How to Do a Whois Lookup
Whois is how you look up a domain’s registration information. Use it when you want to know the expiry date or the name servers.
Look up Whois in Web digFree, no sign-up
What Whois tells you
- The registrar (the registration provider) that manages the domain
- The registration, update and expiry dates
- The name servers (NS)
- The domain’s status (such as a transfer lock)
- Registrant and administrator information (when it is public)
How to look it up
In Web dig, enter the domain name in the “Whois” tab and press “Look up Whois”. Even if you enter a subdomain such as www.example.com, it is automatically changed to the parent example.com. If you enter an IP address, you get information about the organization that holds that IP.
Why can’t I see the owner?
To protect personal information, the registrant’s name, address and email are hidden for many domains. It is also common for the registrar to show proxy details (a Whois privacy service), displayed as “Privacy”, “Redacted” and so on. For .jp domains, JPRS shows a “public contact point”, and individual registrants’ names are not shown.
Typical statuses
clientTransferProhibited: A lock against transfer to another registrar is on (usually perfectly normal)clientHold/serverHold: The domain has been suspended and does not resolvependingDelete: Deletion is in progress
Once you know the name servers, the next step is to look at the contents of the DNS records.
FAQ
Is the expiry date in Whois accurate?
It is official information obtained from the registration provider. Right after a renewal, though, it can take a little while to show up.
Is the other party notified when I look them up on Whois?
No. The domain’s owner cannot tell who looked it up.
More guides
- How to Check MX Records
- How to Check DNS Propagation
- How to Look Up an SPF Record
- How to Use the dig Command
- How to Do a Reverse Lookup (PTR)
- DNS Record Types Explained
Last updated: 2026-10-21