What does a WHOIS lookup show?
A WHOIS lookup shows which registrar a domain is registered with, when it was registered and when it expires, its name servers, its locks and where to report abuse. The owner's name and email are usually hidden for privacy.
Type a domain, or paste a whole web address: the page keeps only the registered name, so https://www.bbc.co.uk/news looks up bbc.co.uk. A name that is not found is probably free to register.
The page uses RDAP, the official replacement for WHOIS: structured answers over HTTPS, the same for every registry. For generic endings like .com the registry's record is followed to the registrar's, which often has more.
Who is asked when you look up a domain?
Nothing is sent until you press Look up. Then your browser asks:
- IANA: its list of which registry answers RDAP for each ending. Kept a day in your browser.
- The domain's registry (for example Verisign for .com, Nominet for .uk) over RDAP.
- The domain's registrar, when the registry links to its record.
About a third of endings, among them .de, .io, .jp, .eu, .it and .se, have no RDAP server, only classic WHOIS, which a browser cannot reach. For those your browser sends the domain name, and nothing else, to webdave's relay on Cloudflare, which asks the WHOIS server that IANA lists for the ending. Cloudflare's Turnstile checks that a person is asking, so the relay cannot be used for bulk lookups. The relay caches answers for an hour and keeps no record of who asked. .eu is the exception: EURid’s terms rule out a relay, so the page links to EURid’s own lookup.
What the status codes mean
| ok, active | Normal: no locks and nothing pending |
|---|---|
| client transfer prohibited | The registrar has locked transfers to another registrar. A normal safeguard against theft |
| client update / delete prohibited | The registrar has locked changes or deletion |
| server … prohibited | The same locks, set by the registry. Well-known names often pay for this registry lock |
| client hold, server hold | The domain is taken out of DNS and does not work, often for non-payment, failed verification or abuse |
| redemption period | Expired and about to be deleted. The owner can still restore it, for a fee |
| pending delete | Being deleted. It becomes free to register within days |
| auto renew period | Renewed automatically in the last 45 days |
Questions
RDAP is the replacement for WHOIS. It gives the same registration data as structured JSON over HTTPS, in one format for every registry. Since January 2025 it has been the official source for generic endings such as .com; many country endings still only offer WHOIS.
Look it up: Expires shows the date and how long is left. Most domains renew automatically, so an expiry date close by rarely means the domain will become free. Some registries, such as DENIC for .de, do not publish expiry dates at all.
Look the domain up and write to the registrar's abuse contact under Contacts, with the full web address and what it does. To report the web host too, look up the site's IP address with IP lookup and write to that network's abuse contact.
No. Your browser asks the registries directly. For endings without RDAP, webdave's relay keeps the answer an hour so a repeated lookup does not ask the registry again, and keeps no record of who asked. The domain stays in the page's link (?q=) so you can share or bookmark a lookup.