Domain Expiry

Domain expiry is the date on which your domain registration ends if it is not renewed before or on that date. What happens after expiry follows a specific timeline understanding it can prevent permanent loss of a domain name you’ve built a business around.

The expiry timeline

Domain expiry is not an instant event. Most TLDs follow a staged process:

Day 0 Expiry date: The domain registration period officially ends. Depending on the registrar’s policy, the domain may stop resolving immediately or continue working for a short grace period (registrars often provide a few days of grace).

Days 1–30 Renewal grace period (typical): The domain is still recoverable at the standard renewal price. Your website and email may continue to work or may be suspended depends on the registrar. You can renew during this period at normal cost.

Days 31–60 Redemption period: The registry has placed the domain in “Redemption Grace Period” (RGP). The domain is no longer publicly accessible. To recover it, you must pay a redemption fee (typically £50–200 on top of renewal) because the registry charges the registrar for the redemption process. This is significantly more expensive than renewing before expiry.

Days 61–75 Pending delete: The domain is queued for deletion. Recovery is extremely difficult or impossible during this period. The domain is not yet available for public registration.

Day 76+ Released to public: The domain is deleted and available for registration by anyone. Domain resellers and “drop catchers” often register valuable expired domains within seconds of release.

Note: Exact timelines vary by TLD. .co.uk (Nominet) has a different expiry policy Nominet cancels the domain after the registration end date but allows re-registration for 30 days by the previous registrant before public release.

How to prevent accidental expiry

Enable auto-renewal: Every registrar offers auto-renewal, which charges the renewal fee to your payment method on or before the expiry date. This is the safest option for domains you need to keep. Ensure your payment method is current a failed auto-renewal charge is the most common cause of accidental expiry.

Set calendar reminders: Set a reminder 60 days before expiry to verify auto-renewal is configured and the payment method is valid.

Check expiry dates for all domains: If you manage multiple domains across multiple registrars, audit expiry dates annually. Domain management tools (Cloudflare, centralized registrars) provide expiry visibility in one dashboard.

ICANN notification emails: ICANN requires registrars to send renewal reminder emails to the registrant email address at 30 days and 7 days before expiry. Ensure your registrant email is current and that these emails aren’t going to spam.

What happens to email and website when a domain expires

Website: DNS records stop resolving. Visitors receive “Site can’t be reached” or NXDOMAIN errors. CDN and hosting continue to exist but the domain no longer points to them.

Email: MX records stop resolving. Inbound email bounces. Outbound email from @yourdomain.com addresses may fail. Any emails sent to your domain during the expiry period are permanently lost they do not queue and deliver when the domain is recovered.

SSL certificates: HTTPS stops working because the SSL certificate is issued for a specific domain. After domain recovery, the SSL certificate may need to be reissued.

Recovering an expired domain

If your domain enters the redemption period:

Contact your registrar immediately
Pay the redemption fee (£50–200 for most gTLDs)
Domain is restored within 24–72 hours
Renew normally for the next registration period

If the domain has been released and registered by someone else, recovery typically requires contacting the new registrant (who may want to sell it at a premium) or pursuing a UDRP dispute if you have trademark rights.