What is a PTR record?

Your emails keep landing in spam and you cannot figure out why. You have set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC through your TXT records for email security, and everything looks right. But there is one more thing receiving servers check before they trust your messages. They do a reverse DNS lookup on the IP address that sent the email. If that lookup does not return a matching domain name, the email gets flagged. The record responsible for that lookup is called a PTR record.

What is a PTR record?

PTR stands for Pointer. A PTR record maps an IP address back to a domain name. It is the reverse of an A record. Where an A record says "this domain name points to this IP address," a PTR record says "this IP address belongs to this domain name."

Think of it like a phone book. An A record is looking up someone's phone number using their name. A PTR record is looking up someone's name using their phone number. Both records connect the same two pieces of information, just in opposite directions.

PTR records are stored in a special zone of the DNS system designed for reverse lookups. For IPv4 addresses, that zone lives under the in-addr.arpa domain. For IPv6 addresses, it lives under ip6.arpa. You do not need to memorize that. What matters is understanding that PTR records live in a different place than your other DNS records, and that is why setting them up works differently.

What is a reverse DNS lookup?

A reverse DNS lookup is the process of taking an IP address and finding the domain name associated with it. When a mail server receives an email from IP address 203.0.113.25, it asks the DNS system "what domain name is connected to this IP?" The DNS system checks the PTR record for that IP and returns the answer.

If a PTR record exists and the domain name it returns matches the server that sent the email, the lookup passes. If there is no PTR record, or if the domain name does not match, the receiving server has a reason to be suspicious.

The term "reverse" makes sense when you compare it to a normal DNS lookup. A normal lookup goes from domain name to IP address (forward). A reverse lookup goes from IP address to domain name (backward). That is all it means.

Why do PTR records matter for email?

Email servers use PTR records as one of their first checks when deciding whether to accept an incoming message. The logic is simple. Legitimate senders have PTR records set up for the IP addresses they send from. Spammers often do not.

Here is what happens when you send an email.

1. Your mail server connects to the receiving mail server from a specific IP address
2. The receiving server takes that IP address and runs a reverse DNS lookup
3. It checks whether a PTR record exists for that IP
4. If a PTR record exists, it checks whether the domain name in the PTR record matches the domain in the email headers
5. If everything matches, the email passes this check and moves on to SPF, DKIM, and DMARC verification

If there is no PTR record at all, many receiving servers will reject the email outright or send it to spam. Some of the largest email providers are strict about this. No PTR record means no trust.

This is why PTR records are sometimes called the first line of defense for email reputation. They sit at the very beginning of the verification chain, before all the other checks even run.

Who sets up a PTR record?

This is where PTR records are different from every other DNS record you have worked with. You do not add a PTR record yourself. Your hosting provider or email service provider sets it up for you.

The reason is straightforward. PTR records are tied to IP addresses, not domain names. The organization that owns the IP address block is the one that controls the reverse DNS zone for those addresses. That is your hosting provider, your cloud server provider, or your dedicated email sending service.

For most brands, this means one of two things.

• If you use shared hosting, your hosting provider has already set up PTR records for the shared IP addresses on their servers. You do not need to do anything
• If you have a dedicated IP address (common with VPS hosting or dedicated servers), you may need to request that your provider create a PTR record for your IP. Most providers have a form or support option for this

This is a key distinction. You cannot go to your domain registrar and add a PTR record the way you would add an A record or a CNAME record. It does not work that way. The PTR record lives in the reverse DNS zone, which your hosting provider manages.

How do you check if you have a PTR record?

Checking is simple. You need to know the IP address your emails are sent from, and then you run a reverse DNS lookup on that IP.

There are a few ways to do this.

• Use an online reverse DNS lookup tool. Enter your IP address and it will tell you if a PTR record exists and what domain name it returns
• On a computer with a command line, you can type "nslookup" followed by your IP address. The result will show the PTR record if one exists
• Check the email headers of a message you sent. Most email headers include the results of the reverse DNS lookup, labeled as rDNS or PTR

If the lookup returns your domain name, you are good. If it returns nothing, or returns a generic hostname that looks like a string of numbers and letters from your hosting provider, you need to set up a proper PTR record.

How do you request a PTR record from your hosting provider?

The process depends on your provider, but it usually follows the same pattern.

1. Find the IP address your server or email service sends from
2. Decide what domain name you want the PTR record to point to. This should match the hostname your mail server identifies itself as when sending email
3. Contact your hosting provider or use their control panel to request a reverse DNS (rDNS) entry for that IP address
4. Wait for the change to take effect. PTR record updates can take a few hours to propagate

Some cloud hosting providers let you set this up directly in your server settings. Others require a support ticket. Either way, it is usually a quick process once you know what to ask for.

PTR records and A records should match

For everything to work properly, your forward and reverse DNS should agree with each other. This is called forward-confirmed reverse DNS, or FCrDNS.

Here is what that means in practice.

• Your A record says "mail.yourdomain.com points to 203.0.113.25"
• Your PTR record says "203.0.113.25 points back to mail.yourdomain.com"

When both records point to each other, the forward and reverse lookups confirm one another. This is the ideal setup, and many mail servers check for this exact match. If your A record points to one IP but the PTR record for that IP returns a different domain name (or no domain name at all), the verification fails.

Think of it like a two-way introduction. Your domain says "my address is this IP." The IP says "I belong to this domain." If the stories match, trust is established. If they contradict each other, something is off.

What happens without a PTR record?

Without a PTR record, the consequences are mostly about email. Your website will still load fine. Your DNS will still resolve normally. But your email reputation takes a hit.

Here is what you can expect.

• Emails sent from your server are more likely to land in spam folders
• Some receiving mail servers will reject your emails entirely and return a bounce message
• Email deliverability testing tools will flag the missing PTR record as a problem
• Your sender reputation score drops, which affects all future emails from that IP

The frustrating part is that a missing PTR record is invisible unless you know where to look. You will not see an error in your email client. You will not get a warning when you hit send. You will just notice that your emails are not getting through, and unless you know to check for a PTR record, you might spend hours troubleshooting the wrong thing.

Common misconceptions about PTR records

A few things that trip people up.

• You cannot add a PTR record at your domain registrar. This is the most common misunderstanding. PTR records are tied to IP addresses, not domain names. Your registrar manages your domain's DNS zone. Your hosting provider manages the reverse DNS zone for their IP addresses. These are two separate systems
• PTR records are not just for email servers. While email is the most common use case, PTR records are also used for network troubleshooting, logging, and security audits. Any time a system needs to identify who owns an IP address, it uses a reverse DNS lookup
• Having a PTR record does not guarantee email delivery. It is one factor among many. You still need SPF, DKIM, and DMARC set up through your TXT records. You still need a good sender reputation. But without a PTR record, the other checks may never even get a chance to run
• Shared hosting usually has PTR records already. If you are on shared hosting, your provider has likely set up PTR records for the shared IP. You only need to worry about this if you have your own dedicated IP address

How WEMASY handles PTR records

WEMASY manages the hosting infrastructure for every website built on the platform. That includes the DNS configuration, SSL certificates, and server setup. PTR records for WEMASY's mail and hosting servers are configured at the infrastructure level, so you do not need to set anything up yourself.

If you use WEMASY for email forwarding or connect a custom email through your domain, the MX records and related DNS entries are handled through the platform's domain connection flow. For brands that use a separate email sending service, you would set up the PTR record with that service's hosting provider, not through WEMASY. See what is included in each plan on the WEMASY pricing page.

What comes next

Now that you understand how PTR records work for reverse DNS and email verification, the next chapter covers the CAA record. A CAA record controls which certificate authorities are allowed to issue SSL certificates for your domain, adding another layer of security to your DNS setup. For an overview of all record types and when to use each one, see the chapter on DNS record types.

Frequently asked questions