About name ownership: who controls a name
Note: The ENS App and ENS Explorer are both currently on Sepolia testnet. Behaviour and available features may change before mainnet.
Who owns an ENS name?
The owner of an ENS name is the address that holds its underlying token. Every registered name is issued as an NFT — an ERC-721 for unwrapped .eth names, an ERC-1155 for wrapped names and ENSv2 names. Holding the NFT is what makes you the owner. Transfer the NFT and you transfer the name.
Ownership is recorded on Ethereum, not in any app's database. The ENS App and ENS Explorer both read the same on-chain ownership state — neither one "knows" who owns a name in any other sense.
What's the difference between Admin, Manager, and Owner?
ENS splits control into three concepts that overlap but aren't the same:
Owner — the address that holds the NFT. Ultimate authority over the name. Can grant and revoke roles to other wallets.
Manager — a role-level permission. A wallet with Manager on a given action (set records, change resolver, renew) can perform that action but can't re-delegate it to anyone else.
Admin — a higher role-level permission. A wallet with Admin on a given action can perform it AND can grant the same action to other wallets.
By default, all three line up: the wallet that registered the name is the owner and holds both Admin and Manager on every action. They diverge when an owner deliberately grants roles to other wallets — for example, to delegate management to a team account while keeping the NFT in cold storage. For the full list of grantable roles and how to grant them, see Who can manage my name? Roles in ENS Explorer.
How do I know what role I have?
Two places to look:
In ENS Explorer, every name has a Roles tab that lists every wallet with permissions on the name, with
AdminandManagerpills per role. Opening a name page in Explorer and going to Roles is the source of truth for who can do what today.For names not owned by the connected wallet, the ENS App's dashboard
MANAGEDfilter shows an explainer banner:These name(s) are owned by a different wallet than the one you're connected with. To edit permissions and roles, visit the ENS Explorer ↗. That's the cross-app handoff for role management.
Can someone else hold a role on my name?
Yes — that's the whole point of the role system. As the owner you can grant Manager or Admin permissions on specific actions to other wallets, without giving up ownership of the NFT itself. Common reasons:
A team account that handles renewals while the NFT stays in cold storage.
A trusted second wallet that can edit records on your behalf.
A delegate who can re-delegate further (Admin) for a community-managed name.
Granting roles happens in ENS Explorer via the Add user form on a name's Roles tab. Revoking works the same way. The NFT — and so the ultimate authority — stays with you unless you transfer it. See Who can manage my name? Roles in ENS Explorer.