What is a domain grace period?¶

For non-.uk domains, your domain will stop resolving as soon as it expires. Furthermore, the name servers will be updated and your domain will redirect to a parking page approximately 1-3 days after expiry. Your domain simultaneously enters a grace period for the first 40 days after expiry, in which you may renew the domain at the standard price and the original name servers will be subsequently restored. After the 40-day grace period, your domain enters a redemption period of an additional 30 days, where the domain can be renewed for a higher cost. When this period is over, the domain cannot be renewed and will eventually become available for registration to anyone else at some point after that.

For .uk domains the process is slightly different:

After your domain name expiry date you have 30 days grace before it’s suspended. After this point, any emails and websites you had set up on it will go offline. The domain name will then be in suspension for another 60 days before being deleted, at which point it becomes available to anyone for re-registration. You can renew the domain at no extra charge any time during this 90 day period.

With the new gTLDs being rolled out by ICANN, the grace period is usually 40 days, and the redemption period 30.

Please note that other TLDs and domain registrars may have different policies and timeframes concerning expiration and renewal.