My domain expired. What happens to my website and email?
They stop working, but you can usually get the domain back if you act quickly. Here's how long you have for .com.au and .com domains, and how to stop it happening again.
When a domain expires, your website goes offline and email to your address stops arriving. For a .com.au or other .au domain, you can renew it for 30 days after the expiry date; after that, anyone can register it. For a .com or similar, you can renew during your registrar's grace period, then for an extra fee during a 30-day redemption period. Log in to the company you pay for the domain, and renew it today.
More than the website.
Your website
It stops loading. Visitors usually see a page from your registrar instead, saying the domain has expired.
Your email
Messages to your address bounce back to whoever sent them. They usually aren't delivered later.
Logins that use that email
Password resets and sign-in codes for your other accounts go to an address that no longer works.
Your listings and links
Google, your social pages and your printed materials all point at an address that's down.
It depends on the ending.
.au domains: .com.au, .net.au, .org.au and .au
Under auDA's rules, you can renew for 30 days after the expiry date. Your website and email stop working during those 30 days, and some providers charge a restore fee. After the 30 days the name is removed, and anyone can register it, first come, first served. There's no extra redemption period for .au. Some registrars set an earlier deadline of their own: Namecheap, for one, needs .com.au domains renewed 12 days before they expire.
.com, .net, .org and similar
ICANN's rules give you a renewal grace period after expiry, set by your registrar at up to 45 days. Then comes a 30-day redemption period, when you can still get it back for an extra fee, then five days before it's released for anyone to register. Two registrars' own timelines:
- GoDaddy: the normal price until 12 days after expiry; website and email stop at 5 days; a redemption fee from 18 days; listed at auction from 26 days; gone from your account at 72 days.
- Namecheap: about 30 days at the normal price, then a 30-day redemption period at the redemption price.
Four steps.
- Find out who you pay for the domainThat's your registrar or reseller, which isn't always your website builder. Search your email for “domain renewal”. If a web designer registered it for you, ask them.
- Log in and renewIf you can't get into an .au domain's account, auDA's password recovery tool at pw.auda.org.au can help.
- Wait for your website and email to come backUsually within hours. Then send a test email to yourself from another address.
- Make sure it can't happen againTurn on auto-renew, check the card it renews on, and make sure the registrar has an email address you actually read. That's where the reminders go.
Check when yours expires.
For .com and similar domains, lookup.icann.org shows the expiry date, and so does our free check, which warns you when it's under 30 days away. For .au domains, auDA doesn't publish expiry dates, so ask your registrar or look in your account with them. Registrars must remind you: auDA's rules require at least 30 days' notice for .au, and ICANN's require reminders about a month and a week before.
About expired domains
Can I get my expired domain back?
Usually, if you act quickly. An .au domain can be renewed for 30 days after it expires. A .com domain can be renewed during your registrar's grace period, then for an extra fee during a 30-day redemption period. After that, anyone can register it.
How much does it cost to renew an expired domain?
The normal price during the grace period. After that, registrars add a redemption or restore fee, which each one sets itself, so check yours.
What happens to emails sent while my domain was expired?
They usually bounce back to the sender and aren't delivered later. Once the domain is renewed, let important contacts know to resend anything urgent.
How do I find out when my .com.au domain expires?
Ask your registrar, or log in to your account with them. auDA doesn't publish .au expiry dates in its public WHOIS. For .com and similar domains, lookup.icann.org shows the date.
Checked on 4 November 2026 against auDA's renewal page and licensing rules, ICANN's expiration policy, GoDaddy and Namecheap. Registrars change their timelines; your registrar's own terms are the final word.