Here's How to Find out who owns a Domain

Have you ever been curious as to who owns a specific domain name? Perhaps it's because the domain you want is already taken and you'd like to purchase it from them. Perhaps you want to find out who owns a website you visited, or you want to know where an email address came from. There are several ways to find out who owns a domain you're interested in, regardless of the circumstances.

But if by any chance that you live under a rock, you might be thinking

What is a Domain Name?

A domain name is an address at which a website can be accessed. They're used instead of IP addresses to make it easier for users to identify a website without having to remember a long string of numbers.

Every domain name must be distinct, and no two domains may be identical. Before you can use a domain name, you must first register it. If you want to register a domain but it's already taken, you can try to buy it from the current owner.

In simple words, Mozilla describes domain as something that is a key part of the Internet infrastructure. They provide a human-readable address for any web server available on the Internet.

A public IP address, either an IPv4 address (e.g. 173.194.121.32) or an IPv6 address, can be used to connect to any Internet-connected computer (e.g., 2027:0da8:8b73:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:1337).

Computers can easily handle such addresses, but people have a difficult time determining who runs the server or what services the website provides. IP addresses are difficult to remember and are subject to change.

To solve all of these issues, we use domain names, which are human-readable addresses.

Who owns a domain name?

You can't "purchase" a domain name. This is done so that unused domain names can eventually be used by someone else. If every domain name was purchased, the internet would quickly become clogged with unused, locked domain names that no one could use.

Instead, you pay a one-time or multi-year fee for the right to use a domain name. You can renew your right, and your renewal will take precedence over the applications of others. However, the domain name is never yours.

Domain name registries are maintained by companies known as registrars, who keep track of the technical and administrative information that connects you to your domain name.

It's possible that a registrar isn't in charge of keeping track of some domain names. Amazon, for example, manages all domain names ending in.fire.

How to Find a Domain Name Owner

Go to a domain name registrar's website. Most of them provide a “whois” service that tells you whether a domain name is available.

We can also use The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

To begin, open your browser and go to ICANN

Now, in the search box, enter the domain name that you want to search for.

Click on ‘Lookup’ and the search will begin.

The domain registration date, registry expiration, owner's name, and mailing address will now be displayed.