What a .ma WHOIS tells you
WHOIS is the public record of a domain name held by its registry. For .ma and its extensions (.co.ma, .net.ma, .org.ma, .ac.ma, .press.ma, .gov.ma), that registry is administered by ANRT. The record describes the current state of a name: it does not tell its history, and for a free name it only says that no registration exists — not that the name can be granted.
Our free .ma WHOIS tool queries this registry and returns, for a taken name, the facts that describe the technical object — and nothing that describes a person.
The information read from a .ma record
- Registered or free — the basic verdict: does the registry know of a registration under this name?
- Creation date — how long the name has been registered; an old name often carries a website, email and links that depend on it.
- Expiry date — the end of the current period; a .ma is registered and renewed for five years at most.
- Last update — the date the record last changed at the registry.
- Registrar — the accredited provider that manages the name: this is who a registrant asks for a transfer code.
- Nameservers — where the domain points; the registry requires two, and a domain without nameservers does not resolve.
- Statuses — standard EPP protocol codes, displayed as the registry publishes them.
Why our answers come from the registry itself
ServOrbit is a registrar accredited by ANRT. As such, we have the technical access reserved for registrars — the EPP protocol — and that is how the tool reads a name's record: no copied directory, no rebuilt database. A given record is kept in memory for a quarter of an hour, so the registry is not queried on every page refresh.
This source has a consequence we stand by: when the registry does not answer, the tool says so, and never shows “free” by default. Announcing as available a name taken years ago would be the most misleading mistake a registrar could make.
Field by field: the registry, and what our tool shows of it
Scroll the table
| Information | Published by the .ma registry WHOIS | Shown by our tool |
|---|---|---|
| Registered or free | Yes | Yes |
| Creation and expiry dates | Yes | Yes |
| Last update date | Yes | Yes |
| Registrar | Yes, with its contact details | Yes, its name |
| Nameservers and statuses | Yes | Yes |
| Registrant name | Yes, in the clear | No — a privacy choice |
| Administrative contact email and phone | Yes, in the clear | No — a privacy choice |
| Last transfer date | No | No |
| Transfer code (EPP) | No | No — ask the registrar for it |
The status codes you will come across most often
ok— no restriction and no pending operation: the name works normally.clientTransferProhibited— a transfer lock set by the registrar: the registry refuses any transfer request until it is lifted.clientDeleteProhibitedandclientUpdateProhibited— the registrar has blocked deletion or modification of the name, a safeguard against unwanted changes.clientHoldorserverHold— the name is no longer published in the DNS: it remains registered, but no longer resolves.pendingTransferorpendingDelete— an operation is under way at the registry: a transfer, or a deletion.
Why we do not show the registrant
The .ma registry WHOIS publishes the registrant's name in the clear, along with the administrative contact's email and phone — often a personal address and mobile number. The data being public at the registry does not make republishing it harmless: putting it on an open page, readable by any bot, would amount to keeping a directory of personal contact details at the disposal of harvesters and cold callers. That would be a processing operation separate from the registry's, one we would be responsible for, and one governed by Moroccan Law 09-08 on personal data protection.
So we made a decision: the tool does not even read the registry's contact records. This is not a technical limitation, it is a position — and it takes away nothing useful, since the technical state of a name is enough to know whether you can take it and where it points. To reach a registrant, the route remains the registry's own WHOIS, or ANRT's dispute procedure if you believe you have a right to the name.
Checking a .ma in four steps
Enter the name
Type the name into the .ma WHOIS tool, with or without an extension: without one, .ma is queried. A non-Moroccan extension (.com, .net…) is refused with an explanation, since the tool only covers the ANRT registry.
Read the verdict
If the name is free, the page runs the domain search with its actual price and the add-to-cart option. If it is taken, it shows the record: dates, registrar, nameservers and statuses.
Check the expiry and the delegation
An upcoming expiry is flagged with a countdown, and a domain declared with a single nameserver, or none, is flagged too. These are the two points to check first on your own name.
Act
If the name is yours and managed elsewhere, the record offers to transfer it: ask your current provider for the transfer code — and, if the name is locked, for it to be unlocked first. If it is not yours, the same search suggests the extensions still free for that name.
Free at the registry does not mean available to register
A name absent from the registry may still be out of reach: ANRT's naming policy reserves certain terms, protects third-party rights and subjects .ac.ma, .press.ma and .gov.ma to prior review. Before registering, run the name through the .ma naming rules checker; the rules are detailed in our article on the .ma naming policy.
Conversely, a past expiry date does not release a .ma: the policy provides a thirty-day grace period, then a systematic one-year renewal. A taken name only becomes available to someone else after its registrant cancels it.
And your own .ma?
The .ma registry offers no WHOIS privacy: the registrant's name and the administrative contact's details are published there. For a business name, prefer a role email address over a personal one. Also check that your record carries the clientTransferProhibited status: as long as it is set, the registry refuses any transfer request. To fill in your contacts correctly, see our guide to the Whois registrant contact.
