DNS Records Explained for Domains and Email

DNS is the directory that helps browsers and mail servers find your services. A small number of records cover most hosting and business-email setups.

The records you use most often

• A and AAAA records point a hostname to an IPv4 or IPv6 address.
• CNAME records create an alias, which is useful for subdomains managed by another service.
• MX records tell receiving mail servers where to deliver messages for your domain.
• TXT records carry verification and email policy data such as SPF and DMARC.

Change records deliberately

Lowering the TTL before a planned migration can shorten the change window, but it does not make DNS instant. Record the old values, change one dependency at a time, and verify from more than one resolver before declaring the cutover complete.