Whois Checker

What a lookup returns

Enter a domain and you get its registration record: which registrar manages it, when it was first registered, when it expires, which name servers it points at, and the status flags currently applied to it.

The lookup uses RDAP, the structured JSON protocol that has replaced classic WHOIS. The practical difference is reliability — traditional WHOIS returned free-form text that varied by registry and had to be parsed heuristically, so fields were frequently misread. RDAP returns typed data, so dates and statuses mean the same thing regardless of which registry answered.

Why the contact details are usually hidden

WHOIS records once exposed the registrant's name, address, email and phone number publicly. Since GDPR took effect in 2018, registrars redact personal data for most domains, and many bundle privacy protection by default, so you will typically see the registrar's proxy details rather than the owner's.

This is expected rather than a failure of the lookup. To contact an owner behind redaction, use the anonymised forwarding address the registrar publishes, or the domain's own contact page. Corporate and government domains more often still show real details, since organisational data is not personal data under GDPR.

Status codes are the most useful field

The EPP status flags tell you what can currently happen to the domain, and they answer most of the questions people run a lookup for:

• clientTransferProhibited — a transfer lock. Normal and desirable for a domain you own; you must remove it before transferring away.
• pendingDelete — the domain is in the final stage before release. It cannot be renewed, and it will drop and become available shortly.
• redemptionPeriod — expired and past the normal grace period. The owner can still recover it, but only by paying a substantial redemption fee.
• clientHold — the registrar has removed the domain from DNS, so it will not resolve at all. Usually non-payment or an unverified contact address.
• serverTransferProhibited — a lock applied at registry level rather than by the registrar, often tied to a dispute.

Reading the dates for domain buying and SEO

The creation date is the field most often misinterpreted. Domain age is frequently cited as a ranking factor, and Google has said plainly that it is not one — an old domain does not outrank a new one because it is old. What genuinely accumulates over time is backlinks and established reputation, which is a different thing that merely correlates with age.

Where the creation date does matter is due diligence. A domain registered years ago and dropped repeatedly may carry a spam history that follows it. Before buying an expired domain, check its archived pages and backlink profile rather than assuming age is an asset.

The expiry date matters more practically: it tells you when a domain you want might become available, and — for domains you own — when to renew. Expiry is the single most common cause of accidental domain loss, and recovering one after it drops is often impossible.

Protecting a domain you own

A few habits prevent nearly every domain disaster. Enable auto-renew and confirm the payment card on file has not expired, since a failed renewal charge is the usual root cause. Keep the registrant email at an address that does not depend on the domain itself — losing the domain otherwise locks you out of the account needed to recover it. Leave the transfer lock on except when deliberately transferring, and enable two-factor authentication on the registrar account, which is the account an attacker most wants.