Computer Repair Sacramento – Knowledge Base: How to perform a Windows NSLookup MX Record Lookup to verify MX records for domain.

TIP: The MX (Mail Exchanger) record is a type of resource record in the domain name system. When an email is sent to you, the MX records specify where the email should be routed to reach the email server for a specific domain and ultimately end up in your inbox.

There are numerous Internet websites you can use to a MX record lookup online. I prefer MXToolbox. But, all you need to do a simple nslookup MX query or verify MX records for a domain is one easy to use tool built into Window, and you can do the task much quicker and easier.

The tool is called NSLookup, which stands for Name Server Lookup. It is used from the command line. If you haven’t done this before, don’t worry, it’s easy and simple, just follow the steps below:

Windows NSLookup MX Record Lookup

To use NSLookup for an MX record lookup, first:

Click Start Button, click All Programs, click Accessories, click Command Prompt. The Command Prompt Window will open:

Here is the command syntax: nslookup -q=mx your-domain.com

I’ll break it down:

• nslookup The name server lookup tool itself
• -q – The nslookup query type
• mx – The nslookup query type value, in this case mx or mail exchanger.
• your-domain.com – The domain you wish to perform the nslookup query on

Regarding the nslookup query type, these types are supported: A, AAAA, A+AAAA, ANY, CNAME, MX, NS, PTR, SOA, SRV

So, let’s use microsoft for an example, the code would be: nslookup -q=mx microsoft.com, and here is the output:

Here’s how to read the above output:

MX Preference: Mail Exchanger server priority. Lower numbers have higher priority.
Mail Exchanger: Mail server domain name

Under that, the address(es) are listed.

Easy, isn’t it? No need to fire up a browser and search for an online nslookup service, just use the command prompt in Windows and the built in nslookup mx query tool.

Need help troubleshooting and resolving email or network issues? For help with Windows NSLookup MX record lookup or other network related issues, contact Jonathan – Computer Networking Sacramento today!