Website WHOIS

WHOIS is a protocol and database used to look up information about domain names, IP addresses, and other network resources. It provides a way to retrieve registration and ownership details of a particular domain or IP address. Here are some key points about

WHOIS helps identify and retrieve information about the registered owner of a domain name, the registrar through which it was registered, the domain's registration and expiration dates, the domain's DNS (Domain Name System) servers, and other related details.

WHOIS is the public record of who registered a domain, when, through which registrar, and when the registration expires. It is the closest thing the internet has to a land registry — though privacy rules have made it considerably less revealing than it once was.

Enter a domain above to look up its record.

What a WHOIS record contains

The fields that are almost always present, and what they are good for:

  • Registrar — the company the domain was registered through. This is who to contact about abuse, and who controls the account holding the name.
  • Creation date — when the domain was first registered. Useful for judging how established something is.
  • Expiry date — when the current term ends. A domain quietly approaching expiry is a risk worth knowing about if you depend on it.
  • Updated date — when the record last changed. A recent update on an otherwise old domain can indicate a transfer or a change of name servers.
  • Name servers — which DNS servers are authoritative. These reveal the hosting or DNS provider even when contact details are hidden.
  • Status codes — registry flags such as clientTransferProhibited, which indicates a transfer lock rather than anything wrong.

Why the owner's name is usually hidden

WHOIS used to publish the registrant's name, address, phone number and email in full. Since GDPR came into force, registrars have redacted personal data for most domains, replacing it with generic placeholders or a forwarding address.

Separately, most registrars offer privacy services that substitute a proxy's details even where publication would be permitted. The practical effect is that for the majority of domains you will see the registrar, the dates and the name servers, but not a human being.

This is not an obstacle to legitimate contact. Registrars are required to forward abuse and legal correspondence to the real registrant, and many redacted records include a contact form or anonymised email that reaches the owner.

What WHOIS is genuinely useful for

Checking whether a domain is available, and if not, when it expires. Verifying that a domain you are about to transact with is not three days old. Identifying which registrar to contact about abuse. Confirming a transfer completed. Spotting that a name server change happened around the time a site broke.

What it is not good for is identifying an individual. If that is what you need, WHOIS has not been the answer for several years.

Frequently asked questions

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