How do I find out who my domain registrar is?

Look your domain up in a free WHOIS tool. The result names your registrar, the company that holds your domain name. For a .com, use ICANN Lookup. For a .ca, use the CIRA WHOIS lookup. Type in your domain, then read the line that says “Registrar.”

That tells you who. It does not tell you which account or which login. Finding those takes a few more steps.

Read the lookup result

Three lines matter.

Registrar. This is the company you pay each year for the name. It might be GoDaddy, Namecheap, Squarespace, or a smaller Canadian company. Domains that were registered through Google Domains now sit with Squarespace.

Expiry date. This is the day your registration runs out. Write it on a calendar. If the domain lapses, your website goes offline and your business email stops with it.

Name servers. These are addresses that look like words with dots, such as ns1.somecompany.com. They tell you who runs your DNS. That is a different job, and it matters in the next section.

If the owner’s name and email are hidden, that is normal. Most registrars mask them. The registrar line still shows.

Know the three jobs

People say “my domain company” and mean three different things. Each job can sit with a different company.

The registrar holds the name. The DNS host holds the records that point the name to your website and your email. The web host stores the website files. What is a domain for a website? covers the first two. What is website hosting, and why do I pay for it every year? covers the third.

Here is why this matters. Say your lookup shows a registrar named Company A and name servers that belong to Company B. You pay Company A for the name. But you edit your DNS records at Company B. Changing records at Company A does nothing, because the name servers point elsewhere. I see this often when a site has moved hosts.

Find the account

Knowing the registrar is half the work. Now you need the login. Try these in order.

Search your email. Open the inbox you have used longest. Search for the registrar’s name. Then search for “domain renewal,” “domain expires,” and “auto-renew.” Registrars send these notices every year.

Check your card statements. Look for a yearly charge from the registrar. The statement shows which card pays. The card tells you who set it up.

Ask the person who built the site. A web designer, a nephew, or a former employee often registered the domain under their own email. Ask them for the account name, or ask them to move the domain into your own account.

Use the registrar’s password reset. Go to the registrar’s login page and request a reset using your business email. If no account matches, try other addresses you have used.

If the account is under someone else’s email

This is the most common snag. The registrar sends the reset link to an address you cannot open.

Contact the registrar’s support. Explain that the domain belongs to your business. Expect to prove it, and the proof varies by registrar. Business registration papers and a photo ID are common requests. I do not know every registrar’s process, so ask theirs what they accept.

If a former web designer holds the account and will not respond, read Who owns your website? and How to fire your web designer without losing your website. Both cover what you are entitled to ask for.

What to check once you are in

Open the account and check five things.

1. Expiry date. Confirm it matches the lookup.
2. Auto-renew. Turn it on. Confirm the card on file has not expired.
3. Contact email. Make sure it is an address you read. Renewal warnings go here.
4. Domain lock. Turn it on. It blocks unauthorized transfers.
5. Login security. Turn on two-step verification. Whoever controls this account controls your website and your email.

Also check that the account is in the name of your business, not an employee. If it is not, change it while you still have access.

Moving the domain later

You do not need to move the domain to fix anything above. Move it only if you want a new registrar, or if the current one is hard to work with. How do I transfer my domain name to a new registrar? walks through the steps. Do not change name servers or transfer anything until you know what currently depends on them. A wrong change can take your site and email offline.

Ask for help with the lookup

If the result confuses you, book a consult. Send me your domain name. I will tell you who the registrar is, where your DNS lives, and when the domain expires.