{"id":2071,"date":"2018-08-07T12:28:34","date_gmt":"2018-08-07T10:28:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/helpcentre\/?p=2071"},"modified":"2026-04-30T16:10:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T14:10:15","slug":"what-is-a-whois-search","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/domains\/what-is-a-whois-search\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a WHOIS search?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The<strong> WHOIS\u00a0record is a public record of domain registrations<\/strong>, as mandated by <a title=\"ICANN\" href=\"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/domains\/what-is-a-registrar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ICANN<\/a>, the governing body that regulates the domain name registration space.<\/p>\n<p>A <b>\u00a0WHOIS search<\/b>\u00a0or <strong>lookup<\/strong> tool searches across multiple registrar databases to give you registration information on domain names. It indicates:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>if the domain is available for registration<\/li>\n<li>the registration and expiration dates<\/li>\n<li>the registrar<\/li>\n<li>the name servers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Note<\/strong>: Prior to May 2018, WHOIS records included the Registrant, Admin, and Technical contact details. Since the implementation of <a href=\"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/products-and-services\/data-protection\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GDPR<\/a> all registries have had to hide or redact these records.<\/p>\n<p>If you wish to move a domain name to us that you have previously registered with another company, you may place an order as a <a href=\"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/domains\/domain-transfer-guides\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">domain transfer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><b>\u2666 .co.za, \u00a0.org.za, \u00a0.capetown, \u00a0.durban, \u00a0.joburg\u00a0<\/b>domains<\/h2>\n<div id=\"action_points\">\n<ol>\n<li>Browse to the <a title=\"CO.ZA whois server\" href=\"https:\/\/www.registry.net.za\/whois\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ZA whois server<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Insert the <strong>domain name<\/strong> and select <b>Submit<\/b><\/li>\n<li>The result will be displayed on-screen with the availability, registrar and registration dates near the top and the name servers at the bottom.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>\u2666\u00a0gTLD domains<b>\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<strong>.com, \u00a0.net, \u00a0.org, \u00a0.biz, \u00a0.info, \u00a0.mobi<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Note that since GDPR implementation on 25 May 2018, WHOIS records no longer display contact information.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"action_points\">\n<ol>\n<li>Browse to <a title=\"Domain Tools\" href=\"https:\/\/whois.icann.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ICANN whois<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Insert the <strong>domain name<\/strong> and relevant <strong>extension<\/strong> \u00a0&gt; Enter<\/li>\n<li>Insert the <strong>captcha<\/strong> text or digits &gt; Enter<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/domains\/what-is-a-whois-search\/attachment\/trustedinhosting\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-45632\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Trustedinhosting.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1414\" height=\"1920\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-45632\" srcset=\"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Trustedinhosting.jpg 1414w, https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Trustedinhosting-221x300.jpg 221w, https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Trustedinhosting-754x1024.jpg 754w, https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Trustedinhosting-768x1043.jpg 768w, https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Trustedinhosting-1131x1536.jpg 1131w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1414px) 100vw, 1414px\" \/><\/a><\/h2>\n<h2>\u2666 <strong>.co.uk<\/strong> domains<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Browse to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nominet.uk\/whois\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nominet<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Enter the\u00a0<strong>domain name<\/strong> &gt; <strong>Lookup<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>\u2666 .<strong>eu<\/strong> domains<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Browse to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/eurid.eu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">EURid<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Select WHOIS near the top right<\/li>\n<li>Insert the domain name in the search field &gt; <strong>Lookup<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>\u2666 .<strong>de<\/strong> domains<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Browse to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.denic.de\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DENIC<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Choose + <strong>Domain Query<\/strong> at the top right<\/li>\n<li>Enter the <strong>domain name<\/strong> &gt; Submit Query<\/li>\n<li>Type the <strong>Security Challenge<\/strong> text at the bottom &gt; Submit<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><strong>\u2666 .tv, \u00a0.co, \u00a0.cc\u00a0<\/strong>domains<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Browse to <a href=\"https:\/\/tucowsdomains.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tucows<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Enter the <strong>domain name<\/strong> &gt; Lookup<\/li>\n<li>Enter the <strong>captcha<\/strong> text &gt; Enter<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false,"plain":"The<strong> WHOIS\u00a0record is a public record of domain registrations<\/strong>, as mandated by <a title=\"ICANN\" href=\"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/domains\/what-is-a-registrar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ICANN<\/a>, the governing body that regulates the domain name registration space.\r\n\r\nA <b>\u00a0WHOIS search<\/b>\u00a0or <strong>lookup<\/strong> tool searches across multiple registrar databases to give you registration information on domain names. It indicates:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>if the domain is available for registration<\/li>\r\n \t<li>the registration and expiration dates<\/li>\r\n \t<li>the registrar<\/li>\r\n \t<li>the name servers<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<strong>Note<\/strong>: Prior to May 2018, WHOIS records included the Registrant, Admin, and Technical contact details. Since the implementation of <a href=\"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/products-and-services\/data-protection\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GDPR<\/a> all registries have had to hide or redact these records.\r\n\r\nIf you wish to move a domain name to us that you have previously registered with another company, you may place an order as a <a href=\"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/domains\/domain-transfer-guides\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">domain transfer<\/a>.\r\n<h2><b>\u2666 .co.za, \u00a0.org.za, \u00a0.capetown, \u00a0.durban, \u00a0.joburg\u00a0<\/b>domains<\/h2>\r\n<div id=\"action_points\">\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Browse to the <a title=\"CO.ZA whois server\" href=\"https:\/\/www.registry.net.za\/whois\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ZA whois server<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li>Insert the <strong>domain name<\/strong> and select <b>Submit<\/b><\/li>\r\n \t<li>The result will be displayed on-screen with the availability, registrar and registration dates near the top and the name servers at the bottom.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<h2>\u2666\u00a0gTLD domains<b>\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<strong>.com, \u00a0.net, \u00a0.org, \u00a0.biz, \u00a0.info, \u00a0.mobi<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nNote that since GDPR implementation on 25 May 2018, WHOIS records no longer display contact information.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"action_points\">\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Browse to <a title=\"Domain Tools\" href=\"https:\/\/whois.icann.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ICANN whois<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li>Insert the <strong>domain name<\/strong> and relevant <strong>extension<\/strong> \u00a0&gt; Enter<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Insert the <strong>captcha<\/strong> text or digits &gt; Enter<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/domains\/what-is-a-whois-search\/attachment\/trustedinhosting\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-45632\"><img src=\"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Trustedinhosting.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1414\" height=\"1920\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-45632\" \/><\/a><\/h2>\r\n<h2>\u2666 <strong>.co.uk<\/strong> domains<\/h2>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Browse to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nominet.uk\/whois\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nominet<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li>Enter the\u00a0<strong>domain name<\/strong> &gt; <strong>Lookup<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<h2>\u2666 .<strong>eu<\/strong> domains<\/h2>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Browse to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/eurid.eu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">EURid<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li>Select WHOIS near the top right<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Insert the domain name in the search field &gt; <strong>Lookup<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<h2>\u2666 .<strong>de<\/strong> domains<\/h2>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Browse to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.denic.de\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DENIC<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li>Choose + <strong>Domain Query<\/strong> at the top right<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Enter the <strong>domain name<\/strong> &gt; Submit Query<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Type the <strong>Security Challenge<\/strong> text at the bottom &gt; Submit<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<h2><strong>\u2666 .tv, \u00a0.co, \u00a0.cc\u00a0<\/strong>domains<\/h2>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Browse to <a href=\"https:\/\/tucowsdomains.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tucows<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li>Enter the <strong>domain name<\/strong> &gt; Lookup<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Enter the <strong>captcha<\/strong> text &gt; Enter<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A WHOIS lookup searches across registry databases to provide registration information on domain names. How to Lookup the various domains is explained.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lsx_disable_title":"0","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[155],"tags":[23672,22527,22524,893,319],"topics":[10381,10389],"class_list":["post-2071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-domains","tag-whois-search","tag-whois","tag-what-is-whois-search","tag-tucows","tag-domain-registration","topics-domain-faq","topics-getting-started-domains"],"acf":[],"additional_meta":{"category_title":[{"term_id":155,"name":"Domains","slug":"domains","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":155,"taxonomy":"category","description":"Registering and Transferring Domains ","parent":0,"count":74,"filter":"raw","term_order":"61","cat_ID":155,"category_count":74,"category_description":"Registering and Transferring Domains ","cat_name":"Domains","category_nicename":"domains","category_parent":0}],"tag_title":[{"term_id":23672,"name":"whois search","slug":"whois-search","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":23672,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","term_order":"268"},{"term_id":22527,"name":"whois","slug":"whois","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":22527,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","term_order":"648"},{"term_id":22524,"name":"what is whois search","slug":"what-is-whois-search","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":22524,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","term_order":"649"},{"term_id":893,"name":"Tucows","slug":"tucows","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":893,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw","term_order":"2815"},{"term_id":319,"name":"domain registration","slug":"domain-registration","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":319,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":11,"filter":"raw","term_order":"3001"}]},"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"marketing","author_link":"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/author\/marketing\/","author_avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a6ea315e112423b2b955cb020fbce2b0835956c6ad85ff0f13f1db298977eaaa?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2071\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2071"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xneelo.co.za\/help-centre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=2071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}