When a domain expires and drops
Expired domain
An expired domain is a name whose registration period ended without being renewed. It is not released at once: it passes through several grace periods first.
What Expired domain means in practice
For a .com the sequence is typically: an auto-renew grace period of up to about 45 days when the owner can still renew at the normal price, then the redemption period of about 30 days at a higher fee, then pending delete for about five days, after which the name is released. The exact days vary by registrar.
During this time the name may stop working, show a parking page, or be removed from the zone while it is still not available to anyone else.
Why it matters
An expired name is not free yet. Knowing which stage it is in tells you whether it can still be renewed, when it may drop and whether it is worth a backorder.
Try it
- Drop Calendar Expiring names by estimated drop date, with filters and a live check.
- Domain Health Check Expiry date, transfer lock, DNS, SPF and DMARC email security, and blocklists for a .com.
- Deleted Domains Names that appeared in, or left, the .com zone since the last snapshot, filtered by a keyword.
Related terms
- Auto-renew grace period The auto-renew grace period is the time just after a domain expires, typically up to about 45 days, when the owner can still renew it at the normal price.
- Redemption period The redemption period is a stage of about 30 days after the grace period when a deleted domain can still be restored by its owner, for an extra fee.
- Pending delete Pending delete is the last stage before a domain is released: a period of about five days when the owner can no longer restore it and it is about to be deleted.
- Domain drop A domain drop is the moment an expired name is finally deleted by the registry and becomes available for anyone to register again.