Domain Expiration: The Complete Lifecycle

Why Domains Don't Drop Immediately

Registries build in time buffers to protect domain owners from losing their names over simple oversights. Forgot to update your credit card? Out of the country for a month? The system gives you multiple chances to fix things before your domain goes away forever.

These protection periods are helpful for domain owners but create uncertainty for people hoping to register an expiring domain. You can't just wait for the expiration date and pounce. You need to wait through the entire deletion process, which can take anywhere from a couple weeks to several months.

Stage 1: Active Registration

This is where every domain starts. The owner paid for registration, the domain resolves to their website, and everything works normally. Most registrations last one year, though you can register domains for up to ten years at once.

During active registration, the owner can:

• Transfer the domain to another registrar
• Change nameservers and DNS records
• Update WHOIS contact information
• Renew for additional years
• Sell or gift the domain to someone else

Registrars typically send renewal reminders starting 90 days before expiration. If the owner has auto-renewal enabled with valid payment info, the domain renews automatically and nothing changes.

Stage 2: Expiration Date

When the registration period ends without renewal, the domain officially expires. What happens next depends on the registrar, but typically:

• The website stops working (DNS may be disabled)
• Email associated with the domain stops functioning
• The registrar may display a "this domain has expired" page
• Some registrars park the domain and show ads

The domain is technically expired, but this isn't the end. The owner still has options to get it back, and you can't register it yet.

Stage 3: Grace Period (Auto-Renew Grace Period)

Immediately after expiration, domains enter a grace period. During this time, the original owner can renew at the standard price. No penalty. No extra fees. Just pay the normal renewal cost and the domain is back.

Here's where it gets confusing: grace period length varies by registrar. ICANN (the organization that oversees domain policy) sets minimums, but registrars can offer longer periods. For .com domains:

• ICANN requires a minimum 0-day grace period (yes, zero is technically allowed)
• Most registrars offer 30-45 days
• Some offer as few as 1 day
• A few offer 80+ days

During the grace period, the domain owner can still renew easily. The domain hasn't been released to the registry for deletion yet. It's in limbo with the registrar.

Stage 4: Redemption Grace Period (RGP)

If the owner doesn't renew during the grace period, the registrar releases the domain to the registry and it enters redemption. This is the last chance for the original owner to recover their domain.

The redemption period lasts 30 days for most TLDs. During redemption:

• The domain is locked at the registry level
• Recovery requires paying a redemption fee (typically $80-200+)
• The registrar must submit a restore request to the registry
• The domain cannot be transferred to a new owner

Most people don't bother recovering domains in redemption unless they're valuable. That $100+ fee on top of renewal makes it expensive. But for important domains, it's the last safety net.

Stage 5: Pending Delete

After redemption expires, the domain enters pending delete status. This is the final countdown. For .com and .net domains, pending delete lasts exactly 5 days.

During pending delete:

• The domain cannot be recovered by anyone
• No transfers, renewals, or redemptions are possible
• The registry is preparing to release the domain
• WHOIS shows "pendingDelete" status

This is when drop catchers get ready. The domain will drop at the end of this period. If you're watching a domain, pending delete status means it's almost time.

Stage 6: The Drop

After pending delete completes, the domain is deleted from the registry and becomes available for anyone to register. This is the "drop." The domain is back to being just like any unregistered domain.

For .com and .net, drops happen once per day, typically between 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM Eastern Time. The exact second varies and isn't published in advance. That's why drop catching services run automated systems that fire registration requests continuously during the drop window.

Once the domain drops, it's a free-for-all. First successful registration wins. The previous owner has no special rights anymore. If you can register it before anyone else, it's yours.

Timeline Summary: .com/.net Domains

Here's a realistic timeline for a .com domain at a typical registrar:

Total time from expiration to drop: roughly 35-80 days, depending on the registrar's grace period length.

Variations by TLD

Different TLDs have different rules. Country code TLDs (ccTLDs) like .uk, .de, and .ca each have their own deletion timelines set by their respective registries. Some new gTLDs also vary.

A few examples:

• .org: Similar to .com. 45-day grace, 30-day redemption, 5-day pending delete.
• .uk: 90-day suspension period, then drops without redemption.
• .de: Immediate deletion possible. No mandatory grace period.
• .io: 30-day grace, 30-day redemption, 5-day pending delete.

Check our guide on TLD drop schedules for specific timing on popular domain extensions.

What to Watch For

If you're tracking a domain you hope to catch, pay attention to these signals:

• Expiration date in WHOIS: This tells you when the cycle might start.
• Status changes: Watch for "redemptionPeriod" and "pendingDelete" statuses.
• Nameserver changes: Registrars often change nameservers when domains expire.
• Website going down: Could indicate the owner has stopped caring.

The most reliable indicator is the domain status in WHOIS. When you see "pendingDelete," you know exactly what's happening.

Learn More

Return to our main drop catching guide for strategies on how to actually catch domains once you understand the timeline.