What is a WHOIS lookup?

A WHOIS lookup asks the official registry that runs a domain ending (like .com) what it knows about one domain: the date it was first registered, the date it expires, which company sells it (the registrar), which nameservers it uses, and any locks placed on it. This page reads that record live and explains every part of it.

Why is the owner’s name and email missing?

Because the registry hides them. Since the European privacy law (GDPR) took effect in May 2018, almost every registry removes the owner’s name, address, email and phone number from the public record. That is not a fault in this tool and no free site can show you those details — anyone who claims otherwise is showing you old or guessed data. To reach an owner, use the registrar’s abuse or contact address, or the domain’s own website.

What is the difference between WHOIS and RDAP?

RDAP is the modern replacement for WHOIS. Old WHOIS returned a wall of text that every registry formatted differently. RDAP returns clean, structured data with a fixed shape, so dates, status codes and nameservers can be read reliably. This page uses RDAP and gets its answers straight from the registry that actually holds the record.

Does “available” mean I can definitely buy it?

It means the registry has no record of it, which is the strongest signal there is. Buying it can still fail: the name may be reserved by the registry, blocked as a trademark, or held in a premium tier with a much higher price. Check at a registrar before you plan around it.

What does clientTransferProhibited mean — is something wrong?

No, it is normal and it protects you. It means your registrar has locked the domain so it cannot be moved to another company without you unlocking it first. Most well-run domains carry this lock permanently. You only need to remove it on the day you actually transfer the domain.

What does the DNSSEC line tell me?

DNSSEC signs a domain’s DNS answers so they cannot be faked on the way to you. “Signed” means the owner has switched it on and the registry holds the key fingerprint. “Not signed” is very common and is not a fault — it just means the extra protection is off.

Why does the expiry date not match what my registrar shows?

The date here is the registry expiry date — the deadline at the top of the chain. Registrars often show their own internal renewal date, which is usually a few days earlier so a payment has time to clear. The registry date is the one that actually governs the domain.

Do you keep the domains I look up?

No. Your browser talks to the registry directly and the answer never passes through us, so there is nothing for us to store. There is no sign-up and no limit on how many you check.

WHOIS Lookup

Type a domain to see when it was registered, when it expires, who sells it, its nameservers, DNSSEC and every status code — with each code explained in plain English instead of just printed at you. The answer comes straight from the official registry, live.

Try

Type a domain above to read its official registry record.

How to read the result

Enter a domain and press Look up. Your browser asks the registry that runs that domain ending — Verisign for .com, Nominet for .uk, NIXI for .in, and so on — and shows what comes back. Nothing passes through us, so there is nothing for us to store and no daily limit.

You get five things worth knowing:

Registered on — the day the domain first existed. A long history is the single best sign that a site is not a throwaway.
Expires on — the registry deadline. We also count the days left, so a domain about to lapse is obvious.
Registrar — the company the owner buys it through, plus their abuse contact where the registry publishes one.
Nameservers — which DNS provider actually runs the domain. Handy for guessing the host.
Status codes — the locks on the domain. This is the part almost every other site dumps at you raw; we translate each one.

Why the owner’s name is almost always hidden

Before May 2018 a WHOIS record showed the owner’s name, postal address, email and phone number. Then the European privacy law (GDPR) arrived, and registries removed those fields from the public record for nearly every domain in the world. Today the record you can read is mostly administrative: dates, locks, nameservers, and which registrar is responsible.

We say this plainly rather than showing you a row of blank boxes. When a registry does still publish something — some country registries publish the organisation and the state — we show the organisation and country only. We deliberately do not print an individual’s name, email, phone or street address, even on the minority of domains where a registry still exposes them. If you need to reach an owner, the reliable routes are the registrar’s abuse address, the contact page on the site itself, or a formal complaint to the registrar.

What every domain status code means

A status code is a lock or a stage in the domain’s life. Codes starting with client are set by the registrar the owner buys from; codes starting with server are set by the registry itself and cannot be removed by the registrar. Modern records spell them with spaces (client transfer prohibited); the older spelling (clientTransferProhibited) means exactly the same thing.

Code	Set by	What it actually means
`ok`	Registry	Normal, healthy state. Nothing is pending and nothing is locked.
`inactive`	Registry	The domain has no nameservers, so it cannot resolve to a website or email.
`clientHold`	Registrar	The registrar has pulled the domain out of DNS. The site goes dark — usually unpaid renewal or a policy dispute.
`serverHold`	Registry	The registry has pulled the domain out of DNS. Usually a legal or compliance order.
`clientTransferProhibited`	Registrar	A transfer lock. The domain cannot move to another registrar until the owner unlocks it. Very common and a good thing — it blocks domain theft.
`serverTransferProhibited`	Registry	The registry blocks transfers. Often set for the first 60 days after registration or a change of owner.
`clientUpdateProhibited`	Registrar	Nobody can change the domain record — nameservers, contacts — until the registrar removes the lock.
`serverUpdateProhibited`	Registry	The registry blocks all changes to the record.
`clientDeleteProhibited`	Registrar	The domain cannot be deleted. Protects against an accidental or malicious deletion.
`serverDeleteProhibited`	Registry	The registry blocks deletion, usually while a dispute is open.
`clientRenewProhibited`	Registrar	The domain cannot be renewed right now. Rare — normally a billing hold.
`serverRenewProhibited`	Registry	The registry blocks renewal.
`pendingCreate`	Registry	The registration has been requested and is still being processed.
`pendingRenew`	Registry	A renewal has been requested and is still being processed.
`pendingTransfer`	Registry	A move to a different registrar is under way. It usually completes in about five days.
`pendingUpdate`	Registry	A requested change to the record is waiting to be applied.
`pendingDelete`	Registry	The domain is on its way out. After about five days it is released and anyone can register it.
`pendingRestore`	Registry	The owner has asked to rescue a deleted domain and the registry is waiting for the paperwork.
`redemptionPeriod`	Registry	The domain was deleted but the old owner can still buy it back — normally for 30 days, for a large fee. It is NOT free to register yet.
`addPeriod`	Registry	Registered within the last five days. The registrar can still cancel it for a refund.
`autoRenewPeriod`	Registry	Renewed automatically in the last 45 days. The registrar can still reverse the charge.
`renewPeriod`	Registry	Renewed on purpose in the last five days. The registrar can still reverse the charge.
`transferPeriod`	Registry	Moved to a new registrar in the last five days.

The three codes worth acting on

pendingDelete means the domain is about five days from being released to the public — that is a real countdown if you want the name. redemptionPeriod means it has already been deleted but the old owner can still buy it back, usually for 30 days and for a large fee, so it is not free yet. clientHold means the registrar has switched the domain off in DNS — if a site you rely on has gone dark, this code tells you why in one glance.

Which domain endings this page can answer

Every domain ending is run by a different organisation, and they have not all modernised at the same speed. Rather than spin forever on the ones we cannot read, here is the honest split.

Group	Examples	Why
Answered here	.com · .net · .org · .in · .io · .ai · .info · .app · .dev · .page · .uk (and .co.uk) · .live · .news · .agency · .email · plus roughly 600 more	Their registry answers a browser directly.
Registry exists, but not reachable from a web page	.xyz · .top · .shop · .online · .site · .store · .tech · .ca · .au · .fr · .biz · .tv	These registries do run the service, but a browser is not allowed to call them from another website. You get a direct link to the official record instead.
No modern record service at all	.de · .co · .me · .us · .it · .edu	These registries still only publish old-style WHOIS over a plain text port, which no browser can read. Nobody can show these in a browser — not us, not anyone.

A worked example: github.com

Look up github.com and the registry answers: first registered on 9 October 2007 — nearly two decades ago — sold through MarkMonitor, running on eight nameservers split across NS1 and Amazon Route 53, renewed well ahead of each deadline, and carrying three locks: clientDeleteProhibited, clientTransferProhibited and clientUpdateProhibited.

Read together that is a picture of a domain that is old, professionally managed and triple-locked against theft — and not one line of it needed the owner’s name. That is the point worth taking away: the useful signal in a domain record was never the contact block.

What is a WHOIS lookup?: A WHOIS lookup asks the official registry that runs a domain ending (like .com) what it knows about one domain: the date it was first registered, the date it expires, which company sells it (the registrar), which nameservers it uses, and any locks placed on it. This page reads that record live and explains every part of it.
Why is the owner’s name and email missing?: Because the registry hides them. Since the European privacy law (GDPR) took effect in May 2018, almost every registry removes the owner’s name, address, email and phone number from the public record. That is not a fault in this tool and no free site can show you those details — anyone who claims otherwise is showing you old or guessed data. To reach an owner, use the registrar’s abuse or contact address, or the domain’s own website.
What is the difference between WHOIS and RDAP?: RDAP is the modern replacement for WHOIS. Old WHOIS returned a wall of text that every registry formatted differently. RDAP returns clean, structured data with a fixed shape, so dates, status codes and nameservers can be read reliably. This page uses RDAP and gets its answers straight from the registry that actually holds the record.
Does “available” mean I can definitely buy it?: It means the registry has no record of it, which is the strongest signal there is. Buying it can still fail: the name may be reserved by the registry, blocked as a trademark, or held in a premium tier with a much higher price. Check at a registrar before you plan around it.
What does clientTransferProhibited mean — is something wrong?: No, it is normal and it protects you. It means your registrar has locked the domain so it cannot be moved to another company without you unlocking it first. Most well-run domains carry this lock permanently. You only need to remove it on the day you actually transfer the domain.
What does the DNSSEC line tell me?: DNSSEC signs a domain’s DNS answers so they cannot be faked on the way to you. “Signed” means the owner has switched it on and the registry holds the key fingerprint. “Not signed” is very common and is not a fault — it just means the extra protection is off.
Why does the expiry date not match what my registrar shows?: The date here is the registry expiry date — the deadline at the top of the chain. Registrars often show their own internal renewal date, which is usually a few days earlier so a payment has time to clear. The registry date is the one that actually governs the domain.
Do you keep the domains I look up?: No. Your browser talks to the registry directly and the answer never passes through us, so there is nothing for us to store. There is no sign-up and no limit on how many you check.