Expired Domains

What happens when my domain expires?

When a domain registration expires, your options for renewal vary based on when your domain expired. On Aug. 31, 2013, ICANN adopted the Expired Registration Recovery Policy (ERRP), which requires registrars to disclose important information to Registrants and prospective customers about expiration notices, fees and redemption procedures. All required information and disclosures currently exist in various locations throughout our website. However, as an aid to Registrants, this article contains links to all required elements in the new policy.

Each domain name extension and its registry rules can affect the renewal process once a domain has expired. Some domains, such as ccTLDs, may have special requirements for renewals.

How to renew expired Domain

We’ll send multiple emails to notify you of expiration within the 30 days prior and 30 days after the expiration date of your domains.

Expiration timeline
Days after domain expiration What happens What you can do
Day of expiration First attempt to renew the domain. Domain can be manually renewed in your account at the standard renewal price.
Day 5 Second attempt to renew the domain. If renewal fails, we park the domain name. This means DNS is interrupted and your email/website will stop working. Domain can be manually renewed in your account at the standard renewal price.
Day 12 Third attempt to renew the domain. Domain can be manually renewed in your account at the standard renewal price.
Day 19 Domain is put on hold and is no longer active in your account. Domain can be manually renewed in your account with applicable redemption fee.
Day 26 Domain is put up for expired domain auction You can manually recover your expired domain name with applicable redemption fee, or place a bid on the domain through auction.
Day 30 If there are no active bids on the domain, it will remain in your account in Expired status. You can manually recover your expired domain name with applicable redemption fee, or place a bid on the domain through auction.
Day 36 If there are no backorders and no bidders in the domain name auction, we list the domain name in a final closeout auction. You can manually recover your expired domain name with applicable redemption fee, or place a bid on the domain through auction.
Day 41 All auctions end. Domain is no longer available to bid on.
Day 42 If there were no successful auction bids or backorders, the domain is removed from your account and returned to the registry You’ll no longer be able to bid on or renew your domain name. You may be able to register the domain after the registry has released it. We’re unable to advise on when the registry might release a domain for registration.

Some domains, such as ccTLDs, may have special requirements for renewals.

Related steps
Make sure you enable auto renew to continue your domain registration uninterrupted.
More info
For full details on ICANN’s policies, you can review the Registrant Rights & Responsibilities Under the 2009 RAA.
ICANN Registrant Benefits & Responsibilities (2013) will be determined upon publication by ICANN.