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Renewing Domain Names

  • When you register a domain name, it's yours for the period of time you registered, which is typically between one and 10 years. If you want to keep using it, including all of the services associated with it (like a website or email service), you have to renew it with your registrar before it expires. If you don't, you risk losing it for a short time or possibly for good. ICANN does not have the authority to transfer domain names, including expired ones, back to you.
  • The process of ensuring that your domain name registration stays current isn't complicated, but it's important to understand the process and your responsibilities before you are at risk of losing this valuable asset. Stay informed about your registrar's terms and conditions regarding your domain name's expiration, make payments associated with your domain name on time, and be sure to keep your contact information up to date with your registrar so that you receive updates and renewal reminders.

Registrant Blog Series - Do you have a domain name? Here's what you need to know. Part V: Renewing Your Domain Name.

See Infographic: Renew Your Domain Name Before It Expires!

Renew Your Domain Name Before It Expires!

Other Resources

FAQs: Domain Name Renewal and Expiration

5 Things every Domain Name Registrant should know about ICANN's Expired Registration Recovery Policy (ERRP)

About Domain Renewal/Redemption

Domain Name Renewal Complaint [PDF, 128 KB] (Learn more about filing a renewal complaint)

Watch Video: How do I renew my domain name?

About Lost Domain Names

EPP Status Codes: What do they mean, and why should I know? [PDF, 99 KB]

If you have suggestions or would like to submit an inquiry, please contact ICANN organization's Global Support Center's Global Support Center.

Domain Name System
Internationalized Domain Name ,IDN,"IDNs are domain names that include characters used in the local representation of languages that are not written with the twenty-six letters of the basic Latin alphabet ""a-z"". An IDN can contain Latin letters with diacritical marks, as required by many European languages, or may consist of characters from non-Latin scripts such as Arabic or Chinese. Many languages also use other types of digits than the European ""0-9"". The basic Latin alphabet together with the European-Arabic digits are, for the purpose of domain names, termed ""ASCII characters"" (ASCII = American Standard Code for Information Interchange). These are also included in the broader range of ""Unicode characters"" that provides the basis for IDNs. The ""hostname rule"" requires that all domain names of the type under consideration here are stored in the DNS using only the ASCII characters listed above, with the one further addition of the hyphen ""-"". The Unicode form of an IDN therefore requires special encoding before it is entered into the DNS. The following terminology is used when distinguishing between these forms: A domain name consists of a series of ""labels"" (separated by ""dots""). The ASCII form of an IDN label is termed an ""A-label"". All operations defined in the DNS protocol use A-labels exclusively. The Unicode form, which a user expects to be displayed, is termed a ""U-label"". The difference may be illustrated with the Hindi word for ""test"" — परीका — appearing here as a U-label would (in the Devanagari script). A special form of ""ASCII compatible encoding"" (abbreviated ACE) is applied to this to produce the corresponding A-label: xn--11b5bs1di. A domain name that only includes ASCII letters, digits, and hyphens is termed an ""LDH label"". Although the definitions of A-labels and LDH-labels overlap, a name consisting exclusively of LDH labels, such as""icann.org"" is not an IDN."