---
title: DNS Record Types Explained: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT and more
description: Setting up a domain means meeting a zoo of record types — A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS. Here's what each one does, when to use it, and the gotchas that trip people up.
canonical: https://watchfor.io/blog/dns-record-types-explained
---

# DNS Record Types Explained: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT and more

2026-05-09 · WatchFor Team · Networking · dns, networking, basics

Setting up a domain means meeting a zoo of record types — A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS. Here's what each one does, when to use it, and the gotchas that trip people up.

You buy a domain, open the DNS settings, and you're greeted by a form asking for a "record type" with a dropdown full of cryptic two- and four-letter codes. A? CNAME? MX? TXT? Pick the wrong one and your site won't load or your email won't arrive.

DNS records are just **instructions** that tell the internet how to handle your domain — where the website lives, where email goes, how to verify you own it. Once you know what each type is *for*, that dropdown stops being scary. Here's the field guide.

## The records you'll actually use

| Record | Points to | Used for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **A** | An IPv4 address | Sending your domain to a server |
| **AAAA** | An IPv6 address | Same, but for IPv6 |
| **CNAME** | Another domain name | Aliasing one name to another |
| **MX** | Mail servers | Telling the world where your email goes |
| **TXT** | Free-form text | SPF, DKIM, DMARC, domain verification |
| **NS** | Name servers | Saying who's authoritative for the domain |
| **CAA** | Certificate authorities | Limiting who can issue your TLS certs |

That covers 95% of what you'll ever touch. Let's go through the important ones.

### A and AAAA — the address records

These are the most fundamental: they map a name to an IP address. An **A record** points to an IPv4 address (`192.0.2.10`); an **AAAA record** points to an IPv6 address. When someone visits your site, this is the record that says "the server is *here*."

- `example.com → A → 192.0.2.10`

### CNAME — the alias

A **CNAME** points one name at *another name* rather than an IP. Handy for subdomains that should follow wherever another host lives:

- `www.example.com → CNAME → example.com`
- `shop.example.com → CNAME → mystore.shopify.com`

> **The classic gotcha:** you generally **can't** put a CNAME on your root/apex domain (`example.com` itself), only on subdomains. Many providers offer "CNAME flattening" or an ALIAS/ANAME record to work around this — reach for that instead of forcing a CNAME at the root.

### MX — where email goes

**MX (Mail eXchange)** records tell other mail servers where to deliver email for your domain. They have a **priority** number (lower = tried first):

- `example.com → MX → 10 mail.example.com`

No MX records, or wrong ones, and your email silently stops arriving — with no error on your website to hint at it.

### TXT — the Swiss army knife

**TXT** records hold arbitrary text, and they've become the home for email security and verification:

- **SPF**, **DKIM** and **DMARC** ([all explained here](/blog/spf-dkim-dmarc-explained)) all live in TXT records.
- Domain ownership verification ("add this TXT record to prove you own the domain") uses them too.

### NS — who's in charge

**NS (Name Server)** records say which servers are authoritative for your domain — i.e., who holds the real answers. You usually set these at your registrar to point at your DNS provider.

### CAA — who can issue your certificates

A **CAA** record restricts which certificate authorities are allowed to issue TLS certificates for your domain — a small but worthwhile security control.

## TTL: the setting on every record

Every record also has a **TTL (Time To Live)** — how long resolvers may cache it before re-checking. It's not a record type, but it affects every record: a high TTL means changes take longer to roll out. (More on this in [how DNS works](/blog/how-dns-works).)

> **Pro tip:** before changing a record, lower its TTL a day ahead. Then the change takes effect in minutes, not hours.

## Quick reference: which record do I need?

| I want to… | Use |
| --- | --- |
| Point my domain at a server | **A** (or **AAAA** for IPv6) |
| Point a subdomain at another host | **CNAME** |
| Receive email at my domain | **MX** |
| Set up SPF / DKIM / DMARC | **TXT** |
| Change my DNS provider | **NS** (at your registrar) |
| Control who issues my certs | **CAA** |

## The bottom line

DNS records are just routing instructions. **A/AAAA** send visitors to your server, **CNAME** aliases names, **MX** routes email, **TXT** handles verification and email security, and **NS** says who's in charge. Get those right and your domain just works.

And because a single wrong record can take your site or email offline while everything else looks fine, it's worth [monitoring your DNS](/docs/monitors/network) — checking that it resolves and returns the records you expect. You can inspect any domain's records right now with the free [DNS lookup tool](/dns-checker).

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Canonical page: https://watchfor.io/blog/dns-record-types-explained · All articles: https://watchfor.io/blog/all.md · Site guide: https://watchfor.io/llms.txt