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WHOIS: what the registry says about a domain name

Type a domain name with its extension: we query its registry's public RDAP service and show you what it says — registered or available, since when, until when, which registrar manages it, which name servers it points to and which statuses it carries. Free, no account, no sign-up.

The name with its extension: .com, .net, .org, .info, .fr and any extension whose registry publishes an RDAP service. For a .ma name, use our .ma WHOIS.

WHOIS and RDAP: where this information comes from

WHOIS is the public directory of domain names: for each registered name, it tells you since when it has existed, until when it is reserved, which registrar manages it and which name servers it points to. The protocol that bore this name dates back to the early 1980s; it returned free-form text whose layout changed from one registry to the next.

RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol, RFC 9083) succeeds it: the same information, as structured data, served over HTTPS by each registry. Since 28 January 2025, ICANN no longer requires gTLD registries and registrars to keep running the old WHOIS, and RDAP has become the reference. This tool finds the RDAP service for the extension you ask about in IANA's official directory (RFC 9224), queries it, and gives you its answer in plain language.

What the record shows you

Only what the registry publishes to everyone, and nothing more. Each line appears only if the registry has filled it in.

The dates
Creation, expiry and last update. How old a name is and when it expires tell you whether it might ever become available — and when its registrant needs to think about renewal.
The registrar
The provider the name is registered with. The registrant asks it for a transfer code, and it is the way to reach a registrant.
The name servers
The DNS servers that answer for the name. They tell you where the domain is hosted, and a domain that declares none does not resolve.
The statuses
The registry's codes, as they are (EPP form): transfer lock, suspension, pending deletion. The glossary below explains the most common ones.

The most common EPP statuses

A registry describes the state of a domain with standard codes (RFC 5731). Here is what the ones you will see most often mean.

ok
No restriction and no pending operation: the normal state of an active domain.
clientTransferProhibited
Lock set by the registrar: the domain cannot move to another registrar until the registrant asks for the lock to be lifted. A common safeguard against unsolicited transfers.
clientHold
The registrar has suspended DNS publication: the domain is still registered but no longer resolves. This is rare, and usually linked to non-payment, a dispute or a pending deletion.
serverHold
The same suspension, this time set by the registry itself: the domain stops resolving until it is lifted.
redemptionPeriod
The domain was deleted after expiring and has entered its redemption period — 30 days for gTLDs: only the former registrant can still restore it, through their registrar.
pendingDelete
The domain will be removed from the registry within a few days — five for gTLDs. It can no longer be restored, and will then become available for anyone to register.

Who owns this domain? Why we do not show it

We show neither the registrant's name, nor their address, phone number or email — even when the registry publishes them. These are personal data: republishing them on an open page would make it our own processing, within the meaning of the GDPR and Moroccan law 09-08. Since the GDPR came into force in May 2018, most registries and registrars already redact these details in their public responses anyway. What the page shows is enough to answer “can I get it?”, “when does it expire?” and “where does it point?”; to reach a registrant, go through their registrar, whose name appears on the record.

What the tool does not cover

  • Extensions whose registry does not publish an RDAP service — some country-code extensions are in this case. The tool tells you so rather than guessing an answer.
  • A name's history: the tool shows its state at the moment you ask, not its former registrants or former dates.
  • “Available at the registry” does not mean “yours to register”: a premium, reserved or eligibility-restricted name may be refused at checkout. The domain search checks this.
  • A record you look up is kept for fifteen minutes before the registry is asked again: a very recent change can take that long to show.

A .ma name? It has its own tool

For the seven Moroccan extensions — .ma, .co.ma, .net.ma, .org.ma, .ac.ma, .press.ma and .gov.ma —, ServOrbit is a registrar accredited by the ANRT: our .ma WHOIS reads the Moroccan registry at the source, through the technical channel reserved for registrars. Type a Moroccan name here and the page points you there with the name already filled in.