Lookups and data
WHOIS
WHOIS is the older lookup service that shows who registered a domain and when. Since 2018 much of the personal data it showed is hidden, and RDAP replaces it.
What WHOIS means in practice
The WHOIS protocol was text-based and varied between registries. Privacy rules such as the GDPR led registrars to hide owner names and contact details, and many now show only a proxy contact.
Registries and registrars have moved to rdap, which gives the same technical facts in a consistent format.
Why it matters
If a lookup shows a privacy proxy instead of a person, that is normal. Use the registrar's contact form, or a broker, to reach the owner of a name.
Try it
- Domain Health Check Expiry date, transfer lock, DNS, SPF and DMARC email security, and blocklists for a .com.
- Domain Audit What a domain used to be, from the Internet Archive, plus spam and blocklist signals.
Related terms
- RDAP RDAP, the Registration Data Access Protocol, is the standard way to look up whether a domain is registered and its status. It replaced WHOIS.
- Registrar A registrar is a company accredited to sell domain names and manage them for you, such as GoDaddy or Namecheap. You register and renew a domain through one.