What is the domain recovery period and how can I restore my domain names?
This article tells you what the domain recovery period is, and how to reactivate domain names within this period.
What is the domain recovery period?
When a domain name expires, there is a grace period of 14-16 days where the domain can be renewed via your Control Panel without any additional charges. However, after day 16, you will need to contact our Support team for renewals.
After this 14-16 day grace period, an expired domain name may enter the domain recovery or redemption period, which can last up to 75 days post-expiry. During this time, a fee of £75 + 1 year renewal fee + VAT will be needed to recover the domain to your 123 Reg account.
You can find more information about each stage of the grace period for most TLDs (i.e. .com, .net, .org, etc) by reading the table below.
| Days after domain expiration | What happens and what you can do |
| +3 days | We’ll try to auto-renew your domain, or you can manually renew it at the standard renewal price. |
| +5 days | The nameservers will change and your domain will be parked, which means that any services associated with your domain (i.e. email, website) will stop working. However, you can still manually renew your domain at the standard renewal price. |
| +8 days | We’ll try to auto-renew your domain, or you can manually renew it at the standard renewal price. |
| +13 days | We’ll try to auto-renew your domain, or you can manually renew it at the standard renewal price. |
| +16 days | Your domain will be auctioned. However, we can still manually renew it at the standard renewal price on your behalf. |
| +30-41 days | Domain is not recoverable. This timeframe is reserved for auction bids and backorders. |
| +42 days | If no closeout auction bids or backorders are placed, then the domain may be recoverable. However, a redemption fee must be paid on top of the standard renewal fee. |
| +44 days | The domain enters the registry redemption phase, with its WHOIS status showing as ‘Redemption period’. Although the domain can be redeemed, a redemption fee will be necessary. |
| +75 days | The domain enters the ‘Pending delete’ state and we cannot recover it for the customer. |
| +80 days | The domain is deleted and becomes available on the market. |
Recovering my domain
After day 16, you will need to contact our Support team to renew your domain.
To attempt a manual recovery of your domain name, please confirm the domain name with our Support team and that they can charge the £75 recovery fee + 1 year renewal fee + VAT, upon the successful recovery of your domain name.
Please note: the recovery fee may vary depending on your domain name’s extension. Click here for more information.
Renewing your domain in advance of expiry!
123 Reg recommend that you renew your domain names ahead of their expiry date through your Control Panel, as described here.
All domain names are set to auto renew by default, where 123 Reg are able to take payment for your domains. We suggest you keep your payment details up-to-date to ensure automatic domain renewal.
Remember, you can renew most domains for up to 10 years to help ensure you do not incur downtime or additional costs for your domain, site and email. This is a great way to secure your domain name as a committed business asset as well as save on inflation price changes moving forward.
Other domains:
For .at domains, click here.
For .eu domains, click here.