What Happens When a Domain Expires?
Last updated
Table of Contents
A domain expires when its registration period ends without a renewal. An expired domain becomes inactive immediately: your website, email, and other services that use it stop working, and you cannot make changes to the domain. You can usually still renew it at the regular renewal price until the Renew By date shown on your account’s Expired Domains page, and restore it for an extra fee after that.
Expiration timeline
For most generic top-level domains (gTLDs), an expired domain moves through these stages. The length of each stage depends on the TLD, so use the dates shown in your DNSimple account rather than a fixed number of days.
| Stage | When it starts | What you can do | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grace period | The expiration date | Renew the domain until the Renew By date on the Expired Domains page | Regular renewal price |
| Redemption period | After the Renew By date | Restore the domain before the date shown on the domain’s page. This is usually 30 days for gTLDs | Renewal price plus a restore fee |
| Pending delete | After the redemption period ends | Nothing. The domain cannot be recovered | Not applicable |
| Available | 5 days after pending delete starts | Anyone can register the domain | Registration price |
Country code TLDs (ccTLDs) and auto-renew only domains can skip some or all of these stages.
Why domains expire
Domain registrations are time-limited contracts between you and the domain registry. When the registration period ends, the domain expires unless it has been renewed. This expiration mechanism ensures that abandoned or unused domains can eventually return to the available pool for others to register. The expiration process also protects registrants by providing recovery periods before a domain is permanently released.
To reactivate an expired domain, take a look at our article on how to renew a domain.
Warning
Certain domain names are auto-renew only and cannot be renewed manually. For these domains there is no grace period. Once they’ve expired it’s not possible to recover them.
ICANN TLDs
Grace period
After a domain expires, it enters a grace period. In this period, the domain is disabled but it’s still possible to renew it from the DNSimple account at no extra cost.
The last day to renew is the Renew By date, listed next to each domain on the Expired Domains page in your DNSimple account. The length of the grace period depends on the TLD, and there is no guaranteed grace period. Once a domain expires, our registrar partners may dispose of it at any time according to the registration agreement. After the grace period elapses, the domain may go into its redemption period.
The grace period exists to give registrants a chance to recover domains that expired unintentionally, such as due to payment issues or missed renewal reminders. During this period, DNS resolution typically stops working because the domain is disabled at the registry level. This means websites, email, and other services that depend on the domain will not function until the domain is renewed.
Renewal years are always added to the end of the current registration period (i.e., the new expiration date is the same whether you renew two months early or the day before expiration), so you will never lose time on your domain by renewing early.
Transferring away expired domain
ICANN’s rules and regulations permit expired generic top-level domains to be transferred to another registrar, provided the domain is still in its grace period. Transfers must complete before the domain falls into its redemption period.
If you need to transfer an expired domain away, please contact us at support@dnsimple.com, or through the contact page, and we’ll help you through the process.
Warning
These rules do not apply to country code TLDs (ccTLDs).
Redemption period
After a domain has passed through any applicable grace period, the domain may go into redemption status.
The redemption period begins after the registrar has issued a delete request to the registry. Only the previous registrant can recover the domain during this time, and it must be retrieved through the previous registrar. The redemption period is named differently for some TLDs. The .org equivalent, for example, is “Pending Delete - Restorable,” which is not the same as the final pending delete stage.
The redemption period is a final safety mechanism that prevents accidental permanent loss of a domain. During redemption, the domain cannot be transferred to another registrar or registered by anyone else. Recovery during this period requires a restoration fee, which is higher than standard renewal fees because it involves reversing the deletion process at the registry level. This fee compensates for the additional administrative work required to restore a domain that has been marked for deletion.
The domain’s page in your DNSimple account shows the restore fee and the date you must restore it by. To reactivate a domain in redemption status, see Restore a Domain. If you try to renew the domain and see a message that it can no longer be renewed and must now be restored, see Domain in redemption period.
Deletion period
“Pending Delete” refers to the 5-day time frame after redemption. During this time the registry holds the domain and it cannot be recovered. Once the Registry deletes the domain it’s available on a first-come first-served basis for anyone to purchase as a new domain.
The deletion period is the final stage before a domain is permanently released. This period allows registries to process the deletion and update their systems. Once a domain enters this period, there is no way to recover it, even by the original registrant. After deletion, the domain becomes available for registration by anyone, and there is no guarantee that the previous owner will be able to register it again.
Non-ICANN TLDs
TLDs outside ICANN regulations, such as .UK, .IO, .SH, etc. may not follow the rules mentioned above. They may or may not provide a grace period and a redemption period. If they do, the length of the period may be different.
Country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) are managed by their respective country registries, not ICANN. Each registry sets its own policies regarding expiration, grace periods, and redemption. Some ccTLDs have more lenient recovery periods, while others may delete domains immediately upon expiration. This variation exists because each country’s registry operates under different legal frameworks and business models.
Warning
ccTLDs have special renewal rules and will be renewed before their expiry if our auto renew feature is being used.
Moreover, some TLDs have no additional periods after the expiration and they are immediately deleted.
A registry can also delete a domain before it expires. For example, DENIC deletes a .DE domain when the holder does not complete verification. See What Happens When a Registry Deletes a Domain?.
Have more questions?
If you have any questions about domain expiration, grace periods, or recovery, just contact support, and we’ll be happy to help. You can also read more about domain registration at DNSimple.