# Domain Name Expired? What to Do Right Now

Source: https://dijitulsupport.co.uk/guides/domain-expired-what-to-do/
Updated: 2026-10-10

> If your domain has expired, renew it with your registrar straight away: a .uk domain can be renewed for 90 days after expiry and most .com domains have a grace and redemption period. dijitul support finds who controls the domain, recovers access, renews it and restores website and email DNS, for £45 an hour + VAT.

## Key facts

- Under Nominet's rules, a .uk domain can be renewed for 30 days after expiry, is then suspended for 60 days, and is cancelled 90 days after expiry.
- ICANN requires gTLD registries (such as .com) to offer a 30-day Redemption Grace Period after deletion, usually at a higher restoration fee.
- Registrars may also offer an auto-renew grace period of up to 45 days for gTLDs before deletion.
- When a domain expires, the website and email both usually stop, because the registrar parks or removes the DNS.
- The person or company named as registrant legally owns the domain, so check it is your business, not a former developer.
- Once a domain is released, anyone can register it, including people who buy expired domains to resell.

## Signs your domain has expired

The first clue is usually that everything stops at once. The website shows a parking page or "this domain has expired" notice, emails to you bounce or never arrive, and Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace may complain that the domain cannot be verified. If only the website is down but email still works, it is more likely a hosting problem. If both have stopped on the same day, check the domain first.

You can confirm it in a minute. For .uk domains, use the WHOIS lookup on Nominet's website. For .com and other endings, use ICANN's lookup at lookup.icann.org. Look at the **expiry date**, the **registrar** (the company you renew with) and the **registrant** (the legal owner).

## How long you have: .uk and .com timelines

Different domain endings follow different rules.

### .uk, .co.uk, .org.uk

Nominet, which runs .uk, gives a **90-day window**. For the first 30 days after expiry you can renew normally. After that the domain is suspended for 60 days, during which it can still be recovered by renewing. At 90 days it is cancelled and released for anyone to register. These timings are published in Nominet's domain lifecycle rules.

### .com, .net, .org and other gTLDs

ICANN's Expired Registration Recovery Policy requires registrars to send reminders before expiry. Many registrars then hold the domain in an auto-renew grace period of up to 45 days, where a normal renewal fee applies. After deletion, the registry holds it in a **30-day Redemption Grace Period**, where you can still get it back but the restore fee is usually much higher. After that it is released.

Do not wait to see which stage you are in. Renew today.

## What to do, step by step

- **Find the registrar.** WHOIS shows which company holds the domain. It may be 123 Reg, GoDaddy, IONOS, Namecheap, or a reseller account run by your old web designer.
- **Log in and renew.** If you have the login, renew for at least two years and turn on auto-renew with a card that will not expire soon.
- **If you do not have the login,** use the registrar's password reset. The reset email goes to the account email, which may itself be on the expired domain. In that case contact the registrar's support with proof that you are the registrant, such as Companies House details and an invoice.
- **If a former supplier holds it,** ask them in writing to renew it and transfer it to you, or to give you the transfer code (called the EPP or auth code; for .uk it is a change of IPS tag). See our guide on getting your website back from an old developer.
- **Check the DNS after renewal.** Some registrars swap your nameservers for a parking page when a domain lapses. After renewing, check the A record still points to your host and the MX records still point to your email provider.

## After renewal: why things may still be broken

Even once the domain is renewed, website and email can take a few hours to come back, because the parking page or missing records were cached by internet providers. This is normal and is explained in our guide to DNS propagation. If nothing has returned after 24 hours, the DNS was probably changed and needs putting back.

Emails sent to you while the domain was down will mostly have bounced back to the sender. They are not queued anywhere, so tell key customers and suppliers to resend anything important.

## Stopping it happening again

- Make sure your business is the **registrant**, not a person or a supplier.
- Use an account email on a different domain (or a personal address you control) so renewal notices still reach you if the domain lapses.
- Turn on auto-renew and keep the card details current.
- Keep all your domains with one registrar and a note of logins in your password manager.

dijitul can take over domain renewals and DNS as part of domain and DNS support, and our support plans include uptime monitoring that alerts us when a site drops.

## When to call dijitul support

Call us if you cannot work out who holds the domain, cannot get into the registrar account, or the domain is in suspension or redemption and email is down. We work through the registrar's recovery process with you, renew the domain, rebuild missing DNS records for the website and Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and confirm mail is flowing. One-off recovery is £45 an hour + VAT. Get in touch.

## FAQs

### Can I get my .co.uk domain back after it expires?

Yes, for up to 90 days. Nominet allows normal renewal for 30 days after expiry, then suspends the domain for 60 days during which it can still be renewed. After 90 days it is cancelled and anyone can register it.

### Why has my email stopped when my domain expired?

Email relies on MX records in your domain's DNS. When a domain lapses the registrar usually removes or parks the DNS, so other mail servers cannot find yours and messages bounce. Renewing and restoring the MX records brings email back.

### Someone else registered my expired domain. What can I do?

Contact the new owner to ask about buying it back. If they are using it in bad faith, for example impersonating you, Nominet's Dispute Resolution Service for .uk or the UDRP for .com may help, though these cost money. Legal advice is worth taking.

### My old web designer owns my domain. Is that normal?

It happens a lot but it is risky. The registrant is the legal owner. Ask the designer to transfer the domain into your business's name. dijitul can guide the transfer and move it to an account you control.

### How much does dijitul charge to recover an expired domain?

dijitul charges £45 an hour + VAT, with a 30-minute minimum. That covers finding the registrar, recovering access, renewing and restoring DNS for website and email. The registrar's own renewal or restoration fee is paid separately.

## Pricing and contact

Support plans from £25 a month + VAT, or £45 an hour + VAT for one-off fixes. Plans: Essential £25/month + VAT (Website software updates (core, plugins, themes) applied and checked, Daily backups, Uptime monitoring, Security monitoring); Business £50/month + VAT (Everything in Essential, 1 hour of fixes or changes every month, Priority support); Complete £99/month + VAT (Everything in Business, 3 hours of fixes or changes every month, IT and Microsoft 365 helpdesk for your team). Ad-hoc support is £45 an hour + VAT. The first 30 minutes are the minimum charge, then we bill in 15-minute blocks. Contact: 01623 650333, support@dijitul.uk, https://dijitulsupport.co.uk/contact/