WHOIS lookup

See who a domain is registered with, when it expires and where its DNS points. Type a name to check it.

WHOIS and DNS questions

The public registration record for a domain: the registrar it is held with, when it was first registered, when it is due to expire, its status codes and the nameservers it delegates to. If the name is not registered, the lookup says so and you can register it straight away.

Privacy law. Under GDPR and similar rules, most registries and registrars now redact personal details from public WHOIS, so you will usually see the registrar's contact or a privacy service in their place. To reach the owner, use the contact form or abuse address the registrar publishes.

A and AAAA records point the domain at a server's IPv4 and IPv6 address. MX records name the servers that accept its email, and NS records the nameservers that answer for it. TXT records carry verification and email-security settings such as SPF and DMARC, while CAA records limit which certificate authorities may issue an SSL certificate for it.

Only if the owner lets it lapse or agrees to sell it. Look at the expiry date: a name that is not renewed passes through a grace period and is then released. A different extension or a small change to the name is often free today.

Unlock it at your current registrar and ask them for the transfer code (sometimes called an EPP or auth code), then start the transfer here. For most extensions a transfer also renews the domain for a year. Recreate the DNS records listed above before you switch nameservers, and the site and email keep working throughout.

Registration details for a registered name are kept for up to an hour; an unregistered name is rechecked after a minute. DNS answers are at most two minutes old, but a record you have just changed can take as long as its TTL to show everywhere.