WHOIS Lookup Tool

Look up domain registration and IP address ownership information

This check runs from our infrastructure and may log the queried information to improve accuracy and availability. Logs are retained for a short period and are not used for marketing

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About WHOIS

Domain WHOIS

WHOIS provides registration information for domain names including the registrar, creation/expiration dates, and name servers. Some registrars offer privacy protection that hides registrant details.

IP WHOIS

IP WHOIS shows which organization owns an IP address block, the network range, and contact information. This data comes from Regional Internet Registries (RIRs).

What is WHOIS?

WHOIS is a query-and-response protocol used to look up registration information about domain names and IP addresses. When a domain like netoz.au is registered, the registrar records details about the registration — including the registrant, registration date, expiry date, and nameservers. WHOIS lets anyone query this data from the public registry database.

The protocol dates back to the early days of the internet when it was essential for network administrators to contact each other. Today, WHOIS remains a fundamental tool for verifying domain ownership, investigating suspicious websites, checking domain availability, and monitoring expiry dates. For example, a WHOIS lookup on netoz.au shows it's registered through an Australian registrar with nameservers pointing to NetOz's DNS infrastructure.

This free WHOIS lookup tool queries the appropriate registry for any domain or IP address and displays the registration data in a readable format. All lookups run from our Australian servers, querying registries like .au (auDA), .com (Verisign), and regional internet registries (APNIC, ARIN, RIPE) for IP address data.

Domain Registration Data Explained

A WHOIS record contains several key fields that tell you about a domain's registration status and configuration. Here's what each field means.

Registrar

The registrar is the company through which the domain was registered. For Australian .au domains, registrars must be accredited by auDA (the .au Domain Administration). The registrar handles domain renewals, DNS changes, and transfers. If you need to make changes to a domain, you do so through the registrar — not the registry directly.

Registration and Expiry Dates

The creation date shows when the domain was first registered, while the expiry date shows when the registration will lapse if not renewed. For example, netoz.au has a creation date and an expiry date visible in its WHOIS record. Domains that expire without renewal enter a grace period, then a redemption period, before being released for anyone to register. Monitoring expiry dates is critical — losing a domain can mean losing your website, email, and brand identity.

Nameservers

The nameserver entries in WHOIS show which DNS servers are authoritative for the domain. These are the servers that hold the domain's DNS records (A, MX, TXT, etc.). If nameservers are incorrect or pointing to decommissioned servers, the domain's website and email will stop working. You can verify what records your nameservers are serving with our DNS Lookup tool.

Domain Status Codes

EPP (Extensible Provisioning Protocol) status codes indicate the current state of a domain. Common statuses include clientTransferProhibited (transfer locked by the registrar), serverHold (suspended by the registry), and ok (normal operation). If a domain has serverHold status, it won't resolve in DNS until the hold is lifted. Understanding these codes helps diagnose why a domain might not be working.

Registrant and Contact Information

WHOIS records traditionally included the registrant's name, organisation, email, phone number, and address. This data identifies who owns the domain and provides contact details for administrative, technical, and billing purposes. However, privacy regulations like GDPR have led many registries to redact personal information from public WHOIS results.

WHOIS Privacy Protection

When you register a domain, your personal information — name, email, phone number, and address — is stored in the WHOIS database. Without privacy protection, anyone can look up this data. This has led to widespread adoption of WHOIS privacy services and regulatory changes.

WHOIS Privacy / ID Protection

Most registrars offer a WHOIS privacy service (sometimes called ID Protection or Privacy Guard) that replaces your personal contact details with the privacy service's details in the public WHOIS database. Emails sent to the proxy address are forwarded to you, so you can still be contacted. This is the most common way to protect your personal information while maintaining a valid WHOIS record.

GDPR and Data Redaction

Since GDPR came into effect in 2018, many registries and registrars redact personal data from WHOIS results by default. You'll often see "REDACTED FOR PRIVACY" in place of names, emails, and addresses. This applies globally for many gTLDs (.com, .net, .org), not just European domains. The ICANN RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) is gradually replacing WHOIS with more structured and privacy-aware access.

Australian .au Domain Privacy

Australian .au domains managed by auDA have their own privacy rules. The registrant's name and organisation are typically visible, but contact details may be limited. For .au domains, the registrant must meet eligibility requirements — for example, .com.au domains require an ABN or ACN. This means .au WHOIS data is generally more transparent than privacy-protected gTLD domains, as the registrant entity is always shown.

How to Check Domain Ownership

WHOIS is the primary way to verify who owns a domain. Whether you're buying a domain from someone, investigating a suspicious website, or checking if a domain is available, here's how to use WHOIS data effectively.

Verifying Domain Ownership

To verify who owns a domain, enter it into the WHOIS lookup tool above. Look for the registrant name and organisation fields. For Australian businesses, you can cross-reference the listed ABN or organisation name with the ABN Lookup to confirm the business is legitimate. For example, looking up netoz.au shows it's registered to NetOz Pty Ltd.

Checking Domain Availability

If a WHOIS lookup returns no results or shows the domain as "not found", the domain is likely available for registration. However, some premium or reserved domains may not appear in WHOIS but still be unavailable. For the most accurate availability check, try registering the domain through a registrar. WHOIS can also show you when an existing domain expires — if it's expiring soon and not renewed, it may become available.

Investigating Suspicious Domains

WHOIS data can help identify phishing sites and scam domains. Red flags include: very recent registration dates (domains registered days before sending emails), privacy-protected registrant data on domains claiming to be established businesses, nameservers associated with known malicious hosting, and domains registered in a different country than the business claims to be in. Combine WHOIS data with our DNS Lookup and SSL Certificate Checker for a more complete picture.

Domain Age and Trust

The domain's creation date tells you how long it has been registered. Older domains generally carry more trust with search engines and users. A domain registered years ago is more likely to be legitimate than one registered last week. Our WHOIS tool calculates the domain age automatically and shows days until expiration, making it easy to assess a domain's history at a glance.