📧 DNS MX Record Lookup

Query DNS MX records to find the mail servers responsible for handling email delivery for any domain. Essential for email routing and troubleshooting email delivery issues.

Enter Domain Name:

💡 Tip: Enter a domain name and click "Lookup MX Records" to retrieve all mail servers for that domain, sorted by priority.

Enter a domain name and click "Lookup MX Records" to view results.

How mail servers read this list

Every MX record pairs a priority with a hostname. A sending server sorts them by priority, lowest number first, and tries that host; only if it cannot be reached does it move down the list.

1   aspmx.l.google.com
5   alt1.aspmx.l.google.com
10  alt2.aspmx.l.google.com

Priority 1 takes all the mail here. The other two are standbys, not a split. Where two records share the same number, traffic is shared between them.

The lookup runs on SimpleMoney's server rather than in your browser, and for MX that is the right view: it is the same public answer any sending mail server on the internet gets, so when a message bounces this is the list the sender was working from.

What to check when mail fails

An MX must name a host, not an address. An IP address in an MX record is invalid, and so is pointing one at a CNAME. The target needs its own A or AAAA record.
No MX records at all does not stop delivery. Senders fall back to the domain's A record and try to deliver there, which is how mail ends up at a web server that has no idea what to do with it.
A single dot as the host, at priority 0, is a null MX: a deliberate statement that the domain receives no mail.

MX records govern incoming mail only. Whether your outgoing mail is accepted is decided by SPF, DKIM and DMARC, which live in TXT records.

Frequently asked questions

Which MX record is used first?

The one with the lowest priority number. Higher numbers are fallbacks that only see traffic when everything below them is unreachable, so the numbers rank preference rather than importance.

Why is mail still arriving at my old provider after I changed the MX?

Sending servers cached the old answer for its TTL. Until that expires they keep using the previous host, so leave the old mailbox running for a day rather than switching it off with the record.

Do I need MX records to send email?

No. Sending works without them. You need MX records to receive, and most recipients will treat a domain that cannot receive replies with suspicion anyway.