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Free DNS TXT Record Lookup

Look up every TXT record for any domain in seconds — sorted into SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and verification records so you find the one you need at a glance. Then get free alerts the moment one changes.

Free · no sign-up · resolves live TXT records and sorts SPF · DKIM · DMARC.

What is a TXT record

TXT records, in plain English

A TXT record holds arbitrary text on a domain — and it's become the home of email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and service-ownership verification.

  • SPF — who may send your email

    An SPF record (v=spf1…) lists the servers allowed to send email as your domain. Get it wrong and your mail lands in spam — or spoofers can impersonate you.

  • DKIM — sign your email

    DKIM records (on a selector._domainkey subdomain) hold the public key mail servers use to verify your messages weren't tampered with in transit.

  • DMARC — enforce a policy

    A DMARC record (on _dmarc.yourdomain.com) tells inboxes what to do with mail that fails SPF or DKIM — and where to send failure reports.

  • Domain verification

    Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Stripe and others ask you to add a specific TXT record to prove you own the domain before enabling a service.

Where to find DMARC & DKIM

They don't live on your root domain. Look up DMARC at _dmarc.example.com, and DKIM at a selector subdomain like selector1._domainkey.example.com (your email provider gives you the selector name). SPF and most verification records sit on the root domain.

How to look up a TXT record

Find your TXT records in four steps

Whether you're checking an SPF record, a DMARC policy, or a verification token, here's how to read exactly what's published.

  1. 1

    Enter the domain

    For SPF and verification records, look up the root domain (example.com). For DMARC use _dmarc.example.com, and for DKIM use your selector, e.g. selector1._domainkey.example.com.

  2. 2

    Run the lookup

    The tool queries live DNS from a public resolver and reads every TXT record as the rest of the internet sees it right now — not a cached copy from your machine.

  3. 3

    Read the grouped results

    Each record is tagged SPF, DKIM, DMARC, Verification, or Other so you can spot the one you need at a glance — and confirm you don't have two SPF or DMARC records, which breaks authentication.

  4. 4

    Copy and compare

    Copy the record and check it matches exactly what your email or verification provider asked for — a single wrong character (or a stray second SPF record) is enough to fail.

Prefer the command line? Query TXT records directly:

dig example.com TXT +short
dig _dmarc.example.com TXT +short
nslookup -type=TXT example.com

The guide

TXT records, past the lookup

What TXT records really do, how SPF/DKIM/DMARC protect your email, why verification tokens pile up, and how a silent change quietly breaks deliverability.

What a TXT record actually is

A TXT record is the most flexible record in DNS: it just holds a string of text attached to a hostname. DNS was built to turn names into addresses, but it turned out to be a convenient, globally-readable place to publish small facts about a domain — so over the years TXT records quietly became the backbone of email security and service verification.

Because anyone can read a domain's TXT records, they're perfect for two jobs: proving to the world what's true about your domain (which servers may send your mail), and proving to a specific service that you control the domain (a one-time verification token). Almost every TXT record you'll ever see is doing one of those two things.

The three email records: SPF, DKIM, DMARC

If your mail is landing in spam — or worse, someone is spoofing your domain — these three TXT records are where the answer lives. They work as a chain, and inboxes increasingly reject mail that doesn't have all three set up correctly:

  • SPF — on the root domain, starts with v=spf1. Lists the servers allowed to send as you, ending in ~all (soft-fail) or -all (hard-fail). Only ONE SPF record is allowed — a second one silently breaks it.
  • DKIM — on a selector._domainkey subdomain. Holds a public key so receiving servers can verify your mail was signed by you and not altered in transit. The selector name comes from your email provider.
  • DMARC — on the _dmarc subdomain, starts with v=DMARC1. Ties SPF and DKIM together and tells inboxes what to do when mail fails (p=none / quarantine / reject) — plus where to send reports.

Verification records — and why they pile up

The other big use of TXT is proving ownership. When you add a domain to Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Facebook Business, Stripe, or dozens of other services, they hand you a unique TXT record to publish; once they see it, they know you control the domain and unlock the feature.

These accumulate — it's normal to have a stack of old google-site-verification, MS=, and facebook-domain-verification tokens from services you set up years ago. They're harmless to leave, but a lookup like this is the fastest way to audit what's actually published and clean out tokens for tools you no longer use.

When a TXT record changes, mail breaks quietly

The dangerous thing about TXT records is that nothing visibly breaks when one is wrong. An SPF record edited to drop a sending service, a DKIM key rotated without updating DNS, a DMARC policy flipped to reject — none of it throws an error. Your mail just starts landing in spam, or bouncing, and you find out from a customer who never got the invoice.

A one-time lookup tells you what's published this second; it can't tell you when it changes next month. That's the gap continuous monitoring closes — point Uptura at your domains and it snapshots your TXT (and every other) record and alerts you the moment one changes, so an SPF edit or a rotated DKIM key is something you catch immediately instead of discovering through a deliverability drop.

FAQ

TXT records, answered

  • What is a DNS TXT record?

    A TXT record is a DNS record that holds arbitrary text attached to a domain. It's become the workhorse of domain configuration — SPF, DKIM and DMARC email-authentication records, plus ownership-verification tokens for services like Google and Microsoft, are all stored as TXT records.

  • How do I look up a TXT record?

    Enter the domain (like example.com) in the tool above and run the lookup. It queries live DNS and lists every TXT record, grouped by type — SPF, DKIM, DMARC, verification, and other. From a terminal you can run 'dig example.com TXT +short' or 'nslookup -type=TXT example.com'.

  • Why can't I find my DMARC or DKIM record?

    They don't live on the root domain. DMARC is published on the _dmarc subdomain — look up _dmarc.example.com. DKIM lives on a selector subdomain like selector1._domainkey.example.com, where the selector name comes from your email provider. Look those hostnames up directly and they'll appear.

  • How do I check my SPF record?

    Look up the root domain (example.com) and find the TXT record that starts with 'v=spf1'. That's your SPF record. It should list every service that sends mail for you and end with ~all or -all. Only one SPF record is allowed per domain — two will break authentication.

  • Why do I see the same TXT record twice or split into chunks?

    Long TXT records (over 255 characters, common for DKIM keys) are stored as multiple quoted strings that resolvers join together. This tool shows the joined value. Seeing genuinely duplicated SPF or DMARC records, though, is a misconfiguration worth fixing.

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