How to check DNS records (A, CNAME, MX, TXT) with dig and nslookup
- 20.02.2026 00:58
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- dns
- domain
When you change DNS, it can take time for caches to update. The fastest way to confirm the current state is to query DNS directly.
For example, to see the A record currently visible for your domain:
dig A example.com +shortThis guide shows simple commands to check A, CNAME, MX, and TXT records.
1) Check which nameservers are authoritative (NS)
macOS / Linux (dig)
dig NS example.com +shortWindows (nslookup)
nslookup -type=ns example.comIf the NS are not ns1.garmtech.com/ns2.garmtech.com/ns3.garmtech.com, you must edit DNS at the provider that is listed.
2) Check A and CNAME records
dig
dig A example.com +short
dig CNAME www.example.com +shortnslookup
nslookup example.com
nslookup -type=cname www.example.com3) Check MX (mail routing)
dig
dig MX example.com +shortnslookup
nslookup -type=mx example.com4) Check TXT (verification, SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
dig
dig TXT example.com +short
dig TXT _dmarc.example.com +shortnslookup
nslookup -type=txt example.com
nslookup -type=txt _dmarc.example.com5) Query a specific nameserver (authoritative check)
If you want to bypass random resolvers and query a specific nameserver directly:
dig @ns1.garmtech.com A example.com
dig @ns1.garmtech.com TXT example.comIf you use external DNS, replace the nameserver with the one returned by the NS query.
6) Understand different results (cache vs authoritative)
- Authoritative nameserver shows the “source of truth”.
- Public resolvers (your ISP, Google DNS, Cloudflare DNS) can cache older values until TTL expires.
- If results differ, wait for TTL or flush local DNS cache on your device.
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