Free MX Record Lookup
Find out where a domain’s email is delivered and whether each mail server is set up properly. No account needed.
Free, with no sign-up. Fair-use limits apply. To enforce them we keep the domain you enter and a scrambled form of your IP address for 30 days, as described in our privacy policy.
What MX records do
When someone sends a message to you@example.com, their mail server asks DNS for the MX records of example.com. Those records list the servers that accept email for the domain, each with a priority number. The sender tries the lowest number first and moves on to the next if it cannot connect. If the records are missing or wrong, mail bounces or disappears, often without any obvious sign on your side.
This free tool looks up the MX records and goes further than a plain lookup. It checks every listed mail server to make sure it is actually reachable in the way the standards require.
How to use it
Enter a domain and press Check MX. The results list each mail server in priority order together with the addresses it resolves to. Below the list you will find a set of findings for the domain as a whole and for each server.
What the checks look for
- Each MX host resolves to an address, so senders can connect to it.
- The host name is a real name, not a bare IP address, and not an alias (a CNAME), both of which the standards say to avoid.
- The server’s address is public, because a mail server on a private address cannot be reached by anyone on the internet.
- The server has reverse DNS, and the name it returns points back to the same address, which matters when the same machines also send your mail.
- Whether there is more than one server, so a single outage does not stop email.
If a domain has no MX records at all, the checker says so. Some domains deliberately publish a null MX to state that they do not receive email, and the tool recognises that as a valid choice rather than an error.
Who benefits from this check
Anyone moving between email providers will use this tool repeatedly: once before the switch to record the current setup, and again afterwards to confirm the new records are live. Agencies inheriting a client’s domain use it to find out where the email is really going before touching anything, and support teams use it to explain why a message bounced. It takes seconds, and it removes an argument about whose fault a missing email is.
Reading the results
The host names usually reveal the mail provider, whether a large hosted service or your own server. That is useful when you are working with a domain you did not set up, or confirming that a migration to a new email provider has taken effect. If the records still name the old provider after you have made a change, remember that resolvers keep copies until the TTL expires, and check again later or use the propagation checker.
A failing reverse DNS check on a mail server you control deserves attention, because it can push your outgoing mail towards spam folders even when SPF and DKIM are correct. It is fixed with the company that owns the server’s IP address, not in your own DNS zone.
Common mistakes
The most frequent problems are a leftover record pointing at a previous provider, which quietly delivers a share of your mail to the wrong place; a priority set the wrong way round so the backup server takes all the traffic; and a host name typed with the domain added twice. All three are quick to spot in a table and slow to spot without one.
Beyond a one-off lookup
MX records are only one part of email health. Inside an SEO Web Data account, the email authentication checker scores MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, MTA-STS and more in a single report, and a watchlist alerts you if your mail servers change unexpectedly. More than seventy domain tools sit beside your site audits, rank tracking and reports. Every plan starts with a free trial, so you can try the whole toolkit on your own domains.
Frequently asked questions
What does the MX priority number mean?
Lower numbers are tried first. Servers with higher numbers are backups used when the preferred one cannot be reached.
Can an MX record point to an IP address?
No. It must point to a host name, and that name must resolve to an address. Pointing at an alias is also not allowed.
Why does my domain show no MX records?
Either email is not set up, the record was added to the wrong name, or the domain publishes a null MX to say it does not receive mail.
Does this tool send an email to test delivery?
No. It reads DNS and checks the servers’ names and addresses. It does not send any messages.
More free tools
See all free domain tools, or read how the email authentication tools work inside the dashboard.