I am looking for a domain name registrant. Where can I look it up?
The Whois is an easy-to-use tool for checking the availability of a .nl domain name. If the domain name is already taken, you can see who has registered it.
On the page looking up a domain name you will find more information about what a domain name is, how the Whois works and how the privacy of personal data is protected. Alternatively, you can go straight to look for a domain name via the Whois.
I would like to transfer my domain name to another registrar. What is the procedure?
To get your domain name transferred, you need the token (unique ID number) for your domain name. Your existing registrar has the token and is obliged to give it to you within five days, if you ask for it. The procedure for changing your registrar is described on the page transferring your domain name.
The details registered about me/my company are incorrect or out of date. How can I get them updated?
To update the contact details associated with your domain name, you need to contact your registrar. Read more about updating contact details.
Why is my domain name in quarantine?
When a domain name is cancelled, we aren't told the reason, so we can't tell you. You'll need to ask your registrar. The advantage of quarantine is that, if a name's cancelled by mistake, you can always get it back.
One common reason is that the contract between you and your registrar says you've got to renew the registration every year. If you haven't set up automatic renewal and you don't renew manually, the registration will expire.
Ik heb een klacht over mijn provider/registrar. Kan ik daarvoor bij SIDN terecht?
Wanneer je een klacht hebt over of een geschil met je registrar dan zijn er verschillende mogelijkheden om tot een oplossing te komen. Hierover lees je meer op pagina klacht over registrar. SIDN heeft geen formele klachtenprocedure voor het behandelen van een klacht over jouw registrar.
What conditions do I have to meet as a registrar?
Would you like to be able to register domain names for customers or for your own organisation by dealing directly with SIDN? If so, you can become a .nl registrar. Read more about the conditions and how to apply for registrar status on the page becoming a registrar.
A Twitter user recently asked us what the longest .nl domain name was. We thought that other people would like to know the answer too, so we did a little research.
The length of the longest domain name was easily discovered. The DNS protocol limits domain names to sixty-three characters, so we were pretty sure that the longest .nl domain name would be sixty-three characters long.
Sixty-three characters isn't actually very many, so we guessed that we'd find a number of maxed-out names. And, sure enough, it turns out that there are twenty-three full-length .nl domain names.
Theoretically, you could make a heck of a lot of sixty-three-character combinations. The number of possibilities works out at a figure with ninety-nine zeros (half a sexdecillion). So there's plenty of scope for getting creative with your domain name!
Shortest .nl domain name
And, while we're at it, what's the 'shortest' .nl domain name? A label has to have at least two characters. You're allowed to use letters (a to z), numbers (0 to 9) and hyphens (-). However, if you use a hyphen, it must have at least one letter or number each side of it. So you can't have a two-character domain name with a hyphen. That limits the number of permissible two-character combinations to 1,296. Of those, 1,286 are currently in use, while ten are registered but unused. In other words, all possible two-character .nl domain names are taken.
However, if your preference is for something short and sweet, don't despair. Of the 47,952 possible three-character combinations, more than twenty thousand are still available as .nl domain names.
Related articles
Study finds half of care-sector domain names have administrative issues
Tuesday 25 March 2025
Cybersecurity
Roughly 30 per cent of domains checked by researchers aren't registered in the right names
