- 4 days ago
- 9 min read
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To renew a domain name, sign in to the account you used to register it, open your domain settings and pay for another registration term before the expiration date arrives.
That is the whole job, and it usually takes about two minutes. Get it right and your website, your business email and every link pointing at your domain name keep working exactly as they did yesterday.
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TL;DR: domain renewal
A domain is leased, not bought. You hold it for a set term of one to 10 years, and when that term runs out your registrar hands it back unless you pay to extend it. The good news is that renewal is cheap, fast and easy to automate, and even a missed deadline is usually recoverable if you move quickly.
You'll learn:
What domain renewal means and how domain registration terms work
How to renew a domain, including finding your registrar
When to renew and how auto-renewal and reminders work
How much renewal costs and why prices can increase
What happens after a domain expires
How to decide if a domain is worth renewing
How to renew a domain with Wix and what happens if it expires
What domain renewal actually means
Domain renewal is the payment that extends your registration for another term. When you first register a domain name you are not buying it outright, you are reserving the exclusive right to use it for a set number of years, usually somewhere between one and 10. Renewing pushes that expiration date further into the future and nothing else about your domain changes.
This model is set by ICANN, the nonprofit that coordinates the global domain name system, and every accredited registrar follows it. It is also why nobody can sell you a domain permanently. The registry behind your extension only ever grants a term, so a lifetime domain would really mean a lifetime of renewals paid upfront.
The practical takeaway is that a domain name behaves more like a subscription than an asset you keep. Treat the renewal date the way you would treat a lease on a physical space, because the consequences of missing it are similar.
Learn the basics:
How to renew a domain name in 5 steps
Renewal takes a few minutes once you know where your domain lives. The steps below work with any domain registrar, since the underlying process is the same everywhere.
01. Find out who your domain registrar is
Plenty of people register a domain, forget about it for two years and then have no idea which company to log into. A whois lookup solves this in seconds by showing the registrar of record for any domain name. Search your inbox for old renewal reminders too, since they are sent to the registrant email address on file.
02. Check your real expiration date
Your dashboard shows the exact date your registration term ends, and it is often earlier than people assume. Note it somewhere outside the registrar account, like a calendar reminder set 45 days ahead. If the domain is tied to a website plan or a business email plan, check those dates as well, because they are usually separate subscriptions.
03. Sign in and open your domain settings
Log into your registrar account and find the domain list or domain management area. Select the specific domain you want to extend, since accounts holding several names make it easy to renew the wrong one. Look for a Renew or Extend option, which usually sits right next to the expiration date.
04. Choose how many years to renew for
Most registrars let you extend anywhere from one to 10 years in a single transaction. Longer terms cost more upfront but they remove the risk of a lapse and can lock in today's rate. If the domain is central to your brand, a multi-year renewal is about the cheapest insurance you can buy.
05. Pay and confirm the new expiration date
Complete the payment, then go back to your domain settings and check that the expiration date has actually moved. A renewal that fails on a declined card can look like a success in your inbox and a disaster three weeks later. Save the confirmation email and, while you are in there, switch auto-renew on.
When should you renew your domain name?
Sooner than most people think. ICANN's Expired Registration Recovery Policy requires registrars to send at least two renewal reminders before a domain expires, one roughly a month out and a second roughly a week out. Those emails go to the registrant address on file, which is exactly why outdated contact details are one of the most common causes of a lost domain.
Auto-renew is the simplest fix. It charges your saved payment method automatically before the expiration date, so the only thing that can break the chain is an expired card. Check your billing details once a year and the problem more or less disappears.
If you would rather renew manually, aim for 30 to 60 days before expiry rather than the final week. That leaves room for a failed payment, a bank hold or a slow support ticket without ever putting the domain at risk.
When you upgrade to a premium plan, you'll even get a voucher for a free domain name for your first year.
How much does it cost to renew a domain name?
Renewal usually costs more than your first year did. Registrars often discount the initial registration to win your business and then charge the standard rate afterwards, so a domain that cost a few dollars to register can renew for considerably more. It is worth checking the domain pricing for your extension before you commit to a name.
Price also depends heavily on your extension. A .com, .net or .org renewal tends to sit in the low tens of dollars a year, while newer or specialist endings like .ai and .shop can run considerably higher, and premium names carry premium renewal fees for as long as you hold them. Add-ons like domain privacy or an SSL certificate may be bundled into that total or billed separately, which is worth checking before you assume the number on the invoice is the whole picture.
Expert tip from Kacper Rafalski, Demand Generation Team Leader at Netguru:
“Being an established company, with a big reputation in Europe, the pricing on our domain has seen an increase over the last few years. We've missed the chance to expand the plan for more years and had to renew it from scratch, and all of a sudden the pricing went to around $110 per year.”
That is worth repeating. If a name matters to your brand, extending it for several years while the rate is low usually beats renewing one year at a time and absorbing every increase along the way.
Get the details: How to register a domain name
What happens if you don't renew your domain name?
Missing the date does not delete your domain instantly. It moves through a sequence of stages, each one more expensive and less certain than the last.
One detail catches people out along the way. ICANN requires registrars to disrupt DNS service for up to eight days before deleting a name, and registries to do the same during redemption. Your site going dark and your email bouncing is a deliberate final warning rather than a technical fault.
The grace period
If your registrar does not delete the name the moment it expires, it may offer an auto-renew grace period. Under ICANN's rules this can run anywhere from 1 to 45 days, and during it you can usually still renew at the normal price. Read the terms carefully though, because some registrars reserve the right to auction the name during that window.
The redemption period
Once the registration is deleted, every generic top level domain registry has to offer a 30-day redemption grace period. You remain the only person who can restore the name during those 30 days, but restoration almost always carries a redemption fee on top of the renewal cost, and that fee can be many times the annual price.
Pending delete and public release
After redemption comes pending delete, and at that point the name is out of your hands. A few days later it returns to the open market, where anyone can register it, including someone who has been watching it drop. There is no appeal process and no authority that can hand it back to you.
Find your perfect .com domain, plus more than 400 other domain extensions, on Wix. Search and register your domain in one place with built-in security and easy setup.
Should you renew or let a domain go?
Not every domain deserves another year. If you registered a name for a project that never launched, or you are sitting on a handful of defensive variations nobody ever types, the renewal invoice is worth questioning.
The test is simple. A domain that carries traffic, backlinks, printed materials or an email address is doing work every single day and should be renewed without hesitation. A domain that redirects nowhere and appears in no campaign is a line item, not an asset.
Expert tip from James Shaffer, Managing Director at Insurance Panda:
“If a domain is driving business, justifying the cost is easy. If it's just sitting there, you might be better off cutting your losses.”
One caution before you let anything lapse. Dropped domains get picked up fast, and a name close to your brand in someone else's hands can create real confusion for your customers. If the name sits anywhere near your trademark, keep it.
Explore more:
How to renew a domain name with Wix
Wix is an ICANN-accredited domain registrar, so a domain bought through Wix follows the same lifecycle as any other, with renewal handled from the same dashboard you use for your site. Domains registered with Wix are set to renew automatically 30 days before the expiration date, which builds in a buffer if a payment needs a second attempt.
Having everything in one place is the practical advantage here. Your domain name, your website and your business email are managed from a single dashboard, the same place you build a website, so a renewal date is never hiding in an account you forgot you had. First-year and renewal pricing are both shown upfront with no hidden costs, and 24/7 support is there if a payment fails at an awkward moment.
Here is how to renew a domain in your Wix account.
Go to Domains in your Wix account.
Click Extend next to the domain you want to renew.
Select a registration period and click Continue.
Choose a privacy option and click Continue.
Enter your payment information and click Submit Purchase.
If a Wix domain does expire, it enters a grace period of roughly 30 days during which it stays in your account and you can extend it with no extra fee. After that it moves into a redemption period of about 30 days where retrieval is still possible but a redemption fee applies, and the amount owed is shown in the notification on your Domains page. A handful of extensions have no grace period at all and go straight to redemption on the expiration date, so check yours if you are cutting it fine.
Security carries over with the renewal too. Wix domains include a free SSL certificate and optional privacy protection, and keeping the registration current is what keeps all of it switched on.
Renewing a domain name FAQ:
Can I renew my domain name after it expires?
Usually yes, but the window is limited and the price climbs. Most domains enter a grace period first, where you can renew at the normal rate, then a redemption period of around 30 days where a restoration fee applies on top of the renewal cost. Once the name passes into pending delete you can no longer recover it and simply have to wait and see if it becomes available again.
Do I need to renew my domain name every year?
Only if you registered it for a single year. Registration terms run from one to 10 years and you can extend for several years at once, which means fewer dates to remember. Plenty of people register for one year to start with and then switch to a longer term once the name proves itself.
Can I renew my domain name with a different provider?
Not directly. Renewal always happens with the registrar that currently holds the registration, so to move you first transfer the domain and then renew it in the new account. Transfers usually add a year to the registration, so plan the move well ahead of the expiration date rather than in the final days.
What happens to my website and email if my domain expires?
Both stop working. DNS service is deliberately disrupted once a domain expires, which means your site stops resolving and messages sent to any address on that domain bounce. Your files and your mailbox are not deleted, but nothing on that domain is reachable until the registration is restored.
How many years can I renew a domain name for?
Up to 10 years of total registration at any one time. That cap is set at the registry level and applies right across the industry, so you can top up to 10 years but not beyond. For a name you plan to keep for good, renewing to the maximum is the surest way to avoid a lapse.
How do I stop my domain from expiring again?
Turn on auto-renew, keep a valid payment method on file and make sure the registrant email address is one you actually read. Add a calendar reminder about 45 days before the expiration date as a backup. Between the two, a domain has to work quite hard to slip away from you.
