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WHOIS Lookup

Look up a domain's public registration record straight from the registry: registrar, creation and expiry dates, days left, status flags, nameservers and DNSSEC. Enter a domain such as example.com.

Common WHOIS and domain registration problems

Owner name and email are hidden

Most registries and registrars redact the registrant's name, address and email for privacy, under GDPR and their own policies. That is normal. The registrar, dates, status and nameservers stay public. To reach the owner, use the contact form on the registrar's website.

Transfer is blocked

A clientTransferProhibited status (shown as client transfer prohibited in RDAP) is the registrar lock. It protects against hijacking and must be removed at your current registrar before a transfer. Many registrars also block transfers for 60 days after registration or a previous transfer.

Domain is in redemption or pending delete

redemptionPeriod means the registration has expired and the grace period is over: you can usually still restore it, for a much higher fee. pendingDelete means it is about to be released for anyone to register. If it is yours, contact your registrar immediately.

Nameservers are not what you expected

The nameservers shown come from the registry, so they are what the internet uses. If you changed them at your DNS provider but not at your registrar, nothing has changed yet. Update them in the registrar's dashboard.

No data for a country domain

Some country-code registries offer no RDAP service and limit or omit data in WHOIS. We fall back to WHOIS where RDAP is missing and show what the registry publishes. For anything else, ask the registry or the registrar directly.

How to do a WHOIS lookup

  1. Enter the domain without http:// or a path, for example example.com.
  2. Click Look up.
  3. Read the registrar, the expiry date and the days left.
  4. Check the status flags and nameservers against what you expect.

What is WHOIS?

WHOIS is the public record of who a domain is registered through and when. Each registry, the organisation that runs a top-level domain such as .com or .io, keeps the authoritative record: registrar, creation date, expiry date, status flags and nameservers.

WHOIS itself is an old text protocol on port 43, with a different output format for every registry. RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) is its modern replacement: it returns structured JSON over HTTPS, and ICANN now treats RDAP as the definitive source for generic domains. This lookup asks the registry's RDAP server, found through IANA's list, and falls back to WHOIS for registries that do not offer RDAP yet, which includes several country domains.

Status flags show what can be done with the domain. Flags that end in Prohibited are protective locks. Flags such as redemptionPeriod and pendingDelete mean the registration has lapsed. DNSSEC shows whether the registry publishes a DS record, which lets resolvers check that DNS answers for the domain have not been tampered with.

Registrar:      Example Registrar, Inc.
Created:        2015-03-12
Expires:        2027-03-12
Status:         clientTransferProhibited
Nameservers:    ns1.example-dns.com, ns2.example-dns.com
DNSSEC:         signed

When to use a WHOIS lookup

Before transferring a domain

See which registrar holds the domain now, whether the transfer lock is on, and when it expires, before you start a transfer to Cloudflare, Namecheap or another registrar.

After moving DNS to Cloudflare or AWS Route 53

Confirm the registry now lists the new nameservers. Until it does, the old DNS provider still answers for the domain.

Taking over a client's or former employee's domain

Find out which registrar to contact and when the domain expires, so it does not lapse while you sort out access.

Checking whether a domain is available

If the registry has no record, the domain is not registered. If it is, the expiry date and status tell you whether it might be released soon.

Check something else

Frequently asked questions

Is WHOIS the same as RDAP?

They answer the same question. RDAP is the newer, structured protocol over HTTPS; WHOIS is the older text format on port 43. We use RDAP wherever the registry supports it.

Why can't I see the owner's name or email?

Registries and registrars redact personal data for privacy. Only the registrar can contact the owner, usually through a form on its website.

Can I look up any domain extension?

Most generic domains and many country domains. A few registries publish no data or limit lookups; we show what they make available.

What does clientTransferProhibited mean?

It is the registrar lock. It stops the domain being transferred to another registrar without you first unlocking it, which is what you want most of the time.

Why do the nameservers here differ from my DNS provider's dashboard?

This lookup shows the nameservers at the registry, which is what the internet follows. Your DNS provider shows the zone it hosts. If they differ, update the nameservers at your registrar.

Does the registrar's dashboard show the same expiry date?

Usually. Some registrars renew at the registry shortly before expiry, so for a while the registry date can be earlier than the one your registrar shows.

Hear about it before your visitors do

A lapsed domain or a wrong nameserver takes your site offline without warning. TinyPing alerts you by email, Slack, webhook or Google Chat when:

  • the domain is 30, 14, 7 or 1 days from expiring
  • the domain stops resolving or the site returns an error
  • the SSL certificate is close to expiring
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