WHOIS is the public record of who registered what. Whenever a domain is registered, the registrant, the dates and the nameservers are stored — and much of that can be looked up by anyone.
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Look up the WHOIS of a domain
Shows the registrant, the dates, the registrar, the status and the nameservers.
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What it is actually for
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Finding out whether a name is free — and if it is not, how long it has been registered and when it expires.
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Finding out where a domain lives before transferring it: the nameservers say who runs the DNS, and the registrar says who to talk to.
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Proving the domain is yours. In a dispute, the registrant details are the document that counts.
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Seeing whether it is about to expire — the expiry date is public.
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What usually shows up
| Field |
What it tells you |
| Registrant |
The person or company the domain belongs to. May be hidden by privacy protection — and some national registries never publish it (see below). |
| Registrar |
The company that handled the registration. That is our role when you register with us. |
| Dates |
When it was registered, when it was updated, and when it expires. |
| Nameservers |
Who answers for the domain's DNS — see what nameservers are . |
| Status |
Whether it is active, locked against transfers, or in a recovery period. |
How to check
| 1 |
With our own tool, which is the shortest route: WHOIS search . Type the domain and it returns registrant, dates, registrar, status and nameservers — and tells you straight away whether it is free, with a button to register or to transfer.
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For .ao domains there is no public WHOIS: the Angolan registry does not offer one, unlike most extensions. No WHOIS site will show you the holder or the dates of a .ao — anyone promising that is making it up. Our search checks by another route and tells you whether it is free or taken.
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If you only want to know whether you can register it, use the search field — it is faster and gives you the price too.
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About the holder of a .ao: with no public WHOIS, the holder details of a .ao cannot be looked up by anyone. If you need to prove a domain is yours, what counts is the registration in your account with us and the invoice.
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Privacy: what stays visible
Registrant details are public by default — that is how the internet was designed. Many extensions offer privacy protection, which replaces your name, address, phone and e-mail with the protection service's details while you remain the real owner.
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Hiding is not falsifying. Protection hides the details from the public, but the real details still exist with the registry. False details are a different matter: they can invalidate the registration and cost you the domain.
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Not every extension allows hiding. Some country extensions always display certain fields. Ask us before counting on privacy for a specific domain.
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To understand who is who in these roles, see registry, registrar and registrant .
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