The Domain Lifecycle: From Registration to Release
A domain does not vanish on its expiry date. It moves through a sequence of registrar and registry stages, and the day counts below decide when an owner can still recover a name and when someone else can register it.
The sequence at a glance
For most generic TLDs, a name that is not renewed follows this path: active, expired, auto-renew grace, redemption, pending delete, available. The registry keeps the authoritative record, but the registrar controls most of what the owner sees, including how long it lets the owner renew after expiry. The 30-day redemption period comes from ICANN's Expired Registration Recovery Policy, the 45-day ceiling and the five-day pending delete from ICANN's registrant and EPP status pages, and all of them are marked as typical or maximum where practice varies. Where a number is not fixed by policy, it is labelled that way.
| Stage | Typical length | EPP status | Owner can renew or restore? | Cost to owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered and active | 1 to 10 years | ok | Yes | Normal renewal price |
| Expired, registrar post-expiry period | Set by the registrar | Often ok, or a hold | Yes | Normal, sometimes higher |
| Auto-renew grace period | 0 to 45 days, set by the registrar | autoRenewPeriod | Yes | Normal or a late fee |
| Redemption grace period | About 30 days | redemptionPeriod | Yes, by restore | Restore fee, often much higher |
| Pending delete | About 5 days | pendingDelete | No, in most cases | Not applicable |
| Released | Not applicable | None | No, anyone may register | Standard registration |
Adding the typical stages together, a .com name that is deleted by its registrar at the end of the auto-renew grace can sit for roughly 35 days more (30 in redemption plus 5 in pending delete) before release. With the registrar's own post-expiry period before that, the gap between the expiry date and a name becoming registrable is often several weeks to a couple of months, but it is not a fixed figure.
Stage by stage
Registered and active
The owner pays the registrar, the registrar tells the registry, and the registry publishes name servers in the TLD's zone. The expiry date is stored in the registry record. Owners can renew at any time, but a gTLD registration cannot run longer than ten years from the date of the renewal, and initial registrations are capped at ten years too (ICANN base registry agreement, Specification 6, section 5).
Expiry and the registrar's own period
On the expiry date the term ends, but the registrar decides what happens next. ICANN's Expired Registration Recovery Policy (ERRP) requires registrars to send at least two reminder notices before the expiry date and, if the name is neither renewed nor deleted within five days after expiry, a further notice with renewal instructions. The registered name holder must be allowed to renew the expired registration, and registrars must make their renewal, post-expiry renewal and redemption fees reasonably available, displayed on their website. Many registrars switch the site to a parking page, and some suspend DNS in the days before deletion.
Auto-renew grace period
Under the registry convention, if the registrar does nothing on the expiry date the registry automatically renews the name, and the registrar then has a window to delete it with a credit. ICANN's EPP status guide describes this only as a limited grace period without naming a number. ICANN's registrant guide describes an optional "1-45-day" auto-renew grace period that registrars may offer, so 45 days is the ceiling and a registrar may offer less or none. The EPP code involved is autoRenewPeriod.
Redemption grace period
Once the registrar deletes the name, gTLD registries (sponsored gTLDs are excepted) must put it in a 30-day redemption period under ERRP section 3.1. During redemption the name does not resolve, it cannot be transferred, and the owner can restore it through the registrar. Registrars charge a restore fee, and that fee is often several times a normal renewal. The EPP status is redemptionPeriod, defined in ICANN's EPP status code guide.
Pending delete
If no one restores the name during redemption, it enters pendingDelete. ICANN's EPP status guide describes the pendingDelete stage as "several days" and, in its redemptionPeriod entry, says the domain is purged five calendar days after the redemption period ends. On the final day the registry purges the record and the name returns to the available pool.
Release
The name can now be registered by anyone at the registry's regular price, subject to any premium list. At this point there is a race, which is described in drop catching and backorders.
An annotated example timeline
The following timeline uses an invented name, lantern-bakery-example.com, and invented dates. It is an illustration of how the stages can line up, not a record of a real domain. Real registrars vary at step 2 and sometimes at step 3.
| Date | Day | What happens | What an observer sees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 March | 0 | Registration term ends; owner has not renewed | Site still loads; RDAP shows an expiry date in the past |
| 15 to 20 March | 1 to 6 | Registrar sends ERRP notices; parking page may appear | Name servers may change to the registrar's parking servers |
| 14 March to 28 April | 0 to 45 | Auto-renew grace; the registry has renewed the name provisionally | Status shows autoRenewPeriod in some registries |
| 13 April | 30 | Registrar deletes the name (its own choice of day) | Name leaves the zone file; status becomes redemptionPeriod |
| 13 April to 13 May | 30 to 60 | Redemption: owner can restore, with a fee | Not in DNS; RDAP shows redemption |
| 13 to 18 May | 60 to 65 | Pending delete; no recovery | Still absent from zone; drop lists show it with a release date |
| 18 May | 65 | Registry purges the name | RDAP returns "not found"; backorder services try to register it |
| 18 May and after | 65+ | A new registrant takes the name, or it stays open | The name reappears in the zone with new name servers |
Notice that the name left the zone on day 30 in this example, more than a month before it was available. That is why zone-file diffs are an early warning rather than an availability alert. See dropped vs expired vs deleted domains for how each state looks in a diff.
If the owner had restored the name on, say, day 45, the name would have returned to the zone, often within hours, with the old name servers or a registrar default.
Where registries and registrars vary
Registry variation inside generic TLDs
The 30-day redemption period and the roughly five-day pending delete are the common baseline for generic TLDs. Individual registries can add options. Some offer extended registration terms, some run premium or reserved name lists that change how a purged name is priced, and some operate pre-release auctions. A new generic extension may not behave exactly like .com, so confirm the registry's published rules for any TLD where timing matters.
Registrar variation
The most variable stage is the one between expiry and deletion. Some registrars delete expired names almost at once, some keep them for the full grace period, and some run their own auctions or sell the name to partners before deletion. This is why two identical names at two registrars may become available weeks apart. Check your registrar's expired-domain terms, which ICANN requires to be easy to find.
Country-code TLDs
Country-code registries are not bound by the generic-TLD consensus policies and set their own lifecycle. Some use a redemption-like stage, some delete shortly after expiry, some release names on a fixed weekly schedule, and some require local presence or documents for registration. Treat any ccTLD day count as unknown until the registry's own policy confirms it. For more on how the two families differ, see gTLD vs ccTLD vs new gTLD.
What owners should do with the schedule
- Renew before expiry. After expiry you may pay more, lose email and website service, and risk the name being auctioned.
- Keep contact data current. ERRP notices go to the registrant email on file.
- Turn on auto-renew and lock. The guide to protecting your domain from expiring lists the practical steps.
- If a name has slipped into redemption, contact your registrar at once. The restore fee is usually less than the cost of losing the name.
What observers can and cannot infer
Seen from outside, the lifecycle leaves only a few traces: zone-file presence, RDAP statuses and the registry's scheduled drop lists. A zone-file comparison tells you when delegation changed, not why. Status checks tell you which stage a name is in at that moment. Neither tells you whether the owner will restore, and no outside party can tell. For a status check, start with WHOIS vs RDAP.
Common timing mistakes
Counting from the wrong date
The 30-day and five-day periods start at deletion, not at expiry. If a registrar keeps an unpaid name for its whole post-expiry period before deleting it, the redemption clock has not even started. People who count 35 days from the expiry date and then find the name still unavailable have usually made this error.
Treating the sequence as a promise
Each stage is a minimum or a typical value, and the owner can interrupt the sequence at nearly any point by renewing or restoring. Statistics about "when names drop" are therefore averages over many different paths, and any individual name may follow none of them. A registry or registrar may also pause the clock for a legal dispute, a lock or an unresolved transfer.
Assuming a hold is a deletion
A name placed on hold for billing, verification or abuse reasons can leave the zone without entering redemption at all. The owner resolves the issue and the name returns. Treat zone-file disappearance as a reason to check status, not as proof that the clock has begun.
Sources
- ICANN: Expired Registration Recovery Policy (reminders, 30-day Redemption Grace Period, fee disclosure)
- ICANN: 5 things registrants should know about the ERRP (auto-renew grace of 1 to 45 days is optional)
- ICANN: EPP status codes (redemptionPeriod 30 days, purge five days later)
- ICANN base registry agreement, 12 March 2026, Specification 6 section 5 (ten-year maximum)
- RFC 3915: Domain Registry Grace Period Mapping for EPP (states that grace period durations are set by the registry)
Frequently asked questions
How long after expiry can a domain still be renewed?
It depends on the registrar. ICANN's registrant guide describes an optional auto-renew grace of up to 45 days that registrars may offer, and ERRP requires the registrar to permit the owner to renew an expired registration. After deletion the owner can still restore for about 30 days in generic TLDs, normally at a higher fee. Check your registrar's terms for the exact window.
How many days is the redemption period?
About 30 days for generic TLDs. ICANN's EPP status guide describes redemptionPeriod as a 30-day hold after a registrar-requested deletion, followed by a pending-delete stage of several days.
How long is pending delete?
Around five calendar days for most generic TLDs. During that time the owner cannot normally recover the name, and the registry purges it at the end.
When does a domain leave the zone file?
In generic TLDs it usually leaves when the registrar deletes it, which starts redemption, or earlier if it is placed on hold. That is typically more than a month before the name can be registered by someone else.
Do country-code TLDs follow the same lifecycle?
Not necessarily. Country-code registries set their own rules, and grace periods, redemption stages and release schedules vary. Confirm with the specific registry.
What does ICANN's Expired Registration Recovery Policy require?
Registrars must send at least two renewal reminders before expiry and a further notice if the name is still neither renewed nor deleted five days after expiry, permit renewal of the expired name, and publish their renewal, post-expiry renewal and redemption fees. Registries of gTLDs other than sponsored ones must also provide the 30-day redemption period. The 45-day auto-renew grace is an optional registrar practice, not an ERRP requirement.