Your domain name is the address of your business on the internet. If it expires, your website stops working, your email stops arriving, and in the worst case someone else registers it. It happens to small businesses and to large companies, and it is almost always a mistake, not a decision.

What typically happens after expiry

The exact rules depend on the domain ending (.com, .net, .org, country domains) and on your registrar, but the stages are usually similar:

  1. Expiry. The domain stops working, often within hours or days. Many registrars show a parking page in its place.
  2. Grace period. For many domains there is a period of up to a few weeks in which you can still renew at the normal price.
  3. Redemption period. For many generic domains, a further period of about a month follows, in which you can still get the domain back, usually for a much higher fee.
  4. Deletion and release. After a short final stage the domain is released, and anyone can register it. Domain investors watch for valuable names to drop.

Treat these dates as typical, not guaranteed, and check your own registrar's policy. Some country domains have much stricter rules.

Why domains expire by accident

  • The credit card on file expired or was replaced.
  • Renewal emails went to an address nobody reads, such as a former employee's.
  • The domain was registered by a web agency, a developer or an employee in their own name.
  • Auto-renew was never switched on, or a registrar changed its settings.

If your domain already expired

  • Renew immediately with the registrar where you registered it. If it is within the grace period, this is usually quick and costs the normal price.
  • Contact the registrar's support if renewal is blocked. They can tell you which stage the domain is in and what getting it back costs.
  • Don't register or transfer it elsewhere until you know its status.
  • After it is back, check that DNS, website and email work again, and re-check your certificates.

You can look up when any domain expires with our free domain expiry checker. It shows the registrar, the expiry date and the registry status.

How to avoid losing a domain

  • Turn on auto-renew and keep a valid payment method on file.
  • Register the domain in your own (or your company's) name, with an email address you control.
  • Renew for several years, at least for domains you cannot afford to lose.
  • Turn on registrar lock so the domain cannot be transferred without your approval.
  • Monitor the expiry date. ServerMonitor tracks your domains and warns you well before they expire, with the exact date and the registry status.

A domain costs little to renew and a great deal to lose, so a reminder that reaches you is the cheapest insurance you can buy.