WHOIS Lookup Tool

A WHOIS lookup shows public domain registration data. Use it to check domain registration details, confirm which registrar manages the name, find the domain's creation date and expiry date, review nameservers , and inspect the raw WHOIS/RDAP record when you need the original registry response.

RDAP lookup is the modern structured version of domain ownership lookup, while traditional WHOIS records are plain text and vary by TLD. This tool uses RDAP for TLDs that have an RDAP service and port-43 WHOIS for the rest, or when the RDAP server times out, so results can include registrar details, renewal dates, DNSSEC status, abuse contacts, and EPP status codes.

The status codes (EPP codes like clientTransferProhibited ) describe domain lifecycle and security states. Transfer locks help protect a domain against unauthorized transfer, edit, or deletion. Since GDPR and registry privacy policies, many personal contact fields are redacted, but organization, country, registrar abuse contact, and technical fields may still be visible.

A registered domain: example.com

example.com is reserved for documentation but is a real .com registration. Its RDAP record produces a result like this (expiry and last-updated dates move forward at each renewal):

Registrar        RESERVED-Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
IANA ID          376
Registered       1995-08-14
DNSSEC           Signed
Registrar lock   Enabled
EPP status       clientDeleteProhibited
                 clientTransferProhibited
                 clientUpdateProhibited
Contacts         — (the .com registry publishes no registrant data)

Privacy protection shows On here because the registry record has no registrant name, organization, or email — not because a privacy service is in use.

A name with no record

test.example (.example is a reserved TLD with no registry) shows the appears available notice, as does a name the registry reports as unregistered or a TLD with neither an RDAP nor a WHOIS service. Paste full URLs if you like: the scheme, path, and a leading www. are removed, but other subdomains are not, so enter example.com rather than blog.example.com.

• Registrar, IANA ID, abuse contact — who the domain is registered through, its ICANN accreditation number (often blank for ccTLD-only registrars), and where to report phishing, malware, or spam.
• Registered, Last updated, Expires — dates as YYYY-MM-DD. Last updated changes on any edit or renewal, so it is not an ownership-change date.
• Domain age and days left — calculated from today; the badge turns into a warning at 30 days or fewer. If the registry publishes no expiry date, as DENIC does for .de over port 43, the gauge and Until expiry read Not published instead of a number.
• Nameservers — the delegation stored at the registry. Compare it with the zone's NS records in the DNS lookup.
• Security — Registrar lock is Enabled when any client… or server… status is present. DNSSEC comes from the registry's delegation flag (Unknown when not stated). Privacy is On when fields are marked redacted, contacts mention privacy or redaction, or no registrant name, organization, or email is published.
• Contacts and raw record — organization, state, country, and email for each contact role when published. A JSON raw record came from RDAP; plain text means the port-43 WHOIS fallback was used.

client… codes are set by the registrar; server… codes are set by the registry, usually on request through the registrar. RDAP returns them as words (client transfer prohibited) and the tool rewrites them in EPP form.

• …TransferProhibited — transfers are blocked. Remove the client lock at your registrar before a transfer.
• …UpdateProhibited — changes are blocked. Check this first when a nameserver change will not save.
• …DeleteProhibited / …RenewProhibited — deletion or renewal is blocked. A renewal block is unusual; ask the registrar why.
• clientHold / serverHold — the domain is withheld from DNS and will not resolve, for example after non-payment, an unverified registrant email, or an abuse hold.
• pendingDelete — deletion is imminent; pendingTransfer — a transfer is in progress; ok or active — no restrictions.

Other codes, such as redemptionPeriod (expired and deleted, but still restorable, usually for a fee), get a generic description. A domain on clientHold also shows Registrar lock: Enabled, so read the status list, not only the badge.

The lookup first checks IANA's RDAP bootstrap list. If the TLD has an RDAP service, the tool queries it through rdap.org , which redirects to the registry's RDAP server; a not-found answer from that server means the domain is not registered. If the TLD has no RDAP service (for example .de or .eu), or the RDAP request times out or fails, the tool asks whois.iana.org for the registry's WHOIS server and queries it on port 43. ICANN requires RDAP for generic TLDs; country-code registries set their own rules, so port 43 mostly matters for ccTLDs.

Some ccTLD registries publish very little over port 43. DENIC, for example, returns only the domain and a status line for a .de name, so the registrar, dates, and contacts stay blank even though the domain is registered.

The registry runs the TLD and holds the registrar, dates, status codes, nameservers, and DNSSEC flag. The registrar sold the domain and keeps the customer's contacts. This tool reads the registry record only and does not follow the referral to the registrar's server, which is why .com and .net contact cards are empty.

Since GDPR took effect in 2018, most registries and registrars redact personal data. To reach an owner, use the registrar's contact or abuse channel.

Use this domain WHOIS lookup before buying a domain, planning a migration, auditing domain security, or investigating a suspicious hostname. The registrar, expiration checker, transfer lock, nameservers, and raw record are often enough to spot renewal risk or ownership changes.

If the domain is registered, compare the WHOIS or RDAP result with DNS and SSL checks. Nameservers should match the expected DNS provider, DNSSEC should match your security plan, and the expiry date should leave enough time for renewal before service is at risk.

• DNS migration — after changing nameservers, confirm the registry shows the new set, then check records with the DNS lookup and HTTPS with the SSL certificate checker.
• Phishing triage — a very young domain plus a registrar abuse contact help you judge and report a lookalike; check its mail setup with the DMARC checker.

A registered domain shows "appears available"

Check for a typo or a subdomain (subdomains are not registry objects). The notice appears only when the registry's RDAP or WHOIS server reports no match, or the TLD has no registration data service; if those servers cannot be reached, the lookup fails instead of reporting the name as available.

Contact cards are empty

The registry stores no contacts (as with .com) or the data is redacted. Try the registrar WHOIS server shown in the Registrar card.

Expires is blank

Some registries do not publish expiry dates, and port-43 text can use labels the parser does not recognize. Read the raw record or your registrar account.

Nameservers differ from DNS

Resolvers follow the registry delegation, so fix mismatches at the registrar and allow for TTLs — see how DNS propagation works.

• It is not a purchase check: reserved, premium, or recently deleted names may still be unavailable.
• It shows the current registry record only — no registrar-level contacts, WHOIS history, or reverse WHOIS.
• Port-43 text is parsed from common field labels; treat the raw record as the reference.
• It does not look up IP addresses; use the IP lookup for those.