Use ICANN’s Registration Data Lookup Tool to check a domain’s public registration record. It can show the registrar, any registrant details the record makes public, and—when available—the registration expiry date. A lookup may not reveal the person or organization behind a domain, so treat it as a check of the public registration record, not definitive proof of legal ownership.
Check a domain’s public registration record
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Open ICANN’s Registration Data Lookup Tool and enter the domain name.
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Read the Registrar field to find the service provider associated with the registration. The registrar is not necessarily the domain’s registrant.
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Look at the registrant and contact fields. If the information is redacted, withheld, or absent, the public result does not establish the registrant’s identity.
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Check the Dates section for an expiry date. The result may also show creation and last-updated dates; not every field appears in every record.
ICANN says its tool queries current registration data from registries and registrars in real time using RDAP. If information is unavailable through RDAP for a domain query, the tool may fall back to the relevant generic top-level domain (gTLD) registry’s WHOIS service. See the lookup tool FAQ for field descriptions and explanations of why results can vary.
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Understand who the record identifies
The registrant is the person or organization that registers a domain. The registrar is the service provider with which the registrant contracts and through which they manage domain settings. ICANN explains this relationship in its information for domain name registrants.
A public lookup reports registration data, not necessarily the identity of the person who ultimately controls or legally owns a domain. Depending on applicable law and policy, and on registrar and registry practices, personal details may be withheld or otherwise unavailable. If the registrant fields do not identify someone, do not infer an identity from the registrar’s name or treat the public record as proof of ownership.
Interpret the expiry date carefully
The expiry date is a date in the registration record, supplied by the registrar. It is distinct from the date the domain was created or last updated. Use the label shown in the result to distinguish these dates; a record may not display all of them.
An expiry date alone does not establish when a domain will become available for someone else to register. Do not assume a domain can be acquired immediately on that date. The lookup tells you what date the record lists, not the outcome or timing of any later registration process.
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ICANN’s RDAP transition guidance concerns gTLDs. ICANN announced that RDAP became the definitive source for gTLD registration information on 28 January 2025, replacing sunsetted WHOIS services for that purpose. Country-code TLDs may have different data availability and lookup processes; do not assume every extension follows the same rules. Read ICANN’s RDAP and WHOIS update for the scope of that change.
If the registrant’s details are not public
Start with the public result. If you have a legitimate need for nonpublic gTLD registration data, ICANN’s Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) provides a request route for participating registrars. ICANN also advises contacting the sponsoring registrar about its disclosure process. Eligibility and a request do not guarantee that personal information will be disclosed.
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