Go Around The Whois Protection
Some domain owners decide to hide their information by using third-party protection services, such as WhoisGuard. Such services use methods to protect the privacy of their clients by providing their own contact details instead.
The best way to go around this kind of privacy protection is to contact the third-party company and ask them to pass on the email to the owner. While there are no guarantees that this method will work, it will increase your chances.
Check The Whois Directory
There is an organization called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers or ICANN. This group is in charge of all domain name registrations. And it requires all registrants to enter their name, mailing address, phone number, and email address.
And the best part? The public can access all of that information. Or at least they should be able to .
But yeah if you go to ICANNs website, you can enter the domain name and find out who the owner is alongside other relevant information that you might need.
Heres what a WhoIs lookup search result would look like. You should find the name of the domain owner under Registrant.
Youll soon notice, however, that most sites dont display the name of the domain owner. How is that possible?
Most domain name registrars offer a service where they keep your contact information private. And a lot of domain owners opt for this service because they dont want to share their details with everyone.
After all, whod want to share their phone number and mailing address with the world?
So why even bother searching the WhoIs database? Is it even worth it?
Yes, it is.
Why? Because you can still find the email address of the domain owner. Even if you dont see the owners personal or business email, you should still be able to reach the owner through the email address provided by the domain registrar.
But WhoIs isnt the only option. There are other ways to get in touch with a website owner as youll see below.
One: Visit The Website
In cases where the owner bought the domain as an investment, theyll make it easy for you to contact them. So start by pulling up the website to see what shows up.
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They may say outright that the domain is for sale, and include contact information or a form you can fill out. Or in some cases where the domain is in active use, youll be able to find contact information on the websites Contact or About page.
If youre lucky enough that this step does the trick and you find the domain owner, you can skip the next two steps.
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Why Is Whois Important And Who Can Use It
The Whois database makes it easy to find a website owner. This may be useful if you need to contact the domain name holder, or if youre a legal team wanting to clarify ownership for a trademark dispute.
Domain buyers and sellers can also benefit by using Whois to view site ownership details fast, which helps the domain purchasing process go smoothly.
If youre interested in acquiring a domain and want to find out if its already been registered, you can use our Whois search tool to check its availability.
How Can I Hide My Remaining Public Contact Details From The Whois Database
For Canadians with a .CA domain name, the?Canadian Internet Registration Authority ?automatically provides domain privacy be default. However, non .CA domain names will need to purchase an additional service called a Domain Privacy service. Once purchased, all Registrant information on the WHOIS database is replaced by proxy contact information. In most cases, this information belongs to the operating registrar such as Webnames.ca.
While the details list a registrar or proxy contact information, the true owner of a domain name is still the original registrant.
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Reach Out Via Proxy Or Business Contact
When you encounter hidden domain name information, theres no need to panic. Domain registrars typically use a third-party service, such as Domains by Proxy, which enables customers to manage email forwarding settings for their masked contact information.
That means youll see a generic email for the company providing privacy protection, but if you send a message to that address, it might make it to the actual owner via proxy. That is, as long as the real owner configures their email forwarding settings to allow direct messages.
Heres an example of a masked email address:
In some cases, you also might see a link to a contact form instead of a masked email address. You would need to go to that contact form to contact the owner:
Heres an example of what that form might look like:
However, some users may turn off email forwarding or turn on strict spam filters. These measures can prevent them from receiving any emails you send.
Additionally, if they dont respond to you, you still wont have any way of discovering their real contact details.
My Information Doesn’t Match The Whois Results How Do I Change My Whois Information
According to the rules established by ICANN, Registrars are expected to maintain the accuracy of the domain name owner’s contact details in the Whois database. Most Registrars use the details provided by the buyer at the time the Domain was registered.
In case your information does not match the Whois results, you can change this information by getting in touch with your Registrar who will be able to assist you in updating your information. Once this information is updated, the Whois record will also update accordingly. On an average, it can take 24-24 hours for this change to reflect in the Whois database.
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Choose The Right Domain For Your Online Business
Take the first step towards bringing your business online
It’s important to choose a domain name or URL, that’s easy to remember and spell so customers can find you easily. You can customize your domain name to your store name, and it can end in .com, .org, .gov, and even more creative things like .co or .io.
Search the availability of a domain name that reflects your business with Shopifys free WHOIS lookup. This search tool is designed to help you find WHOIS information about a domain name, who might own it, and when it expires.
If the domain name you searched for is unavailable, use the WHOIS search to find out when it expires before you move into other ideas. If you have an existing website, the WHOIS tool can help you check domain information when transferring ownership to a new website.
How to come up with the right domain for your business
The tool lets you search an unlimited amount of domain names for your business, from the public WHOIS database. If your business name has already been registered by someone else, you can explore available domains based on your search.
Shopifys WHOIS search tool will provide you a list of recommended domains, but finding the right one that works for your brand is up to you. Knowing what makes the best domain isnt always easy, but when you register a website name, here are some factors to keep in mind:
Fast and easy domain names from Shopifys business name generator
Press cmd + d to bookmark
Administrative Technical And Billing Contacts*
*The registrant name and administrative and technical contact information of non-individual registrants, such as corporations, is displayed by default. The registrant name and administrative and technical contact information of individuals, such as Canadian citizens or permanent residents is not displayed in WHOIS per the CIRA Privacy Policy. Generally non-individuals are public and individuals are private.
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What Domain Names Can Have Their Owner Details Checked
Most domain names can be checked, however in some cases it is unknown for various technical reasons.
Some examples:,wikipedia.org,apple.com,youtube.com,
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Visit The Domain Name
Your first port of call when trying to find out who owns a domain name should be the domain name itself.
Type the domain name into your browser and see what happens. Youll either find a website, a holding page or an error message.
If theres a website, you can look through its various pages to try and find a domain name. Look for an About me/us page, a Contact me/us page, any other kind of contact form, or an email address. There may also be contact details in the websites footer.
A holding page may include some sort of contact information and will sometimes even explicitly state that the domain is for sale.
An error message may mean that there is a website on that URL, but it is currently unavailable, or that the domain name isnt being used.
Some error messages may include contact details, but if the one youre seeing doesnt youll need to try another method to find out who owns a domain name.
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How To Choose A Domain Name
With the large number of Top-Level Domain we make available, you will have noshortage of options for your future domain name.Considering the impact it can have on your business, the stakes are high!To help you pick the best domain name possible from the get-go, we came up with 15 experttips.Find out more on our blog!
Whois Shows The Public Information Of A Domain Name
Using the whois service, you can view the public information of any domain name or IP address. Whois shows the details ofall domain name holders, not just fi-domain name holders.
Enter a domain name or an IP address in the search bar below to see its public information. Type the top-level domain in the search bar, too.
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Find Out Who Owns A Domain Name
Its a requirement in Australia and most places across the globe, that all details relating to the registration of your domain are stored online in the public WHOIS registry. When you register a domain, your details are automatically listed in the registry, unless you opt for Domain Privacy.
This registration requirement makes domain ownership transparent, enabling anyone to check the registry and contact the owner of a domain directly, no matter where they are in the world. If you want to know who owns any single .au domain name, you can check the WHOIS directory simply via the portal below. View the auDA Whois Policy.
Why Is Determining A Domain Name Registrant Important
Determining a domain name registrant is important for many reasons:
- The lookup can verify that the registrant details of your personal domains are properly entered. If they are not, you may miss renewal notices, purchase offers, partnership requests and the like.
- If you are interested in making an offer on an already registered domain name, you can easily lookup contact information, such as the owners name, mailing address, email address and telephone number.
- If you are tying to protect your personal information, a lookup can tell you if the privacy controls youve put in place are actually in effect.
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Use Your Computer Terminal
The last method well discuss is using your computer terminal to find out the ping of a certain website.
Open your computers terminal program. In Windows, its called Command Prompt, so all you need to do is hit the windows key, type in cmd and the application will pop up.
On Mac computers, its called Terminal. Open your Spotlight search by clicking command + space bar, and type in terminal. The app will pop up.
On Linux computers, you can search for the Terminal amongst the applications. Alternatively, press ctrl + alt + t in Ubuntu, or press alt + F2, type out gnome-terminal and then click enter,
Once youve opened your computer terminal, type in ping example.com and then hit enter. Youll be presented with the IP address of the domain.
You can try typing in the IP address in your browser, but this rarely results in a landing page and usually yields an error code. So instead, take the IP address and copy it into WhoIsHostingThis or WHOIS. The result will show you the host of the website.
Unfortunately, this isnt always the case. If the domain owner has hidden their host and is using Cloudflare, you may again see Cloudflare instead of the websites real host.
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Consider A New Domain Name
Theres a decent chance that even if you take all of these steps, the person that owns that domain now either wont want to sell, or will only accept a higher price than you can pay.
In that case, youre far from the first person to have to come up with an alternative to the first name you set your heart on. Consider different domain name extensionsif the .com is taken, the .net or .co may still be available. And brainstorm new domain name ideas. You may just come up with something you like even more than your original idea.
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Contact The Domain Registrar
If you cant find the owner of a domain name through WHOIS or other directories, you can try contacting the registrar. The registrar is the company that manages the registration of the domain name. You can usually find contact information for the registrar on their website. Keep in mind, though, that if the domain name has privacy features enabled, the registrar may not be able to give you any information about the owner. However, registrars do have certain obligations if a domain has been used for illegal activities. So if you suspect thats the case, its worth trying to contact the registrar.
Other Whois Lookup Tools
Other lookup tools can provide WHOIS information about domain name registrants, such as who.is or whois.net.
Both of these lookup tools work similarly to the WHOIS lookup tool employed by ICANN. Simply enter the web address into the search bar and get the domain registration information about the person that owns the domain name you want.
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Why Is Some Of Registrant Data Still Public
WHOIS can trace its roots back to 1982 when a protocol for a directory was established by ARPANET users. Initially, the directory simply listed contact information that was requested by anyone transmitting data across the ARPANET.
However, as the internet became available to more users, WHOIS began to serve the need of different stakeholders that ranged from Registrants, governments and corporations. For decades WHOIS data was open to the public to ensure that all stakeholders, from Registrant and domain investors to government agencies and corporations are able to quickly determine who owns a domain name online
What Is The Process To Lookup Domain Name Details
The domain name registration process has been engineered in a very transparent way. Everybody has an open access to obtain information about domain name registrant and the ownership of a domain by just clicking on certain informative links. It also helps in keeping a track of domain name expiry dates and the start date of registration.
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Keep Your Domain Registration Contact Details Private
The WHOIS lookup tool will display the contact details associated with your domain by default anyone can see them. But there is a loophole. Domain Privacy hides these details from public view, keeping your personal details private. Remain anonymous to strangers using the WHOIS directory and protect your identity with our Domain Privacy service.
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Lookup Domain Name Registration Online
Need the details of a .au domain? We provide a simple, easy-access search tool for our customers and visitors. Using this tool, you can search the details of all Australian domain names. Simply type the name of the domain you want to check with the .com.au domain extension and click search to find out the owner and their best contact email.
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Ways To Find Who Owns A Domain Name
Curious about a website and want to find out the actual owner? If youre interested in buying an existing domain, besides making an offer on the registrar website, one better option is contacting the domain owner directly. In this post, well show you the legit ways to find and contact the domain owner.
How To Find Out Who The Domain Owner Is
Youve spent time brainstorming domain names. Youve tried different domain suggestion tools. And youve finally figured out the perfect name.
But when you go to register the domain name youre set on, you find that someone has already claimed it. What a disappointment.
Before you give up on that perfect name and start the whole process again from scratch, know there might still be hope.
Registered domain names are sometimes still availableif you know how to find the owner.
People invest in domain names for a number of different reasons. Sometimes, its to start their own website at that domain. Sometimes its purely for investment purposes. And in a few cases, it may be for a website idea that either never comes to fruition, or that falls off the owners radar over time.
If the website youre interested in isnt being actively used and updated, then the owner may be happy to hear from an interested buyer. And even if the owner is clearly using the domain name right now, if youre willing to spend enough to make a sale worth it to them you may still have a chance.
In both cases, you should anticipate spending more for the domain name than if you went with something no one else owns yet. But if youre really set on that domain name, its worth trying your chances.
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