -- Confirm that your domain's MX records are correctly pointing to your email provider after setup or migration.
- Troubleshoot delivery issues -- When emails are bouncing or not being received, checking MX records is one of the first diagnostic steps to identify misconfigurations.
- Identify email provider -- Determine which email service a domain uses, which is useful for sales prospecting, competitive analysis, or integration planning.
- Validate before sending -- Before launching an email campaign, check that recipient domains have valid MX records to reduce bounce rates and protect your sender reputation.
- Monitor DNS changes -- Keep track of MX record changes that could indicate a domain migration, security compromise, or unauthorized configuration changes.
Automate MX lookups with our API
Integrate MX record lookups into your application with a single API call. Validate email infrastructure at scale with reliable, fast responses.