Expired domain retrievable?

[Kaitlin]

If a domain and hosting expired some months ago and were not renewed on purpose, but now I've changed my mind and want my site back up, what do I have to do to get it back?

 

[ritchie]

I think it is pretty easy and straightforward to do this. From what I have heard, you can still be able to recover an expired domain even after the grace period, as long as it hasn't gone past the deletion phase or hasn't been released to the public yet.

 

[Britney]

I heard that if you don't renew your domain, then it's kept for about 21 days and then after that you have to buy it back at a higher price or it's auctioned off.

 

[Kaitlin]

If that is true then it's probably too late to retrieve it because it's been months since the domain and hosting service expired, so it's probably long gone by now.

 

[Mallard]

Your first step should be to contact the hoster or registrar you had it through. They may be able to recover it for you If you registered the domain to yourself, then check the terms of the registrar you used. Some allow you to get domains back for a longer period than others.

 

[ritchie]

I always try to avoid letting a domain expire, unless of course I have no more use for it. The process of trying to regain an expired domain is not worth it after all. In essence, it is risky to have a lot of domains that may not all be active.