--- id: "domain-life-cycle" kind: "glossary-term" title: "domain life cycle" language: "en" category: "Registration life cycle" updated: "2026-10-10T10:28:55Z" canonical: "https://tldlog.com/glossary/domain-life-cycle/" translations: es: "https://tldlog.com/es/glosario/ciclo-vida-nombre-dominio/" de: "https://tldlog.com/de/glossar/domain-lebenszyklus/" fr: "https://tldlog.com/fr/glossaire/cycle-vie-nom-domaine/" it: "https://tldlog.com/it/glossario/ciclo-vita-dominio/" pt-BR: "https://tldlog.com/pt/glossario/ciclo-vida-dominio/" ru: "https://tldlog.com/ru/glossariy/zhiznennyy-tsikl-domennogo-imeni/" zh-Hans: "https://tldlog.com/zh/cihui/yuming-shengming-zhouqi/" --- # domain life cycle The stages a domain passes through from registration to release. A typical gTLD domain is registered, renewed or left to expire, then deleted, kept for a time in redemption and pending delete, and finally dropped so that anyone can register it. Stage names and lengths differ in many ccTLDs. A domain name passes through set stages, from registration to the day anyone can register it again. Usually it is simply renewed. When it is not, deadlines decide how long the holder can still get it back, at what cost, and when it is lost. ## The stages of a domain's life As of October 2026, for a gTLD such as .com, the usual path after a missed renewal is: 1. Expiry: the registration period ends. 2. An optional auto-renew grace period offered by the registrar, of 1 to 45 days. 3. Deletion: the registrar asks the registry to delete the name. 4. The Redemption Grace Period (RGP): 30 days at the registry. 5. Pending delete: usually five days. 6. The drop: anyone can register the name. Most rules come from ICANN's Expired Registration Recovery Policy (ERRP) and the 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA). As of October 2026, the ERRP in force is the version updated on 21 February 2024, mandatory from 21 August 2025. RFC 3915 defines the EPP status codes for these stages but leaves their length to each registry. A name deleted within the add grace period, just after registration, skips the RGP and is available at once. ## What happens on the expiry date As of October 2026, a gTLD registrar must send at least two reminders before expiry: about one month before (26 to 35 days counts) and about one week before (4 to 10 days). If the name is neither renewed nor deleted, one more notice must follow within five days after expiry. After expiry, the registrar may delete the name at any time. It must interrupt the name's DNS resolution: from expiry until deletion if it deletes within eight days, otherwise for at least the last eight days the name can still be renewed. Website and email stop working. If the registrar shows a web page instead, it must say that the name has expired and how to renew it. Until the interruption ends, the holder must be allowed to renew, possibly at a different post-expiration renewal fee, and service must then come back as soon as is commercially reasonable. ## The auto-renew grace period At the registry, an unrenewed gTLD name is usually renewed automatically the day after expiry. If the registrar deletes it during the auto-renew grace period, the registry credits the renewal back. For the holder, ICANN describes it as optional: a registrar may offer 1 to 45 days to renew, sometimes for a fee, and depending on its terms may auction the name to a third party meanwhile. Under the 2013 RAA, registrars must publish their deletion and auto-renewal policies and tell new registrants when an unrenewed name will be deleted, within a range of ten days at most. Absent extenuating circumstances, such as a UDRP case or a court order, a name must be deleted within 45 days of the registration agreement ending. ## Redemption: recovering a deleted domain, and what it costs After deletion, every gTLD registry except sponsored ones must offer a 30-day RGP. The registry disables DNS, blocks transfers and shows the RGP status in its RDDS results. Only the registrar that deleted the name can restore it, at the request of the person who held it at expiry. The registrar sends a restore request, and the status becomes pendingRestore. It then sends a restore report: the registration data before and after deletion, the times, the reason, and a statement that it is not restoring the name to use or sell it itself. If the report is late (the window is often seven days, as of October 2026), the name returns to redemptionPeriod. As of October 2026, the registry charges the registrar, and the registrar sets the restore fee for the holder; ICANN sets no amount. Registrars must publish their renewal, post-expiration renewal and restore fees, including the maximum a holder might pay. ## Pending delete and the drop If nobody restores the name within 30 days, it enters pendingDelete: it leaves the zone and the registry rejects any change. After five calendar days it is purged and becomes available: the drop, the moment drop catching services aim for. Example: example.com expires on 1 October. Reminders arrive around 1 September and 24 September. Nobody renews, and the registrar deletes it on 20 October, so its DNS must have been interrupted at least from 12 to 20 October. ## How ccTLDs such as .es handle expiry differently ICANN's rules apply to gTLDs; each ccTLD sets its own. As of October 2026: - **.es** (Red.es): the administrative contact gets email reminders 30, 10 and 5 days before expiry if the holder manages the name directly, or 5 days before if the registrar has not renewed it. At expiry the name is temporarily deactivated. There are five days to pay, then five to reconcile payments. Ten days after expiry the name is deregistered and becomes available; the published procedure describes no recovery stage after that. Renewal can be requested at any time while the name is in force, for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 10 years. - **.nl** (SIDN): a 40-day quarantine follows cancellation, when only the former holder can recover the name, through the old registrar or a new one. - **.de** (DENIC): the domain contract has no end date. After deletion, a 30-day RGP lets only the last holder, or a third party they name, re-register it, and registrars may pass the cost on. ## How to avoid losing a domain - Keep contact details current, with an email address on another domain: notices sent to the expiring one may not arrive. - Read the registrar's deletion, auto-renewal and restore fee policies. - Renew early or for several years, turn on automatic renewal and keep payment details valid. - Watch the domain's EPP status in an RDDS lookup. Holders should confirm the details with their registrar. ## Sources - [Expired Registration Recovery Policy](https://www.icann.org/en/contracted-parties/consensus-policies/expired-registration-recovery-policy/expired-registration-recovery-policy-21-02-2024-en) - [2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement](https://www.icann.org/en/contracted-parties/accredited-registrars/registrar-accreditation-agreement/2013-registrar-accreditation-agreement-17-09-2013-en) - [Manual de Usuario Final SGND 7.25.6.1, Versión 2.41](https://www.dominios.es/sites/dominios/files/2026-06/red.es_sgnd_7_25_6_1-manual_usuario_uf.pdf) ## related terms - [registration](https://tldlog.com/glossary/registration/) - [expiration](https://tldlog.com/glossary/expiration/) - [RGP](https://tldlog.com/glossary/redemption-grace-period/) - [pending delete](https://tldlog.com/glossary/pending-delete/) - [drop](https://tldlog.com/glossary/drop/)