Domain expired: how long do I have to get it back?

Your site and email stopped because the domain name ran out. It is usually not gone yet. There are stages, and the price goes up at each one.

The stages

1. Grace period, about 0 to 45 days. The registrar still holds it for you. Log in and renew at the normal price. Site and email come back within a few hours.
2. Redemption period, about 30 days more. You can still recover it, but registrars charge a restore fee, often $80 to $200 on top of renewal.
3. Pending delete, 5 days. Nobody can renew it. Then it is released and anyone can register it, including people who put scam sites on old domains.

What to do today

1. Log in to the registrar that billed you. Check the email you used for it for the expiry notice.
2. Renew, and turn on auto-renew with a card that will not expire soon.
3. After renewal, check that the DNS records still point to your host. Some registrars replace them with a parking page.

If it still fails, send me the address and I will tell you which step is broken.

Want the rest of your site checked after it is back? Run a free 40-point check at tinkeraudit.com.