Learn more about the name behind the domain
What's availabile
A Whois domain lookup is a good way of finding out information about a domain that's already registered, including its registration and expiration dates. You can use our Whois domain lookup tool to find out who owns a domain with the following extensions: .com, .net and .shop.
As the CIRA (Canadian Internet Registration Authority) — known as ACEI in French (L'Autorité canadienne pour les enregistrements Internet) — is responsible for all .ca domains, you should perform Whois lookups for .ca domains directly with them. They will also provide you with technical data such as the name server being used. In many cases, this makes it clear which provider the respective domain is registered with.
If you would like to request data about a domain directly from a special registry, select the respective partner on our registrar page.
Contacting the domain owner
In Canada, Whois domain information often includes the personal contact details of the domain owner. In this case, as it’s easy to find out who owns a domain, you can simply contact the owner directly with any queries, such as questions about the availability of the domain.
However, there are some notable exceptions. For instance, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into effect in May 2018, means that the personal data of domain owners based in the EU can no longer be published. As a result, if the domain you’re searching for is owned by an individual or organization in the EU, their contact details may not be visible. In addition, Canadian domain owners can also use a proxy or a domain privacy service to hide their personal domain contact information.
In such cases, contact must be established via the registrar, who can forward your request to the domain owner. You may wish to do this to inquire about technical issues or to report the possible misuse of a domain name.
How does the Whois domain lookup work?
Whois database
Whois domain searches are facilitated through a Whois database — a central location where publicly accessible information on registered domains is stored. Note: Whois databases no longer provide data for EU-owned domains due to the GDPR.
The registrars that administer the various domain extensions each maintain their own Whois databases. For example, CIRA/ACEI administers a Whois database for .ca domains.
Whois search details
You can use two versions of Whois domain lookup: The tool on this page provides you with the domain name, registration date and expiration date for a variety of domain endings. Meanwhile, more detailed information can be found on our registrar page.
Note that contacting the registry directly may be best in some cases — such as CIRA/ACEI for .ca domains.
Privacy
Which data is made public via the Whois service depends on either the respective registry or ICANN (Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers). The registries determine which data is collected.
For instance, as the registry for the .ca TLD, CIRA/ACEI determines what information is listed in the Whois database for those domains.
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Whois domain lookup
The WHOIS lookup can confirm if a domain has been registered or not. It may also provide information such as details on the registrar and registry, as well as the domain status, expiration and update dates and the name servers for any given domain.
The domain checker helps to identify whether or not a particular domain name is available to register. The WHOIS lookup gives you access to further limited information regarding a registered domain. Should your requested domain name still be available, you can use both the WHOIS service, as well as the domain checker in order to easily register your desired domain name with IONOS. Furthermore, we recommend suitable domain alternatives in case a particular domain name is registered already. Regardless of whether you use our WHOIS lookup or domain checker, our main goal is to offer you the best support possible on your way to your desired domain name.
Due to the GDPR we will no longer publish your personal data to the WHOIS database. All personal information is hidden and cannot be accessed and we assure you that your data is safe with us.
Yes, there is .com domain WHOIS support. Just like with other domain extensions, you can look up who owns a .com domain with WHOIS or whether certain .com domains are available. However, it should be noted that the information available during this .com domain lookup will depend on where the domain is registered; the WHOIS database is not an independent venture, but deals with multiple registrars that contribute information.
These registrars manage different domain extension categories. Domain extensions are broken down into several categories: generic top-level domains (gTLD), new top-level domains (nTLD), and country code top-level domains (ccTLD). The domain extension .com (which stands for commercial) is a gTLD domain and is the most common gTLD, others include .org and .net. gTLDs are international domains and the information on these domains is handled by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). However, due to GDPR only a limited amount of information will be made available in the .com domain WHOIS lookup search results.
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