Texas Business Entity Search
By Edmond Hui · Last updated October 5, 2026
The short answer. The Texas Secretary of State (Corporations Section) keeps Texas's register of business entities. The official search is the state's “SOSPortal”, reached through the Secretary of State's Rules of Use page on webservices.sos.state.tx.us. The state charges a fee to search.
Texas Business Entity Search at a Glance
| Register kept by | The Texas Secretary of State (Corporations Section) |
| Official search | SOSPortal |
| Cost to search | The state charges a fee |
| Search by | Not confirmed |
| Filed documents online | Yes |
| Copy fee | See Documents |
| Certifying a copy | See Documents |
| Name reservation | Not confirmed |
| Name reservation fee | $40.00 |
| Bulk data | Available, for a fee |
Read from the government sources listed at the foot of this page, last checked October 5, 2026. See the sources.
How to Search Texas's Register
The official search is the state's “SOSPortal”, reached through the Secretary of State's Rules of Use page on webservices.sos.state.tx.us. The state charges a fee to search. You need an account to search. Open the official search.
We have not confirmed which fields Texas's main search page lets you search by; check the search page.
The state also runs separate search pages:
- Franchise Tax Account Status Search (Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts), to search by entity or filing number, or by entity name.
What a Search Result Shows
A Texas result includes the items below, according to the state's own pages or a result page we read. It may show more.
- Status
- Entity type
- Formation or registration date
- Registered agent or registered office
- Officers or managers
- Filing history
- Images of filed documents
What Each Texas Status Means
The status is the label the register puts on each entity. Where the state defines a label, the meaning below restates that definition, with a link to the state page it comes from. Where it does not, we do not guess from the word, because the same word can mean different things in different states.
| Status label | What it means | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| “In Existence” Named on direct.sos.state.tx.us | An active status meaning the entity has not dissolved, forfeited its formation document, withdrawn, terminated, merged, converted or otherwise ended its existence. Based on the definition at direct.sos.state.tx.us | All entities |
| “RA Notice Sent” Named on direct.sos.state.tx.us | An active status meaning the entity's registered agent has resigned and no new agent has been appointed, or it has been alleged that the entity is not maintaining a registered agent and the entity has been sent notice to name a new one. Based on the definition at direct.sos.state.tx.us | All entities |
| “Forfeited Existence” Named on direct.sos.state.tx.us | An inactive status meaning the company failed to file its franchise tax return or to pay the tax due. The Secretary of State changes the status when it receives certification of the delinquency from the Comptroller of Public Accounts. Based on the definition at direct.sos.state.tx.us | LLCs |
| “Voluntarily Dissolved” Named on direct.sos.state.tx.us | An inactive status meaning a Texas entity has filed articles of dissolution or a certificate of termination to end its existence. Based on the definition at direct.sos.state.tx.us | Entities formed in Texas |
| “Voluntarily Terminated” Named on direct.sos.state.tx.us | An inactive status meaning a Texas entity has filed articles of dissolution or a certificate of termination to end its existence. Based on the definition at direct.sos.state.tx.us | Entities formed in Texas |
| “Involuntarily Dissolved” Named on direct.sos.state.tx.us | An inactive status meaning a Texas corporation, professional corporation, professional association or limited liability company was administratively dissolved or terminated for failing to maintain a registered agent, file a report, or pay a fee. Based on the definition at direct.sos.state.tx.us | Entities formed in Texas |
| “Involuntarily Terminated” Named on direct.sos.state.tx.us | An inactive status meaning a Texas corporation, professional corporation, professional association or limited liability company was administratively dissolved or terminated for failing to maintain a registered agent, file a report, or pay a fee. Based on the definition at direct.sos.state.tx.us | Entities formed in Texas |
| “Judicially Dissolved” Named on direct.sos.state.tx.us | An inactive status meaning a Texas entity was dissolved or terminated by a court order. Based on the definition at direct.sos.state.tx.us | Entities formed in Texas |
| “Judicially Terminated” Named on direct.sos.state.tx.us | An inactive status meaning a Texas entity was dissolved or terminated by a court order. Based on the definition at direct.sos.state.tx.us | Entities formed in Texas |
| “Revoked” Named on direct.sos.state.tx.us | An inactive status meaning a foreign corporation's certificate of authority was administratively revoked for failing to maintain a registered agent, file a report, or pay a fee. Based on the definition at direct.sos.state.tx.us | Corporations |
| “Expired” Named on direct.sos.state.tx.us | An inactive status showing that a domestic corporation or limited liability company formed for a specified period of duration has reached the end of it. Based on the definition at direct.sos.state.tx.us | Entities formed in Texas |
| “Withdrawn” Named on direct.sos.state.tx.us | An inactive status meaning a foreign entity has surrendered its authority to transact business in Texas by filing an application for withdrawal. Based on the definition at direct.sos.state.tx.us | Entities formed in another state |
| “Terminated” Named on direct.sos.state.tx.us | An inactive status meaning a foreign entity has filed notice that its existence has ended in its jurisdiction of formation. Based on the definition at direct.sos.state.tx.us | Entities formed in another state |
| “Merged” Named on direct.sos.state.tx.us | An inactive status meaning the entity has ended its existence by merging into another entity. Based on the definition at direct.sos.state.tx.us | All entities |
| “Converted” Named on direct.sos.state.tx.us | An inactive status meaning the entity has converted into another type of entity or to another jurisdiction of domestication. Based on the definition at direct.sos.state.tx.us | All entities |
| “Consolidated” Named on direct.sos.state.tx.us | An inactive status meaning a Texas nonprofit corporation has been consolidated with one or more other nonprofit corporations. Based on the definition at direct.sos.state.tx.us | Corporations |
| “Law Repealed” Named on direct.sos.state.tx.us | An inactive status meaning the law that applied to the entity has been repealed, so the entity had to file under another statute or its records moved to another agency. Based on the definition at direct.sos.state.tx.us | All entities |
This list is not complete. It holds the labels we found on the state's status definitions page, and the register may show others. Where the same label also has its own row for corporations, only the row that covers LLCs is shown.
If the search shows that your own LLC was dissolved, see how to reinstate an LLC in Texas.
A search result is not a certificate of good standing. If a bank or another state asks for one, see how to get a Texas certificate of good standing.
Viewing and Ordering Documents
Filed documents can be viewed online. We have not confirmed whether viewing them is free.
Plain copies cost $0.10 per page. Certified copies cost $1.00 per page plus $15.00 for the certificate.
Is the Name Available?
We have not confirmed how Texas wants you to check whether a name is available. The state says any name check before you file is only preliminary, not a formal decision that the name is available.
The state's naming standard, in its own words: “distinguishable in the records of the secretary of state.”
We have not confirmed whether Texas requires a name reservation before you file. A name reservation costs $40.00.
Our free LLC name checker looks up domain and social media handle availability for a name. It does not search Texas's register, so check the state's search as well.
Bulk Business Entity Data
Texas offers bulk business entity data for a fee. The Secretary of State sells bulk business entity data, including master unloads and daily or weekly filing updates.
Worth Knowing in Texas
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts runs a separate Franchise Tax Account Status search by taxpayer number, entity name or Secretary of State file number. The Comptroller says that status provides the status of an entity's right to transact business in Texas, which is a different record from the entity's status with the Secretary of State. The status definitions on this page come from help pages written for the older SOSDirect tool, and the labels in SOSPortal may differ.
Ready to form? See what goes on the Texas articles of organization.
Frequently Asked Questions
This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state's business entity filing office publishes about searching its register, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you whether a particular business is active, authorized or reliable: read the state's own record for that, and search tools, status labels and fees change between our reviews. Confirm anything you rely on with the filing office named on this page before you act on it.
Sources
Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Texas sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so. Where we hold the citation but no stable public link, the citation is printed on its own rather than pointed at a guessed address.
- sos.state.tx.us/corp/index.shtmlBusiness Services (Corporations Section)
- sos.state.tx.us/corp/sosda/index.shtmlSOSPortal - Business Filings
- webservices.sos.state.tx.us/termsandconditions/tac.htmlWelcome to the Texas Secretary of State Portal
- sos.state.tx.us/modernization.shtmlSOS Modernization Program
- sos.state.tx.us/corp/bf-guide.shtmlBusiness Filings External User Guide
- direct.sos.state.tx.us/help/help-corp.asp?pg=ovBusiness Organizations Defined Terms
- sos.state.tx.us/corp/forms/806_boc.pdfForm 806, Business Filings & Trademarks Fee Schedule (Revised 09/26)
- direct.sos.state.tx.us/help/help-corp.asp?pg=orderBusiness Organizations Web Orders Overview
- sos.state.tx.us/corp/namefilingsfaqs.shtmlName Filings FAQs
- comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/franchise/account-status/searchFranchise Tax Account Status Search
- comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/franchise/coas-instructions.phpFranchise Tax Account Status
- Name standard: Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code 5.053; 1 Tex. Admin. Code ch. 79, subch. C
Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC
Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.