Every domain uses WHOIS data, which contains information on the registrant, the administrative contact and the technical contact of a domain name.
WHOIS data is mandatory and is added during the registration or transfer of your domain name. The WHOIS data in your default domain settings is automatically used in this situation. However, most domain extensions allow you to edit the WHOIS data during its registration or transfer.
The registrant is the rightful owner of a domain name and can be either a person or a company. In this article you will learn more about the registrant and how to view and edit the registrant information in your control panel.
The registrant of a domain name
As mentioned, the WHOIS data contains information on the registrant (the owner), the administrative and technical contacts of a domain name.
The administrative and technical contacts of a domain name can be used to contact the administrator of a domain name. The administrator may also be the registrant, although it's equally possible that the registrant information lists an entirely different person or company.
In some cases the administrative and technical contacts are publicly listed when performing a WHOIS search of the domain name. However, due to privacy legislation (GDPR), the registrant information is almost always hidden in the WHOIS databases.
Nonetheless, it is of utmost importance that the registrant information is correct and up to date. If this is not the case, the corresponding registry may decide to suspend or even drop the domain name.
Furthermore, you will want to know which person or company is listed as the registrant of your domain name. That way, you can prevent confusion regarding ownership of the domain name in case of domain disputes. The registrant information is also crucial for performing transfers of certain domain extensions.
You can view and edit the registrant information (and for that matter the administrative and technical contacts) of all your domain names inside your control panel.
To do so, head over to the tab 'Domains & Hosting' and select your domain name on the left hand side (don't check the box). Click on the cog wheel next to 'Your domain contact information' to view the WHOIS data of that domain name.
Changing the registrant information
After clicking the cog wheel next to 'Your domain contact information', you will land on the page 'Change contact details'. On this page you will find an overview of your domain name's current WHOIS information. Besides the registrant information, you will also find the administrative and technical contacts of your domain name.
On this page, you can freely change the information for most domain extensions. However, changing the registrant information of some domain extensions require additional actions.
For instance, some registries will charge you for performing a registrant change (otherwise known as an owner change). This usually only applies to changing the name or company name of a registrant. If this is the case for your specific domain name, the notification below will be displayed. Go to the 'Change registrant details' page to request the owner change.
There are other domain extensions for which a registrant change can only be performed manually and not via the control panel. If that is the case, the fields of the registrant information are greyed out and a notification will be displayed. Contact our support team for more information on how to request an owner change for that particular domain name.
The costs and processing time of the owner change may differ per domain extension. Both depend on the registry of the extension in question. Below you will find an overview of the domain extensions to which this applies:
De kosten en verwerkingstijd van de houderwijziging kunnen per domeinextensie verschillen. Beide zijn afhankelijk van het overkoepelende register van de betreffende extensie. Hieronder vind je een overzicht van de domeinextensies waarop dit van toepassing is:
| Domain extension | Costs | Maximum processing time |
| .IT, | €10 excl. VAT (incl. €12,10) | 1 day |
| .AT, .SK, .FI | €15 excl. VAT (incl. €18,15) | 14 days |
| .LU | €35 excl. VAT (incl. €42,35) | 7 days |
| .NU, .SE, .CH | €50 excl. VAT (incl. €60,50) | 7 days |
| .ES | €100 excl. VAT (incl. €121,00) | a few weeks |
You are also able to change the registrant information of multiple domain names at once. To do so, head over to 'Domains & Hosting' and check the boxes of the domain names you wish to change the registrant of. Next, click on 'Change registrant details'.
Keep in mind that all the fields listed here will be used for each selected domain name when saving the registrant details this way.
Take note: If one of the selected domain names has an alternative procedure for changing the registrant, you will not be able to choose 'Change registrant details' this way. In that case you will have to individually change the registrant of that specific domain name.
This article discussed the registrant information of domain names and how to view and edit them in your control panel.
If you have any questions regarding this article, please contact our support team. You can reach them using the 'Contact us' button below or via the 'Contact' button inside your control panel.
If you wish to discuss this article with other users, feel free to leave a comment below.