Official records how-to · tested October 2026

Corporation Lookup: Find Any Corporation in Official State Records

To find a corporation, you search the registry of the state where it was formed. State Secretary of State portals look alike on the surface. They do not offer the same functions. We ran four checks in 11 states and detail what we found below.

What we did

In October 2026 we picked pilot states and tried the same four things on each state portal:

1. We searched a known corporation with and without its suffix. Does the result change?
2. Do inactive or dissolved records appear in the default search?
3. Are corporations and LLCs searched on the same screen, and is an entity-type selection required?
4. We opened the record. Where are the officer and director names? Is the document list free?

States we tested: New York, Pennsylvania, California, Michigan, Florida, Washington, North Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, Utah, Arkansas.

The Massachusetts portal blocked a connection from a non-U.S. IP address on both attempts. Some portals can only be reached from inside the U.S. From locations outside the U.S., the portal does not open, or a security wall blocks the request.

Evidence table

The cells are measurements from October 8, 2026. We will update the table when a portal changes. Portals do not change often.

State by state: what we saw

New York

• The search form has an "Entity list" box. Searching without choosing a type returns an error: "Select the entity type from entity list."
• "Pfizer Inc" returned 1 result. "Pfizer" returned 17.
• The default status is "AllStatuses". Inactive companies show as "Inactive", and "Suspended" is a separate option.
• The record shows only the Chief Executive Officer's name, no board. The "Jurisdiction: Delaware" line tells you where the home record lives. "Statement status: Current" and the next statement date are also shown.

Michigan

• One box for a name or file number. "Starts With" is the default. A "Name Availability" option sits on the same form.
• "Meijer Inc" returned 1 result, and it matched without the comma and period. "Meijer" returned 34.
• Inactive records carry their reason in the label: "Dissolved - Certificate of Dissolution", "Dissolved - Operation of Law", "Existence Ceased - Merged".
• The record lists the President, Secretary, Treasurer and Directors. The "Last Report with Officers and Directors: 2026" line tells you which year the names come from. "AR Standing" is a separate field. A company can be "Active" with "AR Standing: Not Good" (MEIJER ARENA, LLC).
• Trap: DBA matching. A "Meijer" search pulled in SPECTRUM HEALTH HOSPITALS because of its assumed name "MEIJER HEART CENTER".
• Documents: 131 records, each with a Download button, no login. Identification # 800062208 (9 digits). There is a Common Shares field.

Florida

• Sunbiz is not a list of matches. It is an alphabetical browse. "Publix Super Markets Inc" and "Publix Super Markets" open the same list. The sort key in the URL is "PUBLIXSUPERMARKETS", with the suffix dropped.
• Right below the target sit unrelated records such as "PUBLIZ LLC" and "PUBLOW…". LLCs, corporations and a trademark (T08548) share one list.
• Inactive labels: "INACT", "INACT/UA", "NAME HS".
• The record shows 10 officer names with titles, the FEI/EIN number, and the registered agent. Annual reports and merger documents are free PDFs back to 1995. Document Number 112252. Other records carry L/N/P/F/W prefixes.
• In our own September 20, 2026 test of two third-party data APIs, one returned 10 officers and 30 documents for this Publix record (the portal shows 74 documents). The other returned Publix as "inactive" twice while Sunbiz showed ACTIVE.

Washington

• Cloudflare Turnstile stalled on the first load and passed on the second. Every results page has a Turnstile box. Slow (over 5 seconds).
• "Starbucks Corporation" returned 3 results, including STARBUCKS FOREIGN SALES CORPORATION ("TERMINATED"). "Starbucks" returned 10, and "GRANSTON STARBUCKS LLC" came with them, so the match behaves like contains.
• Inactive labels: "ADMINISTRATIVELY DISSOLVED", "TERMINATED".
• The record has no officers, only a "Governors" table with 3 names. There is a "Nature of Business" field and no stock field. UBI 600 611 109 (9 digits in groups of 3). Documents are free.

North Carolina

• "Starting With" is the default, with All, Any and Exact Match available. The page warns: "Automated or scripted searches not permitted."
• "Lowe's Companies Inc" and "Lowe's Companies" both returned 1 result. The record spells the name with a backtick ("Lowe`s"), and a search with a normal apostrophe still matched.
• Status format "Current-Active"; "Citizenship: Domestic". SOSID 0087443 (7 digits, leading zero).
• The record lists the CEO, President, Chairman of the Board, VP, Assistant Secretary and Treasurer. The Stock section shows class, share count and par value (COMMON 5,600,000,000 at 0.5). Filing PDFs are free back to 1952.
• Inactive records are in the default list. A "Charlotte" search showed "Revoked" and "Dissolved" rows next to "Current - Active". A revoked record has a "File a requalification" button beside it, an active one has "File annual report". The portal suggests an action based on status.
• An "Add to My Email Notification list" link lets you watch a company and get an email when it changes. We did not see this on any other portal we tested.

Delaware

• The suffix does not narrow anything. "Pfizer Inc" and "Pfizer" return the same list, cut off at 50 with an "exceeded 50 results" warning, and the list starts with "PFIZER 42 ST LLC". Exact match needs quotation marks.
• The list has no status column, so you cannot tell inactive records apart in the list.
• The free record page says in red: "THIS IS NOT A STATEMENT OF GOOD STANDING". There is no status field. Status costs $10. Status plus tax plus filing history costs $20.
• No officers or directors at all. The registered agent and its phone number are shown. File Number 383418 (6 digits). "Residency: Domestic", "Entity Kind: Corporation".
• The link back: the "Jurisdiction: Delaware" line on the New York Pfizer record brings you here. This is the home record, and Delaware shows you less for free than New York does.

Utah

• The page stayed blank for about 6 seconds, then Turnstile passed on its own.
• "Nu Skin Enterprises Inc" returned "No records found". "Nu Skin" returned 20. The record spells the name "NU SKIN ENTERPRISES, INC.", and the suffix without the comma breaks Starts With.
• The list mixes corporations, LLCs, nonprofits and DBAs. Status "Inactive" or "Expired", with detail "Voluntarily Dissolved" or "Administratively Dissolved".
• Entity Number 1333495-0143: 7 digits, a hyphen, and a 4-digit type code. "Entity Type: Foreign Business Corporation", "Jurisdiction: DE". "Principal Information" lists 25 people, 5 per page. Documents are free.

Arkansas

• "All Types" is the default. There is no status filter. The results page has "Download CSV".
• "Walmart Inc" returned 3 results (including WALMART CLAIMS SERVICES, INC.). "Walmart" returned 9. Active = "Good Standing", inactive = "Not Current" or "Expired".
• The record: Filing # 100067582 (9 digits), "Foreign For Profit Corporation", "Filed Under Act: For Bus Corp; 958 of 1987", Status "Good Standing", Date Filed 03/31/1970. Officers on the record: Controller, Treasurer, Secretary, Vice-President, President, and "SEE FILE, Incorporator/Organizer". "State of Origin: DE" is its own line.
• Trap: Walmart's full name is not in the list. The record you find is Walmart Inc.'s Arkansas foreign registration (State of Origin DE), even though headquarters is in Bentonville.

Pennsylvania

• The top of the page states its data freshness: "As of 10/05/2026 we have processed all business filings received through 10/01/2026." No other portal we tested shows a line like this.
• With the default "Starts With", "Hershey Inc" returned zero results: "No results were found for Hershey Inc." The same query with "Contains" returned 59, and "Hershey" without the suffix returned 98. Same trap as Utah.
• Inactive records are in the default list: "Inactive - Withdrawn - Consolidated Inactive". There are Pennsylvania-specific statuses such as "Active - County Orphan".
• The list mixes corporations, foreign LLCs and "Fictitious Name" (DBA) filings. A "Formed In" column shows the formation state right in the list (DELAWARE, OHIO, VIRGINIA). Record number 7 digits (6948031).
• The record opens in a side panel: Status, Formed In, Filing Type ("Foreign Business Corporation"), Registered Office, County, Officers (President, VP, Secretary, Treasurer, 2 Assistant Treasurers) and Governors (3). A "Request Certificate" button sits in the same panel. The document list is free.
• Note: the record opened is The Hershey Sales Company (6948031, Delaware foreign), not The Hershey Company itself.

California

• Search types are "Contains (Keywords)" and "Starts with". There is a second search type called "Publicly Traded Disclosure Search".
• "Apple Inc" returned 500 results (the cap). "Apple" returned 495. The suffix does not hide anything, but the keyword "Inc" cuts the list down to corporations only. Without the suffix, LLCs and LPs come too.
• Inactive records are in the default list with their reason: "Suspended - FTB" (the Franchise Tax Board), "Suspended - FTB/SOS", "Forfeited - FTB", "Terminated", "Merged Out".
• There are two APPLE INC. records: 2814078 "Merged Out" (2005) and 806592 "Active" (1977). You need the number and the date to tell the right one apart.
• The record has four separate standing lines: Standing - SOS, Standing - FTB, Standing - Agent, Standing - VCFCF, each marked "Good" on its own. A "Statement of Info Due Date" is also shown (01/31/2028).
• No officers or directors at all. The agent is "1505 Corporation", and the names under it are the agent's authorized employees. They are registered agent staff, not Apple executives.
• Entity Type wording: "Stock Corporation - CA - General", "Stock Corporation - Out of State - Stock", "Nonprofit Corporation - CA - Mutual Benefit". The stock versus nonprofit split is in the type name.
• Numbers: older corporations 6 to 7 digits (806592, 2814078), LLCs 12 digits (202354319387), records from 2025 on "B" plus 10 digits (B20250039534).

Virginia

• "Dominion Energy Inc" returned 2 results, both "Stock Corporation": one "Legal Name" (02387785) and one "Former Name" (01612779, now Dominion Generation, Inc.). Virginia searches former names too and flags them in a "Name Type" column as Legal, Former or Fictitious. None of the other portals we tested has this column.
• "Dominion Energy" makes the list longer: Stock Corporation, Nonstock Corporation, LLC and LP mixed, with a "Series LLC" column. Status words: "Active", "Inactive", "Released" (for fictitious names).
• The Entity ID prefix tells you the type: corporations are 8 digits with a leading zero (01612779), LLCs start with "S" (S1324716), foreign entities with "F" (F1514696), LPs with "M" (M0074312).
• The record shows "Reason for Status: Active and In Good Standing", Status Date, Formation Date with a separate "VA Qualification Date", "Charter Fee: $200.00", "Annual Report Due Date" and "Registration Fee Due Date". There is a Jurisdiction field.
• The "Principal Information" table has title, a Director Yes/No column, name, address and a "Last Updated" date. Of the 11 states we tested, Virginia is the only one that puts the director flag in its own column.
• Form: "Starts with" is the default, with "Contains" and "Exact Match" available. The document list is free and detailed.
• Results export to Word, Excel, CSV and PDF (limits of 5,000 records for Word and 15,000 for PDF). Login is not required.
• Note: the record opened is the Former Name row (Dominion Generation, Inc., 01612779).

The suffix rule: do not type "Inc"

• In no state was the suffix needed, and in two it hid the record.
• In Utah and Pennsylvania, the default "Starts With" search for "Nu Skin Enterprises Inc" and "Hershey Inc" returned zero results. New York: 1 against 17. Florida and Delaware already strip the suffix on their own.
• The rule: search without the suffix. If there are too many results, use the entity-type filter (required in NY, optional in MI and UT) or "Exact Match" (NC, UT). Do not add the suffix.

Reading the entity type from the file number

An LLC and an Inc. with the same name are two separate records. In Arizona, DESERT BLOOM LANDSCAPING LLC was active while DESERT BLOOM LANDSCAPING, INC. was inactive.

Status glossary

There is no single "inactive". These are the words we saw on the portals, as written:

• Active / Current-Active / Good Standing: NC "Current-Active", AR "Good Standing", MI "Active" plus a separate "AR Standing: Good/Not Good". An active label does not show tax debt.
• Inactive / INACT: NY, UT and VA "Inactive", FL "INACT" and "INACT/UA"; VA uses "Released" for fictitious names. The reason is on its own line ("Reason for Status" in NY and VA).
• Dissolved / Revoked: NC keeps "Dissolved" and "Revoked" separate. MI separates "Dissolved - Certificate of Dissolution" (voluntary) from "Dissolved - Operation of Law" (forced). UT uses "Voluntarily" and "Administratively Dissolved". WA uses "ADMINISTRATIVELY DISSOLVED".
• Terminated / Expired / Not Current: WA "TERMINATED"; UT and AR "Expired"; AR "Not Current".
• Suspended / Forfeited: a separate filter in NY. In CA the reason is in the label: "Suspended - FTB" (the Franchise Tax Board), "Suspended - FTB/SOS", "Forfeited - FTB". CA also uses "Merged Out".
• Merged / Withdrawn: MI "Existence Ceased - Merged", "Withdrawn - Certificate of Withdrawal".
• Delinquent: a report is late, but the company is not closed. Example: Summit Construction LLC (CO), delinquent since 2006.
• Delaware: the free page gives no status. "NOT A STATEMENT OF GOOD STANDING".
• A foreign registration's status is not the company's own status. Captain D's, LLC was formed in Delaware and is registered in Tennessee. The two statuses are read separately.

Where officer and director names appear

The third-party sources we tested do not show this. In Kentucky, the portal page for HUMANA INC. (0154092) had 31 role rows and 9 pages of documents. In our September 20, 2026 test, two third-party data APIs returned no officer field for that same record.

If you want an officer list, Virginia (with the director flag and update date), Florida, North Carolina, Utah, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arkansas give it on the front of the record. New York gives one name. Delaware and California give none. To find the executives of a Delaware company, look at the state where it is registered as a foreign corporation (Pfizer: the CEO in NY, 25 principals in UT).

Foreign corporation to home state

• If the record says "Foreign", the company was formed in another state. Read the jurisdiction line: NY "Jurisdiction: Delaware", UT "Jurisdiction: DE", CA and PA "Formed In", AR "State of Origin: DE", NC "Citizenship: Domestic", WA "Jurisdiction: UNITED STATES, WASHINGTON".
• Then search the same name in that state. The file number will be different (Pfizer: NY DOS ID 69033, DE File Number 383418).
• The home state does not always show more. Delaware gives no officers and no status for free, so it offers quite limited information.

Corporation lookup versus LLC lookup

• In all 11 states it is the same portal and the same list. Corporations, LLCs, LPs and nonprofits come together. Florida mixes in trademarks. Michigan and Utah mix in DBAs.
• The entity-type filter is required only in New York. Arkansas defaults to "All Types". Michigan and Utah make it optional.
• LLCs have their own guide: LLC lookup.

Official corporation lookup by state

Every link goes to the official state search. The Officers on the record column is filled only for the 11 states we tested on October 8, 2026.

Texas has two different services. The Texas link below opens the Comptroller's free Franchise Tax Account Status Search. Texas SOSDirect charges for searches; use the official service and fee information for current access details.

Jump to a state guide

Already know the state? Open its guide for the official link plus a walkthrough of that registry's search flow.

Corporation lookup FAQ

Who owns a corporation?

State registries do not show shareholders. A record shows officers, directors or only a registered agent, and none of those people has to be an owner. For public companies, holders of more than 5% appear in SEC EDGAR (13D/13G). For a private company, ownership is not public. See the business owner lookup guide for what records do and do not prove.

How do I check if a company is a corporation?

Look at the type line on the record: NY "Domestic/Foreign Business Corporation", CA "Stock Corporation - CA - General", UT "Foreign Business Corporation", DE "Entity Kind: Corporation", and the type column in WA and NC. In Utah, the last four digits of the entity number encode the type. "Inc." in the name is not enough. In Michigan, a DBA match can take you to a different company.

Is a corporation search free?

Searching is free in all 11 states. The document list is free PDFs in FL, NC, MI, WA and UT. In Delaware, status costs $10 and filing history $20. Texas SOSDirect charges per search.

Why does the corporation not show up?

Drop the suffix (in Utah, "Inc" alone produced zero results). Is it the right state? In New York, did you select an entity type in the Entity list? In Delaware, did you hit the 50-result cap? Are you searching by a DBA name?

Corporation search versus SEC EDGAR

EDGAR covers only companies that report to the SEC. State registries cover every corporation but do not show shareholders. The two answer different questions.

Sources reviewed

• Official corporation search portals of New York, Michigan, Florida, Washington, North Carolina, Delaware, Utah, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, California and Virginia, visited October 8, 2026. Portal links come from the synced EntitySearch.us state dataset; per-state verification dates appear on each state guide.
• Our own measurements of third-party data APIs against portal records (KY, FL, CA, AZ, CT, CO, TN), September 20, 2026.
• California Secretary of State: business search field and status definitions, reviewed October 8, 2026.

EntitySearch.us is an independent reference site. It is not a government agency, is not affiliated with any Secretary of State office, and does not operate an official business registry.