Generic TLDs’ (gTLDs’) grace periods
When a domain expires, your website and mail service will stop functioning, and no changes can be made to the domain.
However, for generic TLDs (.com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, etc.), you have a period of about 30 days at Namecheap after the actual expiration date during which you can still renew the domain at the regular rate. A full list of generic TLDs can be found on the Domain Name Search page.
If you do not renew the domain within this grace period, it enters a redemption stage for 30 days (sometimes more) at the Registry. At this stage, the domain may be auctioned off by the upstream vendors.
As an owner, you still have an option to return the domain at this stage (if it's not auctioned off) at a redemption fee (you can contact our Support team to check what would be the exact fee for your domain) plus its regular renewal cost. If the domain is not recovered from redemption, it enters a PendingDelete stage at the Registry for 5 days. On the 6th day, the domain should be released to the public for re-registration.
Normally, generic TLDs get released approximately in 70-80 days (in rare cases, up to 120 days) after the expiration date if not returned from redemption and if not auctioned off.
Please note that once the domain has been released, the registration is carried out on a first come, first served basis.
Country code TLDs’ (ccTLDs’) grace periods
Most of ccTLDs (Country Code TLDs) live according to the general domain life-cycle mentioned above (e.g., such TLDs as
.AI,
.BZ ,
.CA,
.CC,
.CO,
.FM,
.GG,
.ID,
.IN,
.IO,
.ME,
.MX,
.PW,
.TV,
.UK,
.US,
.WS). A full list of ccTLDs can be also found on the
Domain Name Search page.
Still, there are some TLDs that have different life-cycles set by their Registries. Below you can find the information about them along with the instructions on how to act in a way that you do not let your domain name expire and know what to do with already expired ones. Keep in mind that if a domain is not renewed on time, it will enter the Redemption Grace Period. During this time your domain will stop working, and no changes can be made to the domain.
.CH,
.ES,
.FR,
.LI,
.PE,
.SG,
.COM.SG,
.COM.AU,
.ORG.AU,
.NET.AU TLDs
must be renewed
12 days prior to the actual expiration date. If not renewed, the domain will enter a redemption stage right away regardless of the number of days left until expiration.
.CX,
.DE,
.EU and
.NL TLDs can be
renewed manually or
auto-renewed not later than 5 days before expiry. Please be aware that .CX, .DE, .EU and .NL domains are most likely going to be placed into redemption right on the 5th day prior to expiration if not renewed. In case the domain lapsed, please
contact our Support team, and we’ll see what can be done in such a case.
If your domain is
.CM, please make sure to
renew it before the actual expiration date. These domains do not enter a redemption stage and are sent for deletion
right on the expiration date. Normally, these domains are released into the public pool and become available for registration on the
same day they expire.
One more exception from the common life-cycle is
.UK (including second-level TLDs such as
.CO.UK,
.ME.UK,
.ORG.UK). While a regular 30-day grace period is provided after the actual expiration date for this TLD, these domains are not released to the public after the grace period. Instead, they are placed into redemption that does not require paying a redemption fee for the domain reactivation. Thus, it should be possible to renew your .UK domains at a
regular price up until their release date, which is 90 days for .UK domains. If your .UK domain expired more than 30 days ago, but is still not released, and you do not see it in your account, please
contact our Support team for further assistance with the renewal.
.TO domains can be reactivated during only
30 days after the expiration. There is no Redemption Grace Period for this TLD, and once these 30 days pass, the domains are reserved by the Registry with no possibility to renew/reactivate them.
.NU TLDs can be reactivated in a regular way
within 7 days after the expiration. If not renewed, the domain will enter a 60-day redemption grace period, during which you may still trying to restore it by
contacting our Support team.
To sum up, there are several options to keep your domain up and running:
1) If you happen to notice a soon-to-expire domain you would like to keep (especially if it is a country-code domain with specifics in expiration), make sure to renew it in time in several easy steps following this tutorial.
2) Enable the auto-renew feature this way and your Namecheap account balance (or a card) will be used for renewal.
