How domain registration, renewal and expiry work

A domain is registered for a set period (often a year at a time) at a company called a registrar, and it stays yours as long as you renew it there. Oogle doesn't register, sell or renew domains: your domain stays at your registrar, in your name. The most useful things you can do are to keep auto-renew on and keep your registrar contact details and payment card up to date.

Registration: who owns the domain

When you register a domain, you become its registrant. The registrar records your name and contact details and lists the domain with the registry for that ending (for example .com). The domain is yours, not the registrar's and not your web host's. Oogle's terms say the same: your own material, domains and data remain yours.

Because the domain sits in your registrar account, only someone with access to that account can renew it, unlock it, change its nameservers or transfer it. Make sure you know which account that is, and that someone in your organization can sign in to it.

Renewal

Registrars send renewal reminders by email to the registrant address before the domain expires. Most also offer automatic renewal using a card on file.

To make renewals reliable:

1. Sign in to your registrar and open the domain.
2. Check the expiry date.
3. Turn on auto-renew, if your registrar offers it.
4. Check the payment card on file hasn't expired.
5. Check the registrant email is an address you read, not an old employee's inbox.

Some registrars let you renew for several years at a time, which reduces the number of renewals to watch.

Find where your domain is registered and when it expires

1. Go to ICANN Lookup.
2. Enter your domain and run the lookup.
3. Read the registrar name and the expiration date in the result.

The lookup uses RDAP, which replaced WHOIS as the official source for this data. Your personal contact details are usually hidden. See WHOIS, RDAP and domain privacy.

Expiry

If a domain isn't renewed by its expiry date, the registrar usually stops it working: your website and email at that domain stop too. After that there's normally:

• A grace period, when you can still renew, sometimes at the normal price.
• A redemption period, when the domain can often still be recovered, usually at a higher fee.
• Release, after which anyone can register it.

How long each stage lasts and what it costs varies by registrar and by domain ending, so check your registrar's terms. The safe rule is: if your domain has expired, contact your registrar the same day.

You'll know your domain is safe when

Your registrar shows the domain as active with an expiry date well ahead, auto-renew is on, and renewal reminders reach an inbox you check.

Troubleshooting

• You can't sign in to the registrar. Use its password reset, using the email you registered with. If that address is gone, the registrar's support team can explain how to prove you own the domain.
• Someone else registered the domain for you (a former designer, an employee). Ask them to move it into an account you control. The registrar can explain its process for changing the account holder. Note that changing the registrant's name, organization or email can start a 60-day transfer lock at most registrars.
• The renewal failed. Update the card at the registrar and renew manually.
• Your website went down and the domain is expired. Renew it first. Once the registrar restores it, the nameservers usually come back as they were. If the site still doesn't load a few hours later, open a Website Support ticket.

Next steps

• Troubleshoot a domain that isn't working
• Transfer a domain to another registrar