Frequently Asked Questions

When you register a domain, your registrar collects contact information and publishes it to the public WHOIS system — that is how WHOIS has worked since the early internet. who.is does not create or own this data. We are a viewer: we query the same public WHOIS and RDAP servers anyone can query, and display the response. To understand the difference between registration data and DNS, see WHOIS vs RDAP vs DNS.

Fix it at the source, then refresh it here:

1. Enable WHOIS privacy at your domain registrar. Some registrars include it free; others charge a small fee. This masks your data everywhere, not just on who.is.
2. Refresh the record on who.is. Once your registrar has masked the data, look up your domain here and use the refresh option so our cached copy updates to the masked version.

If your registrar will not help, or the domain no longer exists, contact us with the domain name and we can block it from displaying on who.is.

We cache WHOIS records. Refresh the record on the domain's page and it will re-query the live WHOIS server. Search engines may also keep their own cached copy of the page for a while after ours updates — that part is outside our control. Caching and how long it lasts is explained in DNS TTL and propagation.

Contact us with the domain name. We will refresh the record, and if the registry no longer publishes current data we can block the domain from displaying on our site.

We honor removal requests regardless of where you live — just be aware that the data originates with your registrar and registry, so removing it from who.is alone will not remove it from the WHOIS system itself. A friendly email with the domain name gets handled quickly.

No. We do not sell domains, host websites, manage DNS, or send renewal notices. If your site is down, your domain expired, or you need a transfer or auth code, contact your registrar — look your domain up here and the record will show who that is. For the difference between a registrar, DNS, and a WHOIS viewer, see WHOIS vs RDAP vs DNS.

The only email who.is sends is transactional and always triggered by something you did — account actions, purchase confirmations, and the website-monitoring alerts you signed up for. We never send marketing, renewal notices, or unsolicited email or texts, so anything like that claiming to be "from who.is" is someone spoofing the name. If you want to understand how domains are protected against email spoofing in general, see SPF, DKIM and DMARC.

The only things who.is has ever charged for are its own services, such as WHOIS history reports or WHOIS privacy. If you have a charge and do not know why, email us your order number and the domain — we will sort it out, and we refund freely when something was not what you expected.

Look it up with a WHOIS or RDAP search. If the record shows a privacy service instead of a person, that is intentional — your options are the contact form or relay email in the record, or, for suspected fraud, an ICANN WHOIS inaccuracy complaint.

We cannot take down domains — we only display registry data. Report it to the domain's registrar and hosting company (both visible in the WHOIS record); they can suspend it. For serious abuse, also report to law enforcement.

Check your spam folder first — that is where they end up most of the time. Still missing? Email us your order number and we will resend it or refund you.

Some registries rate-limit or restrict their WHOIS output, and formats change without notice. If something looks broken, tell us — inbox reports are how several past bugs got found and fixed.

We display geolocation data from third-party geo databases. Corrections should go to those providers (and announcements via your RIR's geofeed); our display updates when their data does. You can inspect any address with an IP lookup.

Email with specifics — what you want, volumes, and budget. Serious inquiries get answers.