When Do .fr Domains Drop? AFNIC Expiration & Deletion Timeline
A .fr domain takes about 65 days to drop after it expires, moving through AFNIC's expiration and deletion stages before the name is released.
.fr Expiration Timeline
- 1
Expiry
Registration ends
- 2
Grace Period (5d)
AFNIC allows renewal without a redemption fee
- 3
Redemption (30d)
Recovery is still possible, usually for a redemption fee
- 4
Pending Delete (30d)
Locked, cannot be renewed or recovered
- 5
Drop
Deleted from the registry, open for new registration
Total time from expiry to drop: 65 days.
About the AFNIC lifecycle
AFNIC, the French registry, increasingly reports a deletion_date field directly in RDAP once a domain enters its recovery process; when that field is present, shadom.co calculates the drop date as deletion_date plus 30 days instead of relying on the grace/redemption/pending-delete estimate below, which only applies as a fallback before deletion_date is published.
Track a .fr domain's drop date
Check a specific .fr domain's current status and estimated drop date, or set up a free alert so you know the moment it moves toward pending delete.
Frequently asked questions
How long after a .fr domain expires before it drops?
When AFNIC has not yet published a deletion_date for the domain in RDAP, the fallback estimate is about 65 days after expiration (5-day grace, 30-day redemption, 30-day pending delete). Once a deletion_date appears, the real drop date is deletion_date plus 30 days, which can be earlier or later than the fallback estimate.
Can I re-register a .fr domain the day it expires?
No. Expiration only starts the clock. The previous owner (or anyone who pays the redemption fee) can still recover a .fr domain while it is in its recovery window. It is not open for new registration until it is deleted from the AFNIC registry, roughly 65 days after expiration in the typical case.
What does the .fr grace period mean?
During the 5-day grace period, the domain still resolves to the old owner's nameservers in most cases, and the registrar can restore it with a simple renewal, no redemption fee required. Once grace ends, recovery gets more expensive or closes entirely, and the domain becomes visible as "expired" to drop-catching tools.
Is .fr different from other TLDs' drop timelines?
AFNIC drop timing is best modeled from the RDAP deletion_date event plus 30 days when that field is available, rather than from expiry date alone. The 5/30/30 figures are the fallback used when no deletion_date has been published yet.