When a domain name expires, your website becomes inaccessible and your email services are disrupted. If a third party registers your expired domain name, it can cause irreversible damage to your brand and business. This topic describes the domain name renewal lifecycle and explains how to manage your renewals.
Domain name lifecycle and renewal policy
A domain name goes through multiple statuses from its successful registration to its deletion. Each status has a different operation window and cost. The best practice is to renew the domain name before it enters the risk period.
Preventive stage (recommended): Renew your domain name before it expires while it is in Normal status. This is a safe and low-cost strategy.
Grace period: a domain name enters a grace period after it expires. During this period, domain name resolution may be suspended, but you can still renew the domain name manually at the standard price. This period typically lasts from 0 to 30 days after expiration. The renewal grace period for .hk domain names is 28 days, after which they are deleted.
Redemption period: After the grace period, the domain name enters a redemption period. To recover the domain name, you must pay a redemption fee, which is much higher than the standard renewal price. The redemption period is typically from day 31 to day 60 after expiration. For domain names managed by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), such as .cn, .中国, .公司, and .网络, this period is from day 31 to day 44 after expiration.
Pending delete period: After the redemption period, the domain name enters a short pending delete period. After this period, the domain name registry deletes the domain name and releases it for public registration. During this period, you cannot recover the domain name.
Domain name renewals must be performed by an Alibaba Cloud account or an authorized Resource Access Management (RAM) user. To use a RAM user for renewal, you must grant the RAM user permissions to manage domain names.
Renewal procedure
Using the Alibaba Cloud account that owns the domain name, go to the Domain Names page.
To renew a single domain name: Find the domain name and click Renew in the Actions column.
To renew multiple domain names: Select the domain names that you want to renew and click the Renew Domain Names button at the bottom of the list.
On the order confirmation page, select a renewal Period for each domain name, and click Buy Now.
Verify the renewal
On the Alibaba Cloud WHOIS page, check the expiration date of your domain name to confirm that the renewal was successful.
DNS resolution recovery time
After you renew a domain name during its grace period, the DNS resolution recovery time depends on DNS propagation.
For domain names that use Alibaba Cloud DNS: Resolution typically resumes within 10 minutes but can take up to 24 hours after the renewal.
For domain names that use a third-party DNS service: Resolution typically resumes within 24 to 48 hours after the renewal.
Troubleshoot renewal failures
Payment issues:
Check whether your account balance is sufficient.
Verify that your linked payment method, such as a credit card, is valid.
Check whether there are any overdue payments.
Domain name status issues:
Verify that the identity verification status of the domain name is Normal, limited to domain names with suffixes such as
.cnand others.