GlossaryThe domain name
WHOIS
Definition
WHOIS is the legacy service for looking up a domain name's registration data: the registrar, the creation and expiry dates, the status codes, and the registrant's contact details when they are public. The answer comes back as free-form text, and its layout changes from one registry to the next.
The first-minute tool
On a domain you know nothing about, a single WHOIS query gives you enough to decide what comes next: the real expiry date, the registrar you will need access to, and the status codes that say whether the name is locked or on its way to deletion. It is the first thing to run on any site handover.
Two things have changed since the days when it showed the owner's address and phone number. European data protection law hid most contact details behind a redaction, with a web form in their place. And since 28 January 2025, registries and registrars for generic extensions are no longer required by ICANN to run a WHOIS service at all, with .com, .name and .post as the exceptions.
An answer, as it arrives
Plain text, one label per line, and no guarantee the next registry will use the same labels.
Domain Name: EXAMPLE.COM
Creation Date: 2015-03-14T09:12:00Z
Registry Expiry Date: 2027-03-14T09:12:00Z
Registrar: EXAMPLE REGISTRAR, LLC
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited
Name Server: NS1.EXAMPLE.NET
Name Server: NS2.EXAMPLE.NET
Registrant Organization: REDACTED FOR PRIVACYNothing mandates these labels: a registry can rename them, translate them, or leave them out. That is what makes WHOIS painful for a program to read, and it is precisely why RDAP exists.
The usual mistake
Reading “REDACTED FOR PRIVACY” and concluding the domain has no identifiable owner, or worse, that it is available.
How to avoid it: Redaction only affects the public display. The registrant is perfectly well known to their own registrar, and a registered domain stays registered until it expires. To reach them, use the contact form the registry publishes in place of the address.
Where the sources disagree: A single answer can carry two expiry dates: the registry's and the registrar's. The registry's is the one that counts.
Source: The protocol is described in RFC 3912. What gets published for generic extensions follows ICANN policy, revised after the GDPR came into force.
Related terms
Where to go next
Knowing the words is half the job
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