My Domain Expired: What Happens and How to Recover
TL;DR: Domain expiration happens in stages, and the sooner you act, the easier (and cheaper) recovery is. Most registrars provide a grace period of 1 to 45 days after expiration where you can renew at the normal price. After that comes the redemption period with expensive fees, and finally the domain gets deleted and becomes available to anyone. Prevention is straightforward: enable auto-renewal, keep payment methods current, and monitor your domains independently.
The email your domain registrar sends is easy to ignore. It looks like spam or yet another upsell. Then one day your entire website goes dark, email stops working, and you realize your domain actually expired. It's a sinking feeling, but depending on how much time has passed, recovery is often possible.
What Happens When a Domain Expires
Domain expiration isn't instant deletion. It follows a defined lifecycle managed by ICANN (the organization that coordinates domain names) and your registrar. Understanding this timeline is crucial because your options and costs change dramatically at each phase. The domain moves through a grace period, a redemption period, and finally a pending delete status before becoming available to the public again.
The Domain Expiration Timeline
Day 0: Expiration Date
On the expiration date, most registrars immediately suspend the domain. Your website goes down, email stops working, and visitors see either an error page or a registrar parking page. DNS resolution may continue briefly due to caching, but within hours to days, all services tied to that domain become inaccessible.
Despite the suspension, you still own the domain during this phase. The registrar is essentially saying "pay up" before restoring service.
Days 1-30: Grace Period (Registrar Dependent)
The grace period length varies significantly between registrars. Some offer as little as one day, others up to 45 days. During this time, you can renew the domain at the normal renewal price (typically $10 to $20 for .com domains).
This is your best-case scenario. Contact your registrar, pay the renewal fee, and service is restored within hours, sometimes minutes. No additional fees, no complicated process.
However, your website and email remain down during this period. The domain is suspended until you complete renewal.
Days 30-45: Redemption Period
After the grace period ends, the domain enters the redemption period. You can still recover it, but now you're looking at significantly higher costs. Redemption fees typically range from $80 to $200 on top of the normal renewal fee.
During redemption, the registrar has marked the domain for deletion but hasn't released it yet. Recovery requires the registrar to request reinstatement from the registry, which involves additional fees and paperwork.
Days 45-75: Pending Delete
After the redemption period, the domain enters a five-day pending delete status. During this phase, the domain cannot be renewed, recovered, or transferred. It's in a holding pattern before public release.
You cannot recover your domain during pending delete. Your only option is to wait for it to become available and try to register it quickly, competing with everyone else who might want it.
After Pending Delete: Public Availability
The domain becomes available for anyone to register. Domain squatters and automated registration services often snap up expired domains instantly, especially if they had any traffic, backlinks, or recognizable names.
If your domain reaches this point and gets registered by someone else, you may need to purchase it from the new owner at whatever price they set, pursue legal action if you have trademark claims, or accept that the domain is gone and use an alternative.
How to Recover an Expired Domain
Step 1: Determine Which Phase You're In
Log into your registrar account (or whichever registrar currently holds the domain) and check the domain status. The status will indicate whether you're in the grace period, redemption period, or pending delete.
If you're unsure which registrar holds your domain, use a WHOIS lookup to find the current registrar information.
Step 2: If in Grace Period
This is the easiest scenario. Log into your registrar account, select the expired domain, and complete the renewal process. Pay the standard renewal fee and wait for DNS propagation, which typically takes a few hours but can take up to 48 hours.
If your payment method on file failed, update it and retry. If your account access is blocked, contact registrar support. Most registrars handle grace period renewals routinely.
Step 3: If in Redemption Period
Contact your registrar directly. Redemption period renewal usually requires manual processing. Be prepared to pay the redemption fee (often $100 to $200) plus the renewal fee, verify your identity as the domain owner, and wait longer for restoration, sometimes several days.
If the total cost seems excessive for a domain you can replace, consider whether recovery is worth it versus registering an alternative domain.
Step 4: If in Pending Delete or Already Gone
Your options are limited. You can use a domain backorder service that attempts to register the domain the instant it becomes available, monitor the domain and try to register it manually when released, or contact the new owner if someone else registered it.
Backordering services charge fees and don't guarantee success, as multiple services may be competing for the same domain. Popular or valuable domains often get scooped up by professional domain investors.
Why Domains Expire Unintentionally
Understanding why this happens helps you prevent it.
Credit Card Expiration
Your card on file expired, and the auto-renewal payment failed. Many registrars send an email about the failed payment, but these often get filtered or ignored.
Email Changes
Registrar notifications went to an email address you no longer check or that was deactivated. ICANN requires registrars to contact domain owners about expiration, but if those emails don't reach you, you won't know until it's too late.
Organization Changes
The person who originally registered the domain left the company, and nobody updated the registration contact. Or the domain was registered under a freelancer or agency's account, and the relationship ended without proper transfer.
Assumption That Someone Else Handles It
For businesses with multiple people or departments, everyone might assume someone else is handling domain renewals. Without clear ownership, renewals fall through the cracks.
Deliberate Non-Renewal Gone Wrong
Sometimes domains are intentionally not renewed because they're no longer needed. But if you later realize the domain was more important than you thought, or if you had the wrong domain flagged for non-renewal, you've got a problem.
Preventing Domain Expiration
Enable Auto-Renewal
Every registrar offers auto-renewal. Enable it for all domains, especially your primary domains. Yes, this means you might pay for domains you no longer want, but that's a small price compared to losing a domain you need.
Keep Payment Methods Current
Set calendar reminders to verify your registrar payment methods are current. When you get a new credit card, update it at your registrar before the old one expires.
Use Email That You Monitor
Ensure your registrar account email goes to an address that's actively monitored. Consider using a distribution list or shared inbox so multiple people receive important notifications.
Register for Multiple Years
Multi-year registration reduces the frequency of potential failures. Registering a critical domain for five or ten years means fewer opportunities for payment failures or missed renewals.
Use Independent Monitoring
WHOIS monitoring provides alerts about upcoming domain expirations independent of your registrar's emails. This catches situations where registrar notifications fail or go to the wrong address.
Consolidate Registrars
If your domains are spread across multiple registrars, consolidate them. Managing renewals across multiple accounts multiplies the chances of something slipping through.
Document Domain Ownership
Maintain a document listing all your domains, their registrars, login credentials (securely stored), and expiration dates. Ensure multiple people in your organization have access to this information.
What About Domain Privacy and Expired Domains?
WHOIS privacy services hide your personal contact information from public WHOIS lookups. However, domain expiration still happens the same way. The registrar knows your actual email and should send renewal notices to you.
If your domain expires and had WHOIS privacy enabled, the privacy proxy service also expires. Anyone looking up the domain during the expiration process may see your actual contact information.
Legal Considerations
Trademark Domains
If your expired domain contains your registered trademark and someone else registers it, you may have legal options. The Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) allows trademark holders to dispute domain registrations made in bad faith. However, this process takes time and money.
Former Employee Domains
If a domain was registered by an employee using their personal account, and that employee leaves, you may face difficulties. The domain may be legally theirs depending on the circumstances. Establish clear policies requiring business domains to be registered under company accounts.
How SecurityBot Helps
SecurityBot's WHOIS monitoring tracks your domain expiration dates and sends alerts well before renewal is due. You get warnings at 90, 30, and 7 days before expiration, giving you multiple opportunities to catch problems.
Because SecurityBot monitors independently of your registrar, it catches situations where registrar emails fail, go to spam, or reach someone who doesn't act on them. It's a safety net for one of your most critical assets.
Start your free 14-day trial and monitor all your domains from one dashboard.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can someone steal my expired domain?
Yes. If your domain expires and completes the full lifecycle, anyone can register it. Domain investors often target expired domains with traffic or backlinks. Once someone else owns it, you have to negotiate with them or pursue legal options if you have trademark claims.
How much does domain redemption cost?
Redemption fees vary by registrar and typically range from $80 to $200 on top of the normal renewal fee. Some registrars charge even more. Check your registrar's specific redemption fee before letting a domain expire.
Can I get my domain back after pending delete?
During the pending delete phase itself, no. Once pending delete ends and the domain becomes available, you can try to register it like anyone else. Backorder services may help but don't guarantee success.
Do all domain extensions follow the same timeline?
The basic lifecycle is similar for most extensions, but specific timelines vary. Country code domains (like .uk, .de, .au) may have different rules than generic domains (.com, .org, .net). Check with your registrar for extension-specific policies.
What happens to my email if my domain expires?
Email stops working as soon as the domain is suspended. Any emails sent to your domain addresses will bounce. When you renew, email service resumes, but emails sent during the outage are lost unless the sender retries.
Last updated: January 2026 | Written by Jason Gilmore, Founder of SecurityBot