Renew Before It Lapses

Renew

Renewing your domain

Last reviewed

The short version

  • A domain stays yours only while you keep renewing it.
  • Your registrar must send you reminders before the end date.
  • Auto-renew helps, but it needs a working card and an inbox you read.
  • Know the renewal price before you need to pay it.

Renewing means paying for another term

Each registration has an end date. Renewing means paying for another term, so the end date moves forward.

You can usually renew in a few ways.

Three cards. Manual: you pay each time. Automatic: the registrar renews it for you. Several years at once: pay for more years ahead.
There are three common ways to renew.

The longest a registration can run at once is 10 years for a generic name.[1] So "many years" has a ceiling.

The reminders you should get

For generic names such as .com, ICANN's policy sets a minimum. Your registrar has to warn you before the date. One notice goes out about a month before. Another goes out about a week before.[2]

If the name still isn't renewed five days after the end date, the registrar has to send at least one more. It must say how to renew.[2]

A timeline with four points. About one month before expiry, the first notice. About one week before, the second notice. Expiry day. Within five days after, one more notice.
The reminders your registrar must send. The times are approximate.

Registrars are allowed to send more than that.[2]

The notice has to reach you without any effort from you. The policy gives email as an example.[2] So the notices go to the email on your record. That's why the email on the record matters so much.

This ICANN policy is written for generic (gTLD) names.[2] If your name ends in a country code, such as .au or .uk, check the rules of that country's registry too.

One small tip. ICANN suggests you save your registrar's sending address as a "safe sender". That stops spam filters blocking the reminder.[2]

Making auto-renew work

Auto-renew means the registrar renews the name for you and charges your card. It sounds like the end of the problem. It isn't, quite.

Auto-renew only works if you keep your payment details current.[3] An out-of-date card means a failed payment. A failed payment means no renewal.

Three boxes on the left point to one box on the right. Card details are current, reminders reach an inbox you read, and auto-renew is on. Together they keep the domain running.
Auto-renew only works when all three of these are true.

So check three things once a year:

  • Auto-renew is on.
  • The card hasn't expired.
  • The reminder emails go to an inbox somebody reads.

Know the price

Renewal prices can vary.[1] Registrars must show their renewal fees, and any different fee for renewing after expiry, when you register.[2]

Look at that fee page before you register. Then there's no shock later.

What next

Suppose the date passes and nothing was renewed. The next page walks through what happens on the day, and in the days after.

Sources

  1. Domain name registrar, Wikipedia (accessed 2026-10-26)
  2. Expired Registration Recovery Policy, ICANN (accessed 2026-10-26)
  3. Registrants' Benefits and Responsibilities, ICANN (accessed 2026-10-26)