What is the WHOIS?
Our WHOIS service is used to find information about domain names ending in .uk. It is maintained by us and contains information about domain names that are currently registered including: registrant's details, registration date and current status, registrant's agent and the name servers associated with the domain name.
How much does it cost?
The WHOIS service is free of charge.
Who is eligible?
Anyone can use our WHOIS service to retrieve information on a .uk domain name.
What can I use the WHOIS for?
You can use our WHOIS to see if a domain name ending in .uk is available for registration. You can also use the WHOIS to display registrant information for a domain name.
What information does the WHOIS show?
The WHOIS shows registrant information for the domain name queried. Please see the responses section on the Instructions for use page for more details.
Why does Nominet publish these details?
We operate a public registry on behalf of all Internet users and it therefore make the records we hold available to everyone. The WHOIS makes it easier to track down the legal registrant of a domain name and should therefore help build more confidence in the use of the Internet.
Is Nominet allowed to publish my address details?
Yes, we have a contract with every domain name holder under the Terms and Conditions of domain name registration under which we are entitled to publish the records of your registration.
Can I choose not to have my address details published?
Yes. we appreciate that some individuals are concerned about having their personal address published on the WHOIS and therefore allow individuals the opportunity to opt-out of having their address details displayed.
How can I opt out?
If you are a non-trading individual, you will be able to opt-out of the WHOIS by speaking to your registration agent who in turn will modify the domain name record held by us on your behalf so that your address details are not displayed.
Can anyone opt out?
Only domain name holders that are non-trading individuals can opt-out of having their address details published. In other words, if you do not use or plan to use your domain name for business, trade or professional transactions you will be entitled to opt-out of having your address displayed.
What are the query limits for the WHOIS?
These are given in the acceptable use policy.
What happens if I exceed the limits?
If either of the limits are exceeded then further queries are rejected with the blocked message. The length of the block depends on how many queries have been made so far. For example, if you send 1 query per second for 10,000 seconds then you will be blocked after that for approximately 21 hours, 13 minutes and 20 seconds.
How do I know if I have been blocked?
You will receive the following message when you exceed the query limit:
Error for "<domain name>".
The WHOIS query quota for <xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx> has been exceeded
and will be replenished in <nnn> seconds.
WHOIS lookup made at <hh:mm:ss dd-mmm-yyyy>
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What should I do if the information for my own domain name on the WHOIS is incorrect?
In the first instance, you should speak to your registration agent or ISP. For example, if the registrant address is incorrect your ISP will be able to amend these records on Nominet's database.
Why does the WHOIS not show email addresses?
We do not show email addresses to prevent them being used to send spam to. If you want to contact the domain name owner then you should visit their website or try the standard address of postmaster@domain