Recover an expired or canceled domain name

When a domain name registration expires, recovering it can be difficult and expensive. This guide explains what happens when a domain name expires or is actively canceled and how you can restore your domain name.

Find your domain name’s expiration date from the domain name settings page. To check when your domain name expires, take the following steps:

1. Visit your site’s dashboard.
2. Navigate to Upgrades → Domains.
3. Click on the domain name you want to check.
4. Under Details, the Registered until date shows when your domain name registration expires. This section also shows the original registration date and auto-renew status.

Annual domain name registrations renew approximately one month before the expiration date. The renewal date and price are listed below the auto-renew toggle in the Details section.

When you register a domain name, you purchase the right to use that domain name for as long as you keep the registration active. By default, automatic renewal is enabled on all purchases to keep your registration active.

Domain name registration terms are annual. For most domain names, that means you must renew the registration each year. If you have registered your domain name for multiple years, it must be renewed before the expiration date, which may be several years in the future.

For a new domain name registered with WordPress.com, the expiration date is based on the date of registration. For example, if you register a domain name on March 17th, 2024, the expiration date will be March 17th, 2025. If you transferred a domain name from another provider to WordPress.com, in most cases, the domain name is automatically renewed for one year when the transfer is completed. The expiration date is still based on the original registration date, not the date of the transfer.

To restore your domain name from expiration, take the following steps:

1. Click on your profile at https://wordpress.com/me.
2. On the left side, select Purchases.
3. Check if your domain name is still listed here. The possibility of recovering or restoring an expired domain name depends on when it expired:
   • If a domain name is in the grace period, it can be recovered through the normal process of renewing a domain name. Click the “Renew now” button and proceed to checkout.
   • If a domain name is in the redemption period, it can often be recovered for an additional cost. Click the “Renew now” button and proceed to checkout where the redemption fee will be listed.
   • If the domain name has been released to the general market, it can be registered as a new domain name by any member of the public.
   • If your domain name does not appear in your purchases or as a new domain name, you may still be able to redeem a recently canceled or expired domain name by contacting support for assistance with domain name recovery.

Remember that once your domain name expires, it can be unavailable for up to 90 days. Once it goes back on the market, anyone can register it. You should never allow a domain name to expire unless you are fully done with it and never want to use it again.

Do not cancel the domain name registration even if you wish to use your domain name with a different provider. Instead, point your domain name to another provider or transfer it to a new registrar.

If your domain name’s auto-renew is not enabled, or if there is a problem processing your payment, your domain name will expire if you do not manually renew it by the expiration date.

Regardless of auto-renew settings, we will notify you of the upcoming expiration several times via email (generally 30 days prior to expiration and again 5 to 7 days prior to expiration). These emails will be sent to the email address you provided as the registrant contact information, which may not be the same as the email address associated with your WordPress.com account.

We will also display messages on your site’s dashboard.

If your domain name is not renewed in time, we will also notify you via email within three days after expiration.

We strongly urge you to renew your domain name in a timely fashion. Once a domain name expires, it can be difficult or impossible to obtain it again. Expired domain names are not necessarily released back into the pool of available domain names. Additional fees may apply to recover an expired domain name. In some cases, recovering or repurchasing a domain name may not be possible at all.

Once a domain name expires, it goes through a series of steps that make renewing increasingly difficult (and more expensive). Each step is explained below:

For most TLDs (i.e., extensions) registered through WordPress.com, an expired domain name falls into a grace period of about ten days to two weeks. During this short window, the domain name can be renewed in the standard way at the regular price.

Some domain names may be flagged to be placed into an expiry auction at the end of the grace period. This active auction period typically lasts two to three weeks. During the active auction, it is not possible to renew, transfer, or make any other changes to the domain name in your WordPress.com account. If the domain name is sold at auction, you will no longer be able to recover it. If a domain name is not sold at auction, it will enter the redemption period.

When an expired domain name is for sale in an active auction, there will be a notice indicating this status on the domain list page at Upgrades → Domains.

After the grace period or auction ends, your domain name enters the redemption period and will have the status of redemptionPeriod. This means the domain name can still be renewed, but a redemption fee is required in addition to the normal renewal cost. This is standard practice for domain registrars.

Depending on the type of domain name and when it was registered, you might be able to redeem it yourself. If your domain name has that option, it will still appear on your Purchases page after it enters redemption, and clicking the “Renew now” button will cause the redemption fee to be added to your cart automatically. You will not be able to renew the domain name without paying that additional redemption fee.

If your domain name does not offer the option to redeem it yourself, it will be removed from your account when it enters the redemption period. In that case, please contact support for help redeeming the domain name, and we will send you a link to make the required payment so we can recover the domain name.

If you made a payment in an attempt to reclaim the domain name out of redemption and were unsuccessful, you will get a refund. The redemption fee is non-refundable in the case of a successful redemption, should you decide to cancel the domain name after it is redeemed.

If a domain name is not redeemed by the original registrant, it will move to a pendingDelete status. The domain name is then usually returned to the pool of available domain names after a short processing period and can be registered again on a first-come, first-served basis.

However, it is common for back-order companies to wait for domain names to be released and purchase them the moment they become available. There may also be another individual who likes the domain name and is waiting to buy it. This means that even if your domain name is released, another party can purchase it before you get the chance.

WordPress.com is not notified if or when a domain name will be released to be registered again, so we can’t provide any advance warning.