# What Is a TXT Record in DNS and What It Is Used For

#### WHAT IS THE TXT RECORD?

Any text information can be stored in the TXT record. TXT corresponds to the abbreviation for Text.

<p class="callout info">With TXT records, you can verify the domain name property rights for some services. The <acronym title="Sender Policy Framework">SPF</acronym>, <acronym title="Domain Keys">DK,</acronym> <acronym title="DomainKeys Identified Mail">DKIM</acronym> and <acronym title="Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance">DMARC</acronym> keys are published in TXT records.</p>

A domain name may have several TXT records.

#### QUERYING TXT RECORD

For example, you can use the nslookup command in Windows to access record TXT, while under Linux the host command.

Example of a Windows-based nslookup query:

```
nslookup -q=TXT dotroll.com
Server:  google-public-dns-a.google.com
Address:  8.8.8.8

Non-authoritative answer:
dotroll.com     text =

        "google-site-verification=NMkDYF4JGT5YCQTQKfHvfBTFeg_TOfsYjZIowHSpKFU"
dotroll.com     text =

        "yandex-verification: 66da9e054ee4bea9"
dotroll.com     text =

        "v=spf1 mx a:staffmx.dotroll.com a:staffmx1.dotroll.com ip4:80.77.113.20 ip4:80.77.113.30 ip4:185.33.52.53 a:admin.dotroll.com a:online1.int.dotroll.com ~all"
```

Example of Linux based host query:

```
host -t TXT dotroll.com
dotroll.com descriptive text "v=spf1 mx a:staffmx.dotroll.com a:staffmx1.dotroll.com ip4:80.77.113.20 ip4:80.77.113.30 ip4:185.33.52.53 a:admin.dotroll.com a:online1.int.dotroll.com ~all"
dotroll.com descriptive text "google-site-verification=NMkDYF4JGT5YCQTQKfHvfBTFeg_TOfsYjZIowHSpKFU"
dotroll.com descriptive text "yandex-verification: 66da9e054ee4bea9"
```

#### TXT RECORD FORMAT

<table id="bkmrk-fields-name-descript"><tbody><tr><td>**Fields name**</td><td>**Description**</td></tr><tr><td>Name</td><td>this field contains the domain or subdomain name.</td></tr><tr><td>TTL</td><td>this field contains record lifetime in seconds. This is the time until the entry is stored in the resolver.</td></tr><tr><td>TXT record</td><td>contains the text</td></tr></tbody></table>

#### ADDING TXT RECORD

1. Sign in with [https://admin.dotroll.com](https://admin.dotroll.com/?swcfpc=1) with your username and password
2. In the top menu bar, click the **Domains** / **My Domains** menu.
3. Select the domain name for which you want to make the change and then click on it.
4. In the **Manage** box on the left, select **Manage DNS**.
5. At the bottom of the page, click **Add**. 
    - In the first field, you can enter a subdomain name, or leave blank
    - the TTL value can be selected in the second field, but typically the default is 1 hour
    - select **TXT** from the next drop-down list.
    - enter the text in the last field.
6. Then click **Save Changes**.