Live from the registry's RDAP
Domain expiry checker
Enter a domain to see when it expires, how many days are left, how old it is and who it is registered with, read straight from the registry that runs its extension.
Where the dates come from_
Straight from the registry, never guessed
Every domain extension is run by one registry: Verisign for .com and .net, Public Interest Registry for .org, Nominet for .uk, Identity Digital for .io and many more. We look up which registry runs the extension in IANA's RDAP list, ask that registry's RDAP server, and show its answer with a link to the exact record. If the registry does not publish a date, we say so.
Some registrars renew automatically, and the registry's date can lag behind a renewal by a few days. If the date here looks wrong, your registrar account has the renewal you paid for.
What happens when a domain expires
A domain does not vanish the moment it expires. For .com, .net, .org and most generic extensions it goes through these stages, and the typical lengths are below. Your registrar sets the exact grace period, and country extensions like .uk or .de follow their own rules.
- Day 0Expiry dateThe registration term ends. Under ICANN's rules the registrar must have sent you reminders about a month and a week before.
- Days 1 to 45Grace periodRenew at the normal price. Many registrars park the domain on day one, so the site and email stop working until you pay. Often 30 to 45 days; at least 8.
- Next 30 daysRedemption periodThe registrar has deleted it, status
redemptionPeriod. Only the old owner can restore it, for a restore fee on top of the renewal. - Last 5 daysPending deleteStatus
pendingDelete. Nobody can renew or restore it now. - About day 75 to 80ReleasedThe registry deletes it and it is free to register again, often within seconds by a drop-catching service.
Typical for generic extensions (gTLDs). Country extensions differ: a .uk domain is suspended about 30 days after expiry and cancelled about 90 days after, and a .de domain has no registry expiry date at all.
How to renew a domain
- Find the registrar: it is in the result above (the company you pay, such as GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare or Squarespace).
- Log in there and open the domain list. If you cannot find the account, use the registrar's account recovery with the email you registered with.
- Choose renew, pick how many years, and pay. Renewing for several years at once pushes the expiry date further out.
- Check the date again here a day or two later: the registry date should move forward by the years you bought.
How to turn on auto-renew
- In your registrar account, open the domain's settings and switch on auto-renew (sometimes called automatic renewal).
- Keep a valid card on the account. An expired card is the most common reason an auto-renew fails.
- Make sure the account email is one you read, so the renewal reminders and failure notices reach you.
- Add a calendar reminder a month before the date shown here, as a backup.
Why a website goes down when its domain lapses
The website itself can be perfectly healthy and still disappear. When a domain expires, the registrar usually swaps its nameservers for its own parking servers, so the domain points at an ad or renewal page instead of your server. Later stages put the domain on hold or remove it from the registry's zone, so it stops resolving at all. Email on the domain stops arriving at the same time, and security certificates cannot renew.
Because DNS answers are cached, it can look patchy at first: up for some visitors, down for others, for a few hours. If a site you run or rely on has gone down, check whether it is down for everyone, then check its expiry date here. To see whether its nameservers and records have changed, and whether its email is still set up, use the DNS and email checker. And if a printed QR code suddenly opens a parking page, the QR code checker shows every step of the link.
Domain expiry questions
How do I check when a domain expires?
Type the domain into the box above. We ask the registry that runs its extension (Verisign for .com, Nominet for .uk and so on) through RDAP, the official replacement for WHOIS, and show the expiry date, the days left, the registration date and the registrar. You can also log in to the registrar where the domain is held: the renewal date is on the domain's page there.
What is RDAP, and is it different from WHOIS?
RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) is the modern version of WHOIS. It returns the same registration facts, such as dates, registrar, status codes and nameservers, but in a standard machine-readable format over HTTPS. ICANN made RDAP the official source for generic extensions like .com, .net and .org in 2025, and most registries now run it.
Why does the expiry date here differ from my registrar?
The date here is what the registry holds. Registrars that auto-renew sometimes renew at the registry a few days after the old date, and some registries move the date forward a year automatically at expiry and wait for the registrar to confirm. So the registry date can lag behind, or run ahead of, what you paid for. Your registrar account shows the renewal you actually bought.
What happens when a domain expires?
For .com, .net, .org and most generic extensions the usual path is: a grace period after the expiry date (often 30 to 45 days, set by the registrar) when the owner can renew at the normal price, then a 30 day redemption period when it can be restored for an extra fee, then 5 days of pending delete, after which anyone can register it. During the grace period many registrars point the domain at a parking page, so the website and email often stop working on day one.
How long is the grace period after a domain expires?
ICANN's rules require registrars to let the owner renew for at least 8 days after expiry for generic extensions. In practice most registrars allow 30 to 45 days at the normal renewal price. Country extensions set their own rules: .uk domains, for example, are suspended about 30 days after expiry and cancelled about 90 days after.
Can I get back a domain that has expired?
Yes, in the grace period by simply renewing it, and in the redemption period by asking your registrar to restore it, which costs a restore fee on top of the renewal. Once the status shows pendingDelete it can no longer be restored, and after the deletion it goes to whoever registers it first, often a drop-catching service.
How old is a domain?
Our result shows the registration date from the registry and the age worked out from it. That date is when the current registration began. If a domain was ever allowed to expire and was registered again by someone else, the registry date starts over, so an old name can show a young age.
Why does it say this extension has no public RDAP?
Some country extensions, such as .jp, .eu, .es, .it and .ch, do not run a public RDAP service yet. We only show dates that come from the registry, so instead of guessing we link to the registry and IANA's record for the extension, which names the registry's own WHOIS service.
Can I see who owns a domain?
Usually not. Since GDPR most registries and registrars hide the owner's name and contact details, and many domains use a privacy service. This checker does not show owner details at all: it shows the registrar, which is the company to contact about a domain, and the public dates and statuses.
If a domain is not registered, can I buy it?
Probably. When the registry has no record of a name it is not registered by anyone. A registry can still hold some names back as reserved or premium, so search for it at a registrar to confirm the price and availability.