Domain expired: how to get it back

1. What "domain expired" means

Your domain name (YourWebsite.com) is rented, usually a year at a time. When the rental ends and nobody pays, it has expired.

Your website

Stops loading. Visitors usually see a "parked" page from the company you bought the domain from, or an error such as "This site can't be reached". ICANN, which oversees domain names, says that if your registrar shows a page during this time, it must say the domain has expired and how to renew it.

Your email

Stops too. Addresses at your domain stop working (GoDaddy says any connected email stops). See what a lapsed domain does to email.

Your files

Usually still safe. Your web host's copy of your site isn't deleted just because the domain expired. Namecheap says files in a hosting account are unaffected.

Nothing has been hacked and your site isn't deleted. The price of getting it back rises with time, so act today.

2. Find who you bought it from

Only the company that holds your domain (your "registrar") can renew it. Often it's not who you think: a web designer or an old employee may have bought it.

1. Search your email for your domain name and "renew", "invoice" or "expire". The company's name is usually on those.
2. Go to lookup.icann.org, ICANN's free lookup, type your domain and look for the registrar and the expiration date. ICANN's advice is to contact your registrar, or the reseller you bought through, right away.
3. Still stuck? Ask whoever built your site. See how to check your domain's expiry date for more ways to see the date.

A reseller (a web host or designer who sold you the domain) may hold it in their account, not yours. Use the message at the end of this page.

3. The stages after it expires

For .com, .net, .org and the other generic endings, ICANN's rules set the shape. The exact days depend on your registrar, so read the numbers as a guide.

Grace period

Your registrar may allow a stretch of 1 to 45 days after expiry when you can still renew at the normal price. ICANN calls it the auto-renew grace period. Some registrars give none. Your website and email can stop during it.

Redemption period

After the name is deleted, ICANN's rules give a further 30 days when the registrar can still restore it for you, for a restore fee (also called a redemption fee) on top of the renewal price. The website and email stay off, and ordinary transfers are blocked.

Pending delete

Five days when the name can't be restored.

Released

The name goes back on the market. Anyone can register it, first come, first served.

Namecheap says generic domains are usually released 70 to 80 days after expiry, and rarely up to 120. Other registrars set their own timing. Fees differ by registrar: ICANN requires each one to publish its renewal and restore fees, so look for them on your registrar's site.

4. Renew now, or restore later

• In the grace period: you renew at the normal price, usually in a few clicks in your account. Do this if you can.
• In the redemption period: you pay for the renewal plus the restore fee, and some registrars make you contact support. It costs much more, so don't wait for it.
• After that: you can't get the name back from your registrar. See the "not available" section below.

GoDaddy says renewing your domain does not renew your email or website. Check each one with the company that sells it to you.

5. At GoDaddy

GoDaddy says the domain is parked about 5 days after it expires, and any connected website or email stops working. It's no longer active in your account about 18 days after, and renewing from then adds a redemption fee. GoDaddy adds that it removes the domain from your account about 72 days after expiry and you can't renew it any more.

1. Sign in to your GoDaddy Domain Portfolio. If you can't see the domain, select Expiration above the list to show only expired ones.
2. Select the expired domain to open Domain Settings.
3. In the Renew card, select Renew Now.
4. Choose your settings, tick Turn on Auto-renew if you want it, and select Continue. Then finish at checkout.

GoDaddy lists expired domains for auction about 26 days after expiry. GoDaddy says country-code domains have their own expiration process and aren't on this timeline.

6. At Namecheap

Namecheap says generic domains such as .com get about 30 days to renew at the regular price, then a 30-day redemption period that costs extra. Website and email stay off meanwhile, and a Namecheap parking page replaces your site.

1. Sign in and select Expiring/Expired in the left sidebar.
2. Find the domain, add it to your cart and click View Cart.
3. Click Confirm Order and finish checkout.

• If you renew late, Namecheap adds one year to the original expiry date, not to the day you pay.
• Allow 24 to 48 hours for your website to come back.
• Not in Expiring/Expired? Then it has probably passed the grace period. Namecheap says that in redemption you check its pricing table, add that amount to your account balance (the redemption price plus a $0.20 ICANN fee for generic endings), then contact Support, who complete it. Nothing can be changed on the domain meanwhile.

7. At Squarespace Domains

Squarespace says that in the grace period you reactivate at the current domain price with no extra fee. It's 30 days for domains Squarespace registers itself and 40 days for some others. After that you may pay a redemption fee on top, which varies by ending, shows in your order summary at checkout, and Squarespace says it can't waive or refund.

1. Log in to the domain owner's account and open your domains dashboard.
2. Click the expired domain, then Update payment information in the yellow banner, then Subscriptions.
3. Click Retry payment to use the same card, or Update payment info to use a new one.
4. Check the order summary and click Confirm payment.

It can take up to 48 hours for the domain to point at your site again. A Squarespace website plan is separate: see Squarespace "Website expired".

8. "Domain expired but not available"

You can't renew, or the name shows as taken. Work out which of these it is:

It's in redemption

It's not on the open market, and it only looks gone because your registrar's renew button has vanished. Contact the registrar's support today and ask about restoring it.

It's at auction

Some registrars sell expired names before releasing them. GoDaddy lists them about 26 days after expiry, and says that if there's an active bid the owner may not be able to renew from about day 30. Ask your registrar right away whether yours does this.

It was released and someone registered it

Then it's theirs, and your registrar can't hand it back. Look it up at lookup.icann.org to see who it's with. You can contact the owner to ask if they'd sell it, but expect to pay and don't count on it.

A "backorder" is a paid request to a company to try to grab a name the moment it's released. GoDaddy's own help says a backorder doesn't guarantee you'll get the name, and calls the service a legacy product that's no longer sold. If the name is your registered trademark and someone is sitting on it in bad faith, ICANN describes a dispute process for trademark holders; that is a job for a lawyer.

If you can't get it back, the realistic way out is a new domain, a new email address, and telling customers (social media, signs, your Google Business listing) where you've moved. Your site files, if your host still has them, can be pointed at the new domain.

9. Country-code endings work differently

Everything above is for generic endings (.com, .net, .org and similar). Country endings such as .uk, .de or .au follow their own country's registry rules, and some have no grace period at all.

• Namecheap says .uk gets a 30-day grace period at the regular price, then a redemption period with no redemption fee, and is released at 90 days.
• It says .com.au, .org.au and .net.au domains must be renewed 12 days before they expire, and .de, .eu and .nl at least 5 days before. Late ones can go straight to redemption.
• Namecheap says .to can only be reactivated in the 27 days after expiry and has no redemption stage.

Check your registrar's help page for your ending, or the registry that runs it (IANA's list names who runs each ending).

10. Beware of renewal letters and emails

People whose domain is about to expire get fake "final notice" letters and emails asking them to pay a different company or "transfer" the name. Real reminders come from the company you bought from: ICANN requires your registrar to send at least two before expiry, and one more within five days after.

• Don't pay an invoice or click a link in a letter or email. Log in to your registrar yourself.
• A sender that isn't your registrar is very likely a scam.

More in Spot domain renewal scams.

11. Stop it happening again

• Turn on auto-renew and check the card on the account hasn't expired.
• Put an email address you read on the account. ICANN says your contact details must be up to date for the reminders to reach you.
• Run Site health any time to see your renewal date, or put it in your calendar. (Site Watch, coming later, will check it every night.)
• Or use the Domain expiry checker: the registry's date, the registrar and the days left, and whether the name is on hold or in redemption.

The full routine is in Keep your domain name renewed.