DomainToolBelt

Domain expiration timeline: from expiry to drop

After a .com domain expires, it goes through up to 45 days of auto-renew grace, a 30-day redemption period and 5 days of pending delete, and then the registry deletes it and it becomes available to register again. Right now 367,885 names are in pending delete and due to drop by Oct 18 across 14 extensions and 95,934 more are in redemption in our data.

Updated from our data. Phase lengths are the .com values.

Domain expiration timelineA .com name moves from expiry through up to 45 days of auto-renew grace, 30 days of redemption and 5 days of pending delete to the drop, which for .com and .net starts around 12:00 UTC. In our data now: 207 names in auto-renew grace, 95,934 in redemption, 367,885 in pending delete due to drop by Oct 18.Expiry (day 0)Auto-renew graceUp to 45 days207 in our dataRedemption30 days95,934 in our dataPending delete5 days367,885 due by Oct 18Drop.com and .net: from about 12:00 UTC

Also: 27,227 leaving the zone in .xyz, .shop and others

The .com expiration timeline, from expiry to the drop. Boxes are not drawn to scale. Counts are names in each phase in our data right now.

Phase by phase

1. Auto-renew grace: up to 45 days

When a .com registration reaches its expiry date, the registry renews it automatically and the registrar then has up to 45 days to keep it or delete it. A name the registrar deletes in this window goes straight to redemption, so this phase can be much shorter than 45 days. The owner can usually still renew at the normal price, and many registrars auction expired names during this window; those auctions show up on our domain auctions list. We see 207 names in this phase right now.

2. Redemption: 30 days

A deleted name enters a 30-day redemption period. The only thing a registrar can do with it then is ask the registry to restore it, and a restore may cost the owner an extra fee, sometimes called a redemption fee. We track 95,934 names in redemption right now on the redemption list. In .xyz, .shop and other extensions we also list 27,227 names leaving the zone; most of them drop about five weeks later.

3. Pending delete: 5 days

A name nobody restored moves to pending delete for 5 days, and the registry rejects every request to change it. The owner can no longer get it back. This is the window for backorders. 367,885 names are due to drop by Oct 18 across 14 extensions; see the pending delete list.

4. The drop

At the end of pending delete the registry deletes the name and it becomes available to register again. For .com and .net the daily drop has started around 12:00 UTC since October 1, 2026; before that it ran in the evening UTC. Catch services race to register wanted names the moment they drop. Our guide to drop-catching services shows who catches the most.

What you can do in each phaseIn auto-renew grace the owner can renew at the normal price. In redemption the owner can restore the name, and an extra fee may apply. In pending delete the owner can no longer restore it and others can backorder it. After the drop anyone can register it if no catch service got it first.Auto-renew graceThe owner:Renew at thenormal priceRedemptionThe owner:Restore it; an extrafee may applyPending deleteAnyone else:Backorder; the ownercan no longer restoreAfter the dropAnyone:Register it if nocatch service got it
What the owner, and everyone else, can do in each phase of a .com name.

How many names drop each day

Pending delete lists are known a few days ahead. Across the 14 extensions those lists cover, 367,885 names are due between today and Oct 18, 92,598 of them today.

Names due to drop per dayNames due to drop per day (UTC): Oct 15 (today): 92,598; Oct 16: 94,957; Oct 17: 93,231; Oct 18: 87,099.Oct 15 (today)92,598Oct 1694,957Oct 1793,231Oct 1887,099
Names due to drop per day (UTC), from the pending delete lists, in our data.

Other extensions

The day counts on this page are the .com values from its registry agreement. Other registries set their own grace, redemption and delete periods and their own drop times, so check the registry's policy before you count on a date.

Watch a name through the drop

Questions people ask

How long after a domain expires can someone else register it?

For .com, up to about 80 days: up to 45 days of auto-renew grace, 30 days of redemption and 5 days of pending delete. A registrar can delete the name early in the grace period, which shortens the wait.

Can I renew a domain after it expires?

Yes. During auto-renew grace the owner can usually renew at the normal price, and during the 30-day redemption period the registrar can restore it, which may cost an extra fee. Once the name is in pending delete it can no longer be restored.

What time do .com domains drop?

Since October 1, 2026 the .com and .net drop starts around 12:00 UTC. DropCatch asks for backorders 30 minutes before, and SnapNames and NameJet 15 minutes before.

Sources

  1. .COM Registry Agreement: Functional and Performance Specifications, ICANN. Checked Oct 15, 2026.
  2. FAQs for Registrants: Domain Name Renewals and Expiration, ICANN. Checked Oct 15, 2026.
  3. Verisign changes drop time for .com and .net domains, Domain Name Wire, published Sep 9, 2026. Checked Oct 15, 2026.
  4. Drop time change, DropCatch. Checked Oct 15, 2026.

Live numbers on this page come from our own data and refresh through the day.