Two Ways to Download
WhoisExtractor delivers database files in two ways: directly from your dashboard, and via the API. Both methods deliver the same file - a ZIP archive containing one or more structured CSV files.
Method 1 - Dashboard Download
- Log in to your account
- Navigate to your dashboard
- Click the Services tab to see your active subscriptions
- For each active product, a download button is shown alongside the product name
- Click Download to start the file download immediately
Dashboard downloads are available for today's file and up to 4 days back. If you need a date further than 4 days in the past and you have an archived plan, see the WHOIS Database archived page.
Method 2 - API Download
The API is the preferred method for automated daily delivery. You do not need to log in or navigate a dashboard - one HTTP request downloads the file.
curl "https://get.whoisextractor.com/?api=YOUR_API_KEY&pid=3" \
--output whois-today.zip
Replace pid=3 with the product ID for your subscription. Full product ID reference is in Getting Started with the API.
Your API key is shown on the API documentation page when you are logged in.
File Format
Every downloaded file is a ZIP archive. Inside the ZIP is one CSV file. The CSV uses:
- Encoding: UTF-8
- Delimiter: Comma (
,) - Line endings: Unix (
\n) - Headers: First row contains column names
Opening the ZIP in Windows
Right-click the downloaded .zip file and choose Extract All. The CSV file will be inside the extracted folder.
Opening the ZIP on macOS / Linux
unzip whois-today.zip -d whois-today/
Opening the CSV in Excel
- Extract the ZIP first
- Open Excel
- Go to Data > From Text/CSV
- Select the extracted CSV file
- Set encoding to UTF-8 and delimiter to Comma
- Click Load
Do not double-click the CSV directly - Excel may incorrectly detect the encoding and corrupt international characters.
File Size Reference
File sizes vary by product and date:
| Product | Approximate size (compressed) |
|---|---|
| India WHOIS Database | 5-15 MB |
| US WHOIS Database | 20-80 MB |
| Australia WHOIS Database | 5-20 MB |
| Daily Full WHOIS (global) | 50-200 MB |
| Daily Domains (240K+ domains) | 10-40 MB |
| Website Daily Data | 5-25 MB |
Sizes vary based on the number of registrations that day and how much contact data is publicly available.
Troubleshooting
The download starts but the file is corrupted or zero bytes. This usually means the request returned an error JSON body instead of a file. Open the ZIP - if its contents are a JSON file, read the error message inside. Re-check your API key and product ID.
I get a 403 error.
Your current subscription plan does not include the product ID (pid) you requested. Check your active plan on the dashboard and confirm the correct pid for your subscription.
I cannot find my API key. Your API key is displayed on the API documentation page when you are logged in. If you cannot see it, check that your subscription is active.
I need a file older than 4 days. Standard plans provide up to 4 days back. For historical data beyond that window, the WHOIS Database archived product is available separately.