How to check who owns a domain
How to look up a domain’s registrar, registration and expiry dates using RDAP and WHOIS — and what to do when the owner is private.
RDAP and WHOIS
Every registered domain has a public registration record. The modern way to read it is RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol), which returns structured data from the registry. The older WHOIS protocol still exists and is used by some country-code extensions that don’t offer RDAP.
What you can usually see
The registrar (the company the domain is registered through), the creation date, the expiry date and the domain’s status codes. Our appraisal page shows the registrar, age and expiry automatically when a name is registered.
Why the owner’s name is often hidden
Since privacy rules such as the GDPR, most registrars redact owner contact details by default. That is normal and doesn’t mean anything suspicious.
How to reach a private owner
Many registrars provide a contact form or relay email for the domain. You can also visit the website, check for a “for sale” page, or use an escrow or broker service that contacts the owner for you.
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