Enter a domain or email address to see its MX records: which mail servers receive its email, in what order, their IP addresses and which provider runs them. The query goes straight from your browser to a public DNS-over-HTTPS resolver.
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Enter a domain and click Check MX records to see which servers receive its email.
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How to use the MX Lookup
Type a domain such as example.com, or paste an email address or URL; the domain is taken from it.
Click Check MX records or press Enter.
Read the summary: who handles the domain's email, how many MX records it has and whether SPF and DMARC exist.
Check the table: lower priority numbers are tried first, and each server's IP addresses are listed.
Fix any warnings at your DNS host, then run the lookup again (changes appear after the old TTL expires).
MX records of popular email providers
When you move a domain to a new email service, these are the MX records the provider asks you to publish. Always copy the exact values from your provider's admin console, because some generate a host name unique to your domain.
Priority order, not size. "1, 5, 10" and "10, 20, 30" behave the same. Only the order matters, and equal numbers are used in random order.
Security gateways hide the mailbox. If the MX belongs to Mimecast, Proofpoint, Barracuda or a similar filter, mail is scanned there first and then passed to the real mailbox provider (often Microsoft 365 or Google), which DNS does not reveal.
Forwarding services such as Cloudflare Email Routing or ImprovMX receive mail and forward it to another address; they do not store it.
Old and new records together during a migration can split your mail between two systems. Remove the old provider's MX records once the new ones work.
MX only covers incoming mail. Which servers may send mail for the domain is set by SPF, and DKIM and DMARC protect against spoofing. Check them with the SPF Record Checker and DMARC Checker, or see every record type with the DNS Lookup.
Frequently asked questions
What is an MX record?
An MX (mail exchanger) record is a DNS record that tells other mail servers where to deliver email for a domain. Each MX record has a priority number and the host name of a mail server, for example 1 aspmx.l.google.com for Google Workspace.
What does the MX priority number mean?
Sending servers try the MX with the lowest number first. Higher numbers are backups used only when the preferred servers cannot be reached. Records with the same number share the load, and senders pick among them at random. The actual values do not matter, only their order.
How can I tell which email provider a domain uses?
Look at the MX host names. Google Workspace uses hosts ending in google.com, Microsoft 365 uses hosts ending in mail.protection.outlook.com, Zoho uses zoho.com, and so on. This tool recognizes more than 40 providers and email security gateways automatically. If a gateway such as Mimecast or Proofpoint is listed, the real mailbox provider sits behind it and cannot be seen from DNS.
What happens if a domain has no MX record?
Under the SMTP standard (RFC 5321), a sender that finds no MX record falls back to the domain's own A or AAAA address and tries to deliver there. To say clearly that a domain never receives email, publish a null MX record instead: a single MX with priority 0 and the host "." (RFC 7505).
Can an MX record point to an IP address or a CNAME?
No. An MX record must point to a host name that has its own A or AAAA records. Pointing it at an IP address is invalid, and pointing it at a CNAME alias is not allowed by RFC 2181, so some senders will refuse or delay delivery. The tool warns about both.
How long do MX record changes take to work?
New records are visible as soon as your DNS host publishes them, but resolvers that cached the old records keep using them until their TTL expires. A TTL of 3600 means up to one hour. Lower the TTL a day before a planned email migration to make the switch faster.
Is my lookup private?
The domain you enter is sent directly from your browser to Cloudflare's or Google's public DNS-over-HTTPS resolver, the same kind of query your computer makes every time you open a website. FreeToolCabin does not receive or store it.
Are all the tools on FreeToolCabin tested for quality and accuracy?
Yes! Every tool on our site undergoes automated Q/A testing in real browser environments to ensure high precision, correct output, and zero errors. If you happen to spot a bug or have a suggestion, please contact us at [email protected] and our team will review it right away.