An A record maps a hostname to an IPv4 address. It is the record that lets a browser turn example.com into a numeric address it can connect to. Without an A record (or an AAAA record for IPv6), a domain has no address and will not load in a browser.

Can a domain have more than one A record?

Yes. Multiple A records for the same name is a common pattern called round-robin DNS. Resolvers return the addresses in rotating order, spreading traffic across servers. It distributes load but does not detect failures, so a dead server stays in rotation until you remove its record.

Why is my A record still showing the old IP address?

Because of TTL caching. Resolvers keep the previous answer for as long as the TTL allows, so a record with a 3600 second TTL can serve a stale address for up to an hour after you change it. Lower the TTL before a planned migration, not after.

What is the difference between an A record and a CNAME?

An A record points to an IP address. A CNAME points to another hostname, which then has to be resolved in turn. Use an A record when you know the IP, and a CNAME when you want to follow a provider hostname that may change its own address.

Can the root domain use an A record?

Yes, and usually it must. The root of a zone (example.com with no subdomain) cannot normally be a CNAME because of how DNS handles other records at the apex. Providers work around this with ALIAS or ANAME records that behave like a CNAME but answer as an A record.

A Record Lookup

About A Record Lookup

A Record Lookup returns the IPv4 address a domain resolves to. The A record is the most fundamental DNS record: it is what turns example.com into 93.184.216.34 so a browser knows which server to open a connection to. A domain can hold several A records for the same name, which is the simplest form of load balancing, since resolvers hand them out in rotating order. The lookup also shows TTL, the number of seconds a resolver is allowed to cache the answer before asking again. TTL is the single most useful number when planning a migration: lower it to 300 a day before you move a site, and clients pick up the new address within five minutes instead of holding the old one for hours. A common source of confusion is that an A record must point at an IP address, never at another hostname. If you need a name to follow another name, that is a CNAME Lookup record instead, and the root of a domain usually cannot be a CNAME at all.

DNS resolution happens in multiple stages. When you type a domain name, your browser first checks its own cache, then the OS resolver cache, then queries your configured DNS resolver (usually your ISP or a public resolver like 8.8.8.8 or 1.1.1.1). If none have the record cached, the resolver performs a recursive query: it asks the root name servers for the TLD servers (.com, .net, etc.), then asks the TLD servers for the authoritative name servers of the specific domain, and finally asks the authoritative servers for the actual record. This entire process typically completes in under 100ms. DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) encrypts DNS queries in HTTPS traffic, preventing ISPs and network observers from seeing which domains you query. It was standardized in RFC 8484 in 2018 and is now supported by all major browsers. Google and Cloudflare both operate free public DoH endpoints (dns.google and cloudflare-dns.com). TXT records have become a critical security mechanism: SPF (Sender Policy Framework) records specify which servers are allowed to send email for a domain, DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) records provide public keys for verifying email signatures, and DMARC records tell receiving mail servers what to do when SPF or DKIM checks fail. Checking these records is the first step in diagnosing email deliverability problems.

How to use A Record Lookup

Enter a domain name (e.g. example.com, without http://).
Select a record type (A, AAAA, MX, TXT, CNAME, NS, SOA, CAA, SRV, PTR) or an email policy check (DMARC, SPF, DKIM).
Click Lookup to see live DNS records, then copy all results with one click.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an A record?: An A record maps a hostname to an IPv4 address. It is the record that lets a browser turn example.com into a numeric address it can connect to. Without an A record (or an AAAA record for IPv6), a domain has no address and will not load in a browser.
Can a domain have more than one A record?: Yes. Multiple A records for the same name is a common pattern called round-robin DNS. Resolvers return the addresses in rotating order, spreading traffic across servers. It distributes load but does not detect failures, so a dead server stays in rotation until you remove its record.
Why is my A record still showing the old IP address?: Because of TTL caching. Resolvers keep the previous answer for as long as the TTL allows, so a record with a 3600 second TTL can serve a stale address for up to an hour after you change it. Lower the TTL before a planned migration, not after.
What is the difference between an A record and a CNAME?: An A record points to an IP address. A CNAME points to another hostname, which then has to be resolved in turn. Use an A record when you know the IP, and a CNAME when you want to follow a provider hostname that may change its own address.
Can the root domain use an A record?: Yes, and usually it must. The root of a zone (example.com with no subdomain) cannot normally be a CNAME because of how DNS handles other records at the apex. Providers work around this with ALIAS or ANAME records that behave like a CNAME but answer as an A record.

A Record Lookup

About A Record Lookup

How to use A Record Lookup

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Tools

Also Available As