Most people who create blogs or websites choose to register a domain name. A domain registrar is responsible for selling and managing domain name registrations.
Since the process of registering your domain name is typically completed early in the process of starting your site, it’s easy to forget your domain registrar. Fortunately, there are a couple of ways to track down this information. Thank goodness!
Check Your Records
Start by digging up billing invoices or other records from when you purchased or renewed your domain name. Sigh. I know this is not the fun part BUT this is the simplest way to find your domain registrar.
Begin by conducting a thorough search of your email account, including the Archive and Trash folders. You can search for your full domain name or for phrases such as “domain registration”, “domain renewal” and “registered domain”.
Use a Lookup Service
If scouring your inbox doesn’t work, or you are just over it (Ain’t nobody got time for that) there are two websites you can use to find current domain registration information: https://who.is/ and https://lookup.icann.org/en.
To search for your domain on https://who.is/, complete these steps:
- Enter the complete domain name in the search field at the top of the page.
- Click the magnifying glass icon.
On the results page, review the information in the Registrar Info section, which includes the name of the domain registrar, as well as their website.
To search for your domain information on icann.org, follow these steps:
- In the Registration data lookup tool section, enter a complete domain name in the search field.
- Click Lookup.
- Scroll down the page to find the Registrar Information section, which displays the name and phone number of the domain registrar.
If you do not see the information you’re looking for in the Registrar Information section, or if you go to the listed registrar’s website and cannot log in using the correct credentials, it might be because you purchased your domain name from a reseller. A reseller is a legitimate, third-party organization that sells domain names through a registrar.
If you cannot log into the website of the registrar listed in the ICANN search results, contact their support team for assistance in determining which reseller you purchased your domain name from.
On the other hand, if there is no Name listed in the Registrar Information section of the ICANN search results, you can try completing these steps:
- After searching for your domain name, scroll to the bottom of the Domain Information page.
- Click the Expand icon (a small down arrow) next to Raw Registry RDAP Response.
- Find the reseller entry.
- Cut and paste the reseller’s website into your browser and navigate to their website.
- Log in with the username and password that you used when you purchased your domain name.
If you cannot remember your credentials, there is typically a Forgot username? Or Forgot password? link you can click. If not, contact the reseller’s support team (this information should be listed on their site).
Take the Headache Out of Maintaining Your Website
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