A domain does not disappear the day it expires. It goes through a sequence of periods, and what you can do shrinks at each step.
| Period | What happens | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| Renewal grace | The domain stops working. Website and email go offline. | Renew it at the normal price. |
| Redemption — usually 30 days | The domain has been deleted. Only the registrar that held it can bring it back. | Restore it, for a restoration fee. |
| Pending delete — 5 days | The registry is about to release it. | Nothing. It cannot be restored. |
| Released | Anyone can register it. | Register it again, if nobody else has. |
Important
Restoring a domain in redemption is slow, costly and manual. Keep auto-renew on for any domain you would miss.
Restore a domain in redemption
- Open a ticket and choose the domain as the related service.
- We confirm the restoration fee and raise an invoice.
- Once it is paid, we restore the domain with the registry. It can take up to 5 working days.
A restoration cannot be undone. If the domain was deleted by the system after it expired, the restoration includes one year of renewal.
Extensions that work differently
| Extension | Difference |
|---|---|
| .AU, .ES, .RU | No redemption period: available to anyone as soon as it is deleted |
| .CN | 15 days of redemption, no pending delete |
| .CO | 15 days of redemption; a restored .CO cannot be changed for 5 days |
| .EU, .NL | 40 days of redemption, no pending delete |
| .NZ | 90 days of redemption, no pending delete |
| .UK | Renewable until 90 days after expiry, then deleted. No redemption period |
| .DE | Cannot be restored once deleted |