DNS lookup & WHOIS — check any domain's records and owner
A DNS lookup shows what a domain actually does — the A, AAAA, MX, TXT, NS and CNAME records that point its website and email somewhere real. A WHOIS lookup shows who is behind it: the registrar, the registration and expiry dates, and its status. Carbide's DNS lookup and WHOIS lookup give you both answers free, with no sign-up and no rate-limit nags.
Both tools are honest about how they work: the domain name you type — and only that — is sent to public DNS resolvers and RDAP registries, the same live sources the rest of the internet relies on, and the raw answer is shown to you. Here is how to run each check and how to read what comes back.
Run a DNS lookup — A, MX, TXT and NS records in seconds
The fastest way to see a domain's records is a direct query, and the DNS lookup tool keeps it to three steps:
Expect a typical result to look like this: one or more A records pointing at IPv4 addresses (plus AAAA for IPv6), MX rows listing mail servers with a priority number — the lowest number is tried first — and TXT rows full of verification strings. An empty answer is not an error; it just means the domain does not publish that record type. Your query is resolved against public DNS servers, so what you see is the same live answer everyone else gets.
- Enter the bare domain — example.com, without https:// or a path after it.
- Pick the record type you care about: A, AAAA, MX, TXT, NS or CNAME.
- Read the answer: each row shows the record's value and its TTL — how long resolvers cache it before asking again.
DNS record types explained — what MX, TXT and CNAME actually do
Every record type answers a different question about the domain:
Reading them together tells a story. A domain with MX records handles its own mail; a TXT record starting with v=spf1 shows who is allowed to send email in its name; the NS records reveal which DNS host it trusts — Cloudflare, the registrar's defaults, or something self-managed.
- A / AAAA — where the website lives: the IPv4 (A) or IPv6 (AAAA) address a browser connects to.
- MX — where email goes: the mail servers that accept messages for @domain addresses, in priority order.
- TXT — what the domain proves: SPF and DKIM entries that fight email spoofing, plus site-verification strings from Google, Microsoft and others.
- NS — who answers for the domain: the name servers that publish all the records above.
- CNAME — an alias: this name is simply another name for a different one, common for www and CDN hostnames.
Who owns a domain? WHOIS lookup without the registrar upsell
To see who is behind a domain, run it through the WHOIS lookup. The tool queries RDAP — the modern, structured protocol ICANN is replacing classic WHOIS with — and shows the answer plainly: the registrar the domain was bought through, the registration and expiry dates, its status codes and its name servers.
Two of the usual catches are missing here on purpose. There is no "this domain is taken — buy a similar one!" pitch, because Carbide does not sell domains, and there is no sign-up wall in front of the result. You type a domain, the RDAP registry for its ending (.com, .net, .org and so on) answers, and you read the live record. Pair it with a DNS lookup and you have both halves: what the domain does, and who is responsible for it.
Why the owner's contact details are usually hidden
Expect the registrant section to be redacted for most domains — that is normal, not suspicious. Since GDPR, registries and registrars hide personal data by default, and many owners also pay for WHOIS privacy, which replaces their name and email with a proxy service's details.
The record is still useful. The registrar, the dates, the status codes and the name servers are always visible, and they are usually enough: you can judge how old a domain is, see when it expires, and identify where it is managed. If you genuinely need to reach the owner — say, to ask about buying the domain — the privacy proxy usually publishes a forwarding address that lands in their inbox, and every registrar operates an abuse contact for reporting misuse.
Check a domain's expiry and status before you deal with it
A thirty-second WHOIS check pays for itself whenever money is involved. Buying a domain from its current owner? Verify the expiry date and confirm the registrar matches what the seller claims. Ordering from an online shop you have never heard of? A domain registered a few weeks ago is a caution flag worth taking seriously — established shops usually have years of history behind them.
Status codes tell you where the domain stands at the registry. clientTransferProhibited is the everyday lock most registrars set — perfectly normal. redemptionPeriod or pendingDelete means the domain has expired and is on its way to being released. If you are waiting to catch a domain, re-run the WHOIS lookup as the expiry date approaches and watch the status change.
Round out your domain and network toolkit
DNS and WHOIS cover the domain's side of the story; a few sibling tools cover the rest. IP Info shows your own public address with city and ISP — the what is my IP guide explains what that address does and does not reveal about you. The subnet calculator handles CIDR math entirely in your browser — nothing is sent anywhere, it is pure calculation — with a full CIDR cheat sheet if you are studying networks.
For connection troubleshooting, Network Info reads your browser's view of the connection, and Ping measures HTTPS latency to any host you name. The network tools guide walks through all of them in order.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check which DNS server I'm using?
The lookup tool queries public resolvers, so it shows a domain's records — not your device's resolver. To see which DNS server your own device uses, check your Wi-Fi or network settings, or your router's admin page; many networks simply use the ISP's default. Your public-facing details — IP address, ISP, city — are what IP Info shows.
How long does DNS propagation take?
It depends on each record's TTL. Changes commonly appear within minutes to a few hours; 24–48 hours is the safe worst case, because some resolvers keep serving the old cached answer until it expires. Re-run the DNS lookup periodically and watch the new value take over.
How can I tell if a domain name is available?
Run it through the WHOIS lookup: if RDAP returns no registration record, the domain is very likely unregistered. Treat a registrar's own search as the final word, though — some registries reserve certain names or hold recently expired domains that look free.
Is anything uploaded when I run a lookup?
No files are involved at all — the only thing sent is the domain name you type. It goes to public DNS resolvers and RDAP registries because that is where the answers live, and the tools display the live response. There is no account and no sign-up, so the lookup is not tied to an identity.
Are the DNS and WHOIS tools free? Any limits?
Both are free, with no sign-up, no daily caps and no paid tier hiding record types. They are built for repeated use — checking propagation or watching an expiry date means running the same query many times, and nothing stops you.
A domain rarely keeps secrets from two quick queries: a DNS lookup shows what it does, and a WHOIS lookup shows who is behind it and until when. Run both the next time a domain matters to you — before you buy, before you trust, before you debug.