Most generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) follow a similar domain life-cycle. Several critical stages occur after expiration, including reactivation, redemption, or possibly auction. These stages may not apply to most country-code TLDs, which can, depending on the ccTLD, go into redemption before their expiration date and not offer grace periods.

TLD expiry timeline
Viewing expiring domains
- Listing expiring domains
- Generating an expiring domains report
Expiry grace period
Redemption period
Auction
Related articles

TLD expiry timeline

Note: The dates below reference the expiry date as Day 0, so negative dates are days before. These dates are estimates that can be used as a guide for when to expect certain emails.

Day after expiry	Action
-45	Two-week notice email to account holder if automatic renewal is enabled.
-30	Automatic renewal. Until the following year, no further emails go out regarding the domain's life-cycle. OR Email to the account holder that a payment issue prevented the automatic renewal. OR Email to account holder that automatic renewal is disabled.
-14	Second notice about upcoming expiry.
-7	Third notice about upcoming expiry.
0	Domain expires. Name-servers and/or host records are updated to show an expired domain page. Domain can be renewed as normal.
2	Notice sent that domain has expired.
30	Domain enters redemption period. OR Domain moved to auction.
60-75	Redemption period and domain can be restored for an additional fee. OR Domain may be moved out of the account or to auction. At this point, the domain is no longer the property of the original registrant.
60-75 (end of redemption)	Domain set to pendingDelete at the registry.
75-80	Domain deleted at the registry and available for general purchase.

Viewing expiring domains

We highly recommend that you enable automatic renewal for your domains. Renewal years are added to the end of the current registration period, so you will never lose time on your domain by renewing early.

We also suggest that you keep track of your domain expiration dates and renew well in advance to avoid unintentional downtime or loss of the domain itself. As Enom contacts the account holder regarding upcoming domain expirations, it is imperative that the email address on the account is up-to-date and actively monitored.

Listing expiring domains

Log in to your account.
Select Domains at the top of the website, then choose My domains from the dropdown.
Select the Expiring tab.
You can sort the list by clicking any of the headings. To view the list by ascending expiry date, click Exp date.

Generating an expiring domains report

Log in to your account.
Select My account, then My reports.
Choose Expiring domains from the Report type dropdown, select your desired timeframe and click Run report.

Expiry grace period

Enom offers a non-guaranteed 30-day grace period for renewal for many TLDs. Each registry has its own rules regarding expiry grace, and some may not offer a grace period. Once a domain expires, Enom may dispose of it in any way, at any time, according to the registration agreement.

When a domain expires it becomes inactive immediately, a parking page is displayed, and all the services, such as a website or email cease to function. It is impossible to update an expired domain, but the registrant can still transfer it to another registrar. The domain will remain available for reactivation at the regular renewal rate. Follow the standard renewal steps for renewing domains in their expiry grace period.

The domain may appear to be renewed for another year in the registry Whois lookup. This added year indicates the "auto-renew grace period" provided by the registry. The registry charges the registrar's account for the renewal to hold the domain name, allowing the registrant time to renew it. Despite the date at the registry, the domain is still expired and must be renewed or transferred or risk going to redemption or auction.

Redemption period

After a domain has passed through any applicable expiration grace period, it may go into a non-guaranteed redemption period which typically lasts 30-45 days. The Enom system may also move the domain to auction in this period. The domain cannot be modified or transferred in this state and will continue to point to an expired page. The account holder or registrant must recover the domain to bring it back online. There is an additional fee to restore domains from redemption as well as the renewal fee.

If the domain is not recovered from redemption, the registry will eventually delete it. Once the domain enters the pendingDelete status at the registry, the registry will delete the domain will delete within five days. After the registry deletes the domain, it will be available on a first-come-first-served basis.

Auction

Enom makes every effort to allow registrants to renew their expired domain names. The registrant or account holder can renew their domain at the normal rate within the expiry grace period. Once the grace period has ended, Enom reserves the right to provide a redemption grace period or send the domain to auction.

Domains moved to auction will either show up in the Afternic, LLC account at Enom or be listed in a Whois lookup as registered elsewhere. In either case, these domains are no longer recoverable through standard methods.

Domains moved to auction cannot be recovered except through purchase at auction. They are no longer the property of the previous registrant and will be available for general purchase at auction.

Articles in this section

Domain expiration, redemption and auction timelines