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NS Record Lookup

ns-lookup

Inspect authoritative nameservers and quickly validate delegation.

Enter a target and run the tool.

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About NS Lookup

NS (Nameserver) records identify the authoritative DNS servers responsible for answering queries about a domain. When a recursive resolver does not have a cached answer, it walks up the DNS hierarchy and asks these nameservers directly — so the NS records published at the registrar level are the foundation of every other DNS lookup that follows. Our free NS lookup tool queries the live DNS and lists every authoritative nameserver advertised for the domain you enter, letting you instantly verify that delegation is correct, that you are pointing at the right DNS provider, and that all nameservers in the rotation are present. This is essential when migrating DNS providers (Cloudflare, Route 53, Google Cloud DNS, etc.), when troubleshooting intermittent resolution failures caused by mismatched delegation, or when auditing a domain portfolio to confirm that nameservers match the intended hosting setup. Results come from a public DNS-over-HTTPS resolver in real time, so they reflect what is currently published. The tool runs in your browser, requires no installation, and has no signup or rate limits for normal use.

Common use cases

  • Verify that a DNS provider migration completed successfully at the registrar.
  • Confirm all nameservers in a delegation rotation are present and consistent.
  • Diagnose intermittent DNS failures caused by stale or mismatched nameserver records.
  • Audit a portfolio of domains to ensure they all use the intended DNS provider.
  • Identify the DNS provider hosting a third-party domain.

How to use this tool

  1. Enter the domain you want to inspect (for example, example.com).
  2. Click "Lookup" to query the authoritative nameservers via DNS-over-HTTPS.
  3. Review the list of NS hostnames returned for the domain.
  4. Compare the result against your registrar configuration to confirm delegation matches.

Frequently asked questions

How many nameservers should a domain have?

Most providers recommend 2 to 4 authoritative nameservers for redundancy. Fewer than 2 risks single-point-of-failure outages.

Why do my registrar NS records differ from this lookup?

Your registrar records are the parent delegation. This lookup queries what those nameservers themselves return, which can differ if a recent change has not yet propagated.

How long do nameserver changes take?

NS changes at the registrar level typically propagate within a few hours, but glue records and DNSSEC adjustments can take up to 48 hours.

Can I have nameservers from multiple providers?

Yes — multi-provider DNS is a valid availability strategy, but all nameservers must serve the same zone data to avoid inconsistent answers.