Massachusetts Business Entity Search

Official agency: Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Corporations Division

Open Official Government SearchOpens corp.sec.state.ma.us in a new tab. This is the official government site, not EntityLocator.

Direct links on the official site

Search methods offered

Entity nameEnter a name and choose a search type: Begins with, Exact match, Full text or Soundex.
Individual nameEnter first, middle and last name to look for an officer, director or similar person. The same search-type dropdown appears, but the official help describes Full text as an entity-name option, so it may not work for individual names.
Identification numberMust contain 9 digits. The official help says this can open the entity summary directly.
Filing numberThe official help says this can reach the filings screen directly.

How to search

Open the official Massachusetts business entity search using the button above.
Choose a search option: Entity Name (selected by default), Individual Name, Identification Number or Filing Number.
For a name search, enter the name and choose a search type: Begins with, Exact match, Full text or Soundex.
Choose how many results to show per page: 25, 50 or 100.
Select Search Corporations.
Review the results. Several records can share a similar name, so compare ID numbers and addresses before choosing one.
Select a business name to open its Business Entity Summary.
To see filings, choose ALL FILINGS or a filing category under “View filings for this business entity”, then select View filings. If a filing has a PDF link, use it to open the document.

What you can expect to find

The results list showed entity name (linked to the summary), ID number, old ID number and address, with a record count, sortable columns, Print results and New Search. It did not show status, entity type or formation date.
A Business Entity Summary can show the exact entity name, entity type, current and old identification numbers, registration and organization dates, principal office, registered agent, officers and directors, fiscal year information and stock information, along with a filing selector and a Request certificate option.
The filings page listed the name of each filing, year filed, date filed, filing number and a View PDF column.

Limitations, fees and notices

Basic public searches are free. The official search assistance states that public search is available to everyone without charge, 24 hours a day.
Certificates and copies are separate from the free search and have their own fees. See the official filing fees and certified-copy instructions linked below, and do not rely on this page for current amounts.
The official help says JavaScript must be enabled and per-session cookies must be allowed, and it describes a 20-minute session-cookie timeout.
Field details can vary. The record we reviewed was a single foreign corporation: it showed an involuntary revocation date instead of a general “Status” field, and it listed a Massachusetts registration date separately from an organization date. Other entity types may show different fields, and some sections can be blank.
Not every listed filing has an online PDF link. Some entries show only an index number and page count.
The summary notes that additional information may be located in the Card File. The filings page shows a retention notice that refers to a ten-year period for annual reports and no-fee changes, with a stated cutoff of December 31, 2002.

Sources and research notes

Sources reviewed: November 3, 2026. Official sites change; always confirm current details on the government site.

Research for this guide used the official Massachusetts site in a web browser. The name search, a business summary and a filing list were tested; the other search options were inspected but not submitted.