Get a detailed answer to difference between a record cname mx txt along with step-by-step troubleshooting instructions and related DNS resources.
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DNS records are the individual entries in your DNS zone that map your domain and subdomains to servers, services, and policies. Each record type serves a distinct purpose. Choosing the wrong type — for example, using a CNAME at the root domain — causes resolution failures. This guide explains when to use each of the four most common record types.
An A record is the most fundamental DNS record type. It maps a hostname directly to a 32-bit IPv4 address (for example, 192.0.2.1). When a user navigates to example.com, their browser queries DNS for the A record and receives the IP address of the web server to connect to.
A records work at any level of the domain hierarchy: the root domain (example.com), subdomains (www.example.com, api.example.com), or deeply nested hostnames. You can have multiple A records for the same hostname pointing to different IP addresses — this is used for round-robin load balancing or failover across multiple servers.
The AAAA record is the IPv6 equivalent. It maps a hostname to a 128-bit IPv6 address. Fully configured domains should have both A records (for IPv4 clients) and AAAA records (for IPv6 clients).
A CNAME (Canonical Name) record creates an alias from one hostname to another. Instead of resolving to an IP address directly, a CNAME points to another hostname, and the resolver then looks up that hostname's A record. For example:
www.example.com CNAME → example.com — the www subdomain is an alias for the root domainblog.example.com CNAME → my-blog.netlify.app — the blog subdomain points to a Netlify deploymentshop.example.com CNAME → my-store.myshopify.com — the shop subdomain points to ShopifyCNAMEs are convenient for hosting platforms because when the platform's IP addresses change, only the platform's A record needs to update — your CNAME still resolves correctly. However, CNAMEs have one critical restriction: they cannot be used at the zone apex (root domain). A root domain like example.com cannot have a CNAME record per the DNS specification. Use an A record for the root domain, or check if your DNS provider supports ALIAS/ANAME records (which behave like a CNAME at the apex).
MX (Mail Exchange) records specify which servers receive email for your domain. When someone sends an email to user@example.com, the sender's mail server queries for the MX records of example.com and delivers the message to the listed mail server.
Each MX record has two values: a priority number and a mail server hostname. Lower priority numbers are tried first. If the primary server is unreachable, the sending server tries the next lowest priority. A typical Google Workspace MX configuration looks like:
aspmx.l.google.comalt1.aspmx.l.google.comalt2.aspmx.l.google.comIf your MX records are missing or pointing to an unreachable server, email to your domain bounces with a delivery failure. Use the MX record lookup to check what mail servers are configured for your domain and verify they are reachable.
TXT records store arbitrary text strings. They have no inherent effect on routing but are read by services that need to verify domain ownership or check domain policy. The three most common uses of TXT records are:
v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~allselector._domainkey.example.com_dmarc.example.comDomain verification for services like Google Search Console, Microsoft 365, and Mailchimp also uses TXT records — the service asks you to add a specific text string to verify you control the domain. Use the TXT record checker to inspect what TXT records are currently published for any domain. For a deeper look at email authentication, see Nameservers vs DNS Records and What Is DNS Caching?