Updating WHOIS Information
WHOIS is a widely-used directory that houses all domain names and their information, including domain registration and expiration dates, domain owners (registrants), and name servers. The WHOIS records may also publicly show the registrant's technical and administrative contact details unless you make it private by using Domain Privacy.
It is important that you keep your WHOIS contact information up-to-date so you'll receive notifications about your domain name (such as reminders on when it expires), as well as register yourself as the domain's owner in case there's a dispute.
Want to know more about WHOIS? Please check out the following articles.
- WHOIS Information & Domain Privacy - This is an overview of WHOIS and Domain Privacy.
- Why Update Your WHOIS Information - This article discusses the importance of keeping your WHOIS or domain contact information valid and up to date.
Here are the topics we will discuss in this article:
How to update the WHOIS information
HostGator provides you the ability to manage your domains within your Customer Portal, and that includes your WHOIS or domain contact information. Most Enom and Launchpad domains can be managed from this single control panel.
If a domain purchased from HostGator does not appear in the Customer Portal, it may be an Enom domain requiring management via Registry Rocket. To know your domain's registrar, please visit the article Is My Domain Registered with LaunchPad or Enom?
Please reach out to us via phone or Live Chat if you're unable to update your domain information within your Registry Rocket account.
What to expect when updating WHOIS information
If you wish to update your WHOIS information, here are a few things that will happen in accordance with the ICANN regulations.
- Confirmation email - This is sent to the current WHOIS email address. If you are changing the email address, both the old and new email addresses will receive confirmation emails. Failure to complete both confirmation emails will result in the domain becoming suspended.
- A 60-day transfer lock - The transfer lock will prevent the domain from being transferred away to another registrar.
To change your domain contact information (WHOIS):
- Log in to Customer Portal.
- Click Domains from the left menu.
- Locate your domain, then click More. You will see more details about the selected domain and have access to several other functions.
- You will find the domain's Contact Info in the lower right corner. Click the Change link to update the WHOIS information.
Alternatively, you can click the Contact Info icon from the left sidebar.
- In the Contact Info section, the registrant, administrative, technical, and billing contacts are displayed. You may enter different data into each contact (tab) or click the Use for all contacts checkbox to use your registrant information for all four contacts.
- Once all the contact information has been filled out (don't forget to double-check for accuracy!), click Save Contact Info to save your changes.
- A Warning pop-up window will appear notifying you of the change.
- Click Save Contact Info to confirm the update.
Domain Privacy to protect your domain's contact information
Domain Privacy allows you to keep your domain's personal and business contact information, such as your name, email, address, and phone number, hidden from the public eye while still listed as the domain owner.
Do you want to keep your domain contact information private? We're here to help you with the process! Please check out the following article to know how to enable Domain Privacy within your Customer Portal.