Private domain registration, or privacy protection, ensures that your domain contact information is not readily available to the general public. Unlike some domain registrars that charge extra to keep your contact information private, WordPress.com automatically activates privacy protection on applicable domains at no additional charge.
WordPress.com automatically activates privacy protection on applicable domains. You can verify that privacy protection is enabled for your domain by following these steps:
- Visit your site’s dashboard.
- On the left side, navigate to Upgrades → Domains (or Hosting → Domains if using WP-Admin).
- Click on your domain.
- Click on the “Contact information” section.
- Check that the option “Privacy protection on” is shown. If it is switched off, click the toggle to turn on privacy protection for your domain.
Some registries (e.g., .dev domains) do not allow privacy protection to be disabled. See Domains with Special Policies.
There are very rare cases where you would want to deactivate private domain registration. For example, if you are transferring your domain from WordPress.com to another registrar, they may advise you to deactivate privacy protection. When you initiate the domain transfer, we automatically deactivate privacy protection as part of the process.
Otherwise, we recommend keeping privacy protection on at all times.
If you choose to deactivate privacy protection and your contact information is verified, you can choose to show your details in public WHOIS results. Enable the “Display my contact information in public WHOIS” toggle:
If you have privacy protection disabled and the contact information is not verified, the option to display your contact information in public WHOIS will be disabled. Verify your contact information to proceed.
