What you can learn from a WHOIS record
- Registrar: the company the domain was registered through, such as GoDaddy, Namecheap or Cloudflare.
- Registration date and age: older domains are often more established. A brand-new domain sending you urgent emails can be a scam warning sign.
- Expiry date: when the registration must be renewed. Owners should renew well ahead of this date.
- Name servers: which DNS provider hosts the domain's records.
- Status codes: locks and lifecycle states, like transfer protection or pending deletion.
WHOIS vs RDAP
The original WHOIS protocol returned plain text in a different format for every registry. RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) returns the same information as structured data over HTTPS, and ICANN now requires it for generic domains. That is why this tool can show clean, consistent results.
Related tools: check DNS records worldwide with the DNS checker and find where a server is with the IP lookup.
Last reviewed October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What is a WHOIS lookup?
WHOIS shows the public registration record of a domain name: which registrar it was bought through, when it was registered, when it expires, its name servers and its status. This tool uses RDAP, the modern, structured replacement for the old WHOIS protocol.
Why can't I see the owner's name and address?
Since privacy rules like the GDPR took effect in 2018, most registrars hide the registrant's personal details or replace them with a privacy service. You can usually contact the owner through the registrar's web form or abuse email instead.
How can I tell if a domain is available?
If the lookup says the domain is not registered, it is probably available to buy. Check with a registrar to be sure, since some names are reserved or recently deleted and pending release.
What do statuses like "client transfer prohibited" mean?
They are EPP status codes. "Client transfer prohibited" is a common lock that stops the domain from being moved to another registrar without the owner unlocking it first. "Redemption period" or "pending delete" means the domain expired and may become available soon.
Does it work for every domain extension?
It works for .com, .net, .org and most generic and many country-code extensions that publish RDAP data. A few country-code registries still only offer old-style WHOIS, and the tool will tell you if no RDAP data is available.