Free PTR Record Lookup & Checker

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Check live PTR DNS records, TTL values, and trace the full root-to-authoritative resolution path.

PTR (Pointer) Records Overview

What is a PTR record?

A PTR record maps an IP address to a domain name, essentially the reverse of an A or AAAA record. These records are used for reverse DNS lookups.

Why do you need a PTR record?

PTR records are important for verifying the identity of IP addresses, often used in email verification to prevent spam.

PTR record structure

A PTR record includes the IP address in reverse order, the TTL, record type (PTR), and the domain name. Example: 1.2.0.192.in-addr.arpa. 3600 IN PTR example.com.

How to create a PTR record?

PTR records are typically managed by the organization that controls the IP address. Contact your ISP or hosting provider to add or update a PTR record.

FAQs

No, a PTR record maps to a single domain name.

Yes, having a PTR record for your email server's IP address can help prevent your emails from being marked as spam.

You can use online reverse DNS lookup tools or command-line tools like dig or nslookup.

PTR records are managed by the owner of the IP address block - usually your hosting provider or ISP - not by your domain's DNS host.

Reverse DNS resolves an IP address back to a hostname using a PTR record - the opposite of a normal forward (A/AAAA) lookup.

PTR Record Troubleshooting & Common Fixes

Gmail, Yahoo, or Outlook rejects outbound emails: “550 5.7.1 PTR record missing”

Major inbox providers (including Google and Yahoo's latest sender guidelines) require every sending mail server IP to have a valid reverse DNS (PTR) record. If you operate an email server (Postfix, Exim, Exchange) on a VPS or dedicated server without rDNS configured, virtually all outbound messages will be rejected on connection.

How to fix: You cannot create a PTR record in your domain registrar's DNS panel. You must set it in the management console of the company that owns the IP address (e.g. AWS EC2 Elastic IP reverse DNS, DigitalOcean Droplet settings, Linode rDNS tab, or OVH/Hetzner server panel). Set the PTR value to match your mail server's fully qualified domain name (e.g. mail.yourdomain.com).

FCrDNS (Forward-Confirmed Reverse DNS) validation fails

Anti-spam filters perform a two-way FCrDNS check: first, they check if your server's IP has a PTR record resolving to a hostname (e.g. 198.51.100.25 → mail.example.com). Next, they immediately perform a forward A lookup on mail.example.com to verify it resolves back to 198.51.100.25. If there is a mismatch, the connection is classified as spoofed.

How to fix: Ensure both directions match: create a forward A record for mail.example.com pointing to your server's IP, and configure your mail software's SMTP banner (myhostname in Postfix) to identify with that exact same hostname.

PTR changes take several days to reflect worldwide

Reverse DNS zones (in-addr.arpa) are managed by regional internet registries (ARIN, RIPE, APNIC) and ISPs. Because IP allocations are large and rarely change, ISP recursive resolvers frequently cache PTR records with high TTLs (12 to 48 hours).

How to fix: Use our live PTR lookup above to query authoritative in-addr nameservers directly. If the authoritative server shows your new PTR, the change is active; you only need to wait for external mail provider caches to refresh.

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