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What is a DNS TXT record?
The TXT record lets a domain admin leave notes on a DNS server.
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Learning Objectives
After reading this article you will be able to:
Understand the purpose of a TXT record
Describe the main uses of TXT records
Explain how TXT records can help prevent email spam
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What is a DNS TXT record?
The DNS ‘text’ (TXT) record lets a domain administrator enter text into the Domain
Name System (DNS). The TXT record was originally intended as a place for human-
readable notes. However, now it is also possible to put some machine-readable data
into TXT records. One domain can have many TXT records.
Example of a TXT record:
example.com record type: value: TTL
@ TXT This is an awesome domain! Definitely not spammy. 32600
Today, two of the most important uses for DNS TXT records are email spam prevention
and domain ownership verification, although TXT records were not designed for these
uses originally.
What kind of data can go in a TXT record?
The original RFC only indicates that 'text strings' go in the 'value' field of a
TXT record. This could be any text that an administrator wants to associate with
their domain.
Most DNS servers will put a limit on how big TXT records can be and how many
records they can store, so administrators cannot use TXT records for large amounts
of data.
What is the official format for storing data in a TXT record?
In 1993, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) defined a format for storing
attributes and their corresponding values within the 'value' field of TXT records.
The format was simply the attribute and the value contained within quotation marks
(") and separated by an equal sign (=), such as:
"attribute=value"
RFC 1464, the 1993 document that defines this format, includes these examples:
host.widgets.com record type: value:
@ TXT "printer=lpr5"
sam.widgets.com record type: value:
@ TXT "favorite drink=orange juice"
However, this definition was considered experimental, and in practice it is not
often adopted. Some DNS administrators follow their own formats within TXT records,
if they make use of TXT records at all. TXT records may also be formatted in a
specific way for certain uses described below — for instance, DMARC policies have
to be formatted in a standardized way.
How do TXT records help prevent email spam?
Spammers often try to fake or forge the domains from which they send their email
messages. TXT records are a key component of several different email authentication
methods that help an email server determine if a message is from a trusted source.
Common email authentication methods include Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKIM),
Sender Policy Framework (SPF), and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting &
Conformance (DMARC). By configuring these records, domain operators can make it
more difficult for spammers to spoof their domains and can track attempts to do so.
SPF records: SPF TXT records list all the servers that are authorized to send email
messages from a domain.
DKIM records: DKIM works by digitally signing each email using a public-private key
pair. This helps verify that the email is actually from the domain it claims to be
from. The public key is hosted in a TXT record associated with the domain. (Learn
more about public key encryption.)
DMARC records: A DMARC TXT record references the domain's SPF and DKIM policies. It
should be stored under the title _dmarc.example.com. with 'example.com' replaced
with the actual domain name. The 'value' of the record is the domain's DMARC policy
(a guide to creating one can be found here).
How do TXT records help verify domain ownership?
While domain ownership verification was not initially a feature of TXT records,
this approach has been adopted by some webmaster tools and cloud providers.
By uploading a new TXT record with specific information included, or editing the
current TXT record, an administrator can prove they control that domain. The tool
or cloud provider can check the TXT record and see that it has been changed as
requested. This is somewhat like when a user confirms their email address by
opening and clicking a link sent to that email, proving they own the address.
Learn more about the different types of DNS records.
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