WHOIS Lookup

How to use the WHOIS Lookup#

1. Type or paste a domain name, such as example.com. If you paste a subdomain like shop.example.com, the tool reduces it to the registered domain automatically.
2. Run the lookup. Most results appear within a few seconds.
3. Read the summary first: registrar, registration date, expiry date and current status codes.
4. Scroll down for nameservers, DNSSEC and any registrant details the registry publishes. If the domain's top-level domain has no RDAP service, you will see the raw WHOIS record instead.

Understanding your results#

Registrar. The company the domain is registered through. If you want to renew, transfer or report a domain, the registrar is usually the right place to start.

Registration date. When the current registration was created. This is what most people mean by "domain age", and our Domain Age Checker turns it into years, months and days.

Expiry date. The date the registration is paid until. A domain that passes its expiry date is not necessarily available to register straight away. Registries and registrars commonly apply grace and redemption periods before a name is released.

Last updated. The last time the registry record changed, for example after a renewal or a nameserver change.

Status codes. These are the standard EPP status values used by registries (defined in RFC 5731 and related extensions). RDAP sometimes writes them as words, for example "client transfer prohibited". We show a plain-English meaning next to each one. The most common:

• ok or "active": no pending operations and no restrictions.
• clientTransferProhibited: the registrar has locked the domain against transfers. This is a normal security setting, not a sign of trouble.
• clientDeleteProhibited and clientUpdateProhibited: the registrar blocks deletion or changes to the record.
• serverTransferProhibited and other server... codes: the same kinds of restriction, but set by the registry.
• clientHold and serverHold: the domain is not published in DNS, so it will not resolve. This often follows a billing problem, a verification issue or a dispute.
• redemptionPeriod: the registration was deleted and is in a window where the previous registrant may still be able to restore it.
• pendingDelete: the domain is scheduled to be removed from the registry.

Nameservers. The DNS servers responsible for the domain. They show where its DNS is hosted, such as a hosting company, a CDN or a dedicated DNS provider. To see the records those servers publish, use the DNS Lookup.

DNSSEC. Shows whether the registry holds a DNSSEC signing reference for the domain ("signed") or not ("unsigned"). Signed domains let resolvers verify that DNS answers have not been tampered with.

Registrant organization and country. Shown only when the registry publishes them. Under the privacy policies adopted around GDPR, most registries and registrars now redact personal contact details, and many owners add a privacy or proxy service as well. A redacted field is normal and does not mean the lookup failed. For other ways to identify an owner, see our guide on how to find who owns a domain.

How this tool works#

WHOIS is the original protocol for domain registration data. A query goes to a server on port 43 and comes back as plain text whose layout differs from one registry to the next. RDAP, the Registration Data Access Protocol, is its modern successor: it returns structured JSON over HTTPS, which makes dates, statuses and nameservers far more reliable to read. The RDAP overview at about.rdap.org explains the protocol in more detail.

To find the correct server, we use IANA's public RDAP bootstrap file, which maps each top-level domain to its registry's RDAP service. We send the query directly to that registry server and translate the response into the fields above.

Some top-level domains, mostly country-code extensions, do not offer RDAP yet. For those we fall back to the classic port-43 WHOIS server that IANA lists for that extension and show the raw record exactly as returned, since its format is set by the registry.

Results are cached for 24 hours. A change you made at your registrar today may therefore not appear until the cached copy expires. We do not store who looked up which domain.

Some registries publish minimal data or rate-limit queries, so an occasional lookup may fail; trying again later usually works.

Tips#

• Check the expiry dates of your own domains a few times a year, and turn on auto-renew at your registrar.
• Leave clientTransferProhibited switched on unless you are actively moving the domain to another registrar.
• If your site is down and the domain shows clientHold or serverHold, contact your registrar first. The cause is usually billing, verification or a policy issue.
• Before trying to buy an expired domain, look for redemptionPeriod or pendingDelete so you know whether it can be registered yet.
• To contact a privacy-protected owner, look for the registrar's contact form or the anonymized email address some registrars publish.

Frequently asked questions#

What is the difference between WHOIS and RDAP?#

Both return registration data for a domain. WHOIS is an older text protocol with no fixed output format. RDAP returns structured JSON over HTTPS, so the same fields can be read consistently across registries. This tool uses RDAP wherever the registry supports it.

Why can't I see who owns a domain?#

Most registries and registrars redact personal contact details under privacy rules, and many owners also use a privacy service. When a registry publishes the registrant organization or country, we show it. When it does not, the owner cannot be identified from registration data alone.

Why does a subdomain show the main domain's details?#

Registration data exists only for the registered domain, the name you actually buy from a registrar. Subdomains such as blog.example.com are created by the owner in DNS and have no registration record of their own, so the tool looks up example.com instead.

Why do these results differ from my registrar's dashboard?#

Our data comes from the registry and is cached for up to 24 hours. Your registrar may show changes that are still pending or have not yet been sent to the registry. Check again after the cache period if something looks out of date.

When does an expired domain become available?#

It depends on the extension and the registrar. Many domains pass through a grace period, then a redemption period, then pendingDelete before they are released. The status codes in your result show which stage a domain is currently in.