When a domain expires, your registrar first sends reminders, then stops it from resolving, so your website and email go dark. For a while you can still renew at the normal price. After the registrar deletes it, most generic domains enter a 30-day redemption period with a restore fee, after which it may be released for anyone to register.
| Stage | What happens | Can you get it back? |
|---|---|---|
| Before expiry | Reminders about one month and one week ahead | Yes, normal renewal |
| Just after expiry | Another reminder within five days | Yes, usually normal renewal |
| Post-expiration period | DNS stops resolving for at least the last 8 days of it | Yes, the registrar's renewal price |
| Redemption grace period | 30 days after deletion, DNS stays off | Yes, with a redemption fee |
| Released | The name returns to the open market | Only by registering it again, if still free |
Updated
Letting a domain lapse is one of the quietest ways a small business loses its website and its inbox at the same time. The rules for generic names such as .com, .net and .org come from ICANN's Expired Registration Recovery Policy (ERRP), but each registrar sets how long it waits before deleting and what it charges. Enter your expiry date below to see the dates that matter, then check them against your registrar's own terms. Country domains such as .uk or .ca follow their own registries' rules.
Dates are worked out in your browser from what you enter. Reminder dates are approximate, as in the policy.
Expiry date
Days your registrar keeps it renewable after expiry
Look this up in your registrar's expiration policy. 30 is only a starting value.
A WHOIS or RDAP lookup shows the registry expiry date. On macOS or Linux you can run this in a terminal.
The line to look for is usually named Registry Expiry Date.
whois example.com | grep -i "expir"ICANN's policy sets minimums: when reminders go out, how long DNS must be interrupted, and the 30-day redemption period after deletion. It does not fix how long a registrar keeps an expired name before deleting it, so one registrar may delete after a few days and another after weeks.
That gap is why the widget asks for your registrar's number instead of assuming one.
Once renewed, the registrar restores your nameservers, and resolvers pick up the answers again as cached records expire. Check that your website host and email provider still have your domain connected, because some remove it after repeated failed checks.
If the domain was restored from redemption, confirm the nameservers are the ones you had before; a parking setup can linger.
Not always on day one, but soon. The ERRP requires the registrar to interrupt DNS for at least the last eight days the name can still be renewed, and many registrars switch it to a parking page earlier. Any parking page must say the name has expired and explain how to renew.
Yes. Email depends on the same DNS as the website. Once the registrar interrupts resolution, senders cannot find your MX records, so new messages bounce or are delayed until the domain is restored.
A 30-day window after the registrar deletes a generic domain, during which the person who held it at expiry can still have it restored. The ERRP requires gTLD registries other than sponsored ones to offer it. DNS stays off and a redemption fee applies.
It depends on the registrar. The ERRP does not set a price; it requires registrars to publish their renewal, post-expiration renewal and redemption fees on their website and in the registration agreement.
During the redemption period only the previous holder can restore it through the registrar. Before that, what the registrar may do with an expired name is set by its own agreement, so read it. After redemption ends without a restore, the name is released and anyone can register it.
Related: How to buy a domain, How much a domain costs, Best domain registrars, DNS propagation checker, MX records explained.
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