Domain registration expiry

Days left on the domain registration. Once it lapses the name stops resolving and the whole site disappears, whatever the hosting is doing.

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A domain is never bought outright: it is rented from the registry for one or more years at a time. When the paid period ends and nobody renews, the registrar first parks or suspends the name, then the registry moves it into a redemption period where restoring it costs a hefty fee, and finally releases it, often to a drop-catcher who resells it. From the first day of suspension the site, the e-mail and every subdomain stop working, however healthy the server is.

How SiteScan reads it

The expiry date comes from the registry over RDAP, or over WHOIS for zones such as .ru, .рф and .by. The row is green with more than 45 days left, amber at 45 days or fewer, and red once the date has passed. Some registries publish no dates at all (for example DENIC for .de); the row then says "Not checked" instead of guessing. A subdomain has no registration of its own, so for one the whole group is left out.

How to stay safe

• Turn on auto-renewal at the registrar and keep the payment card on file current.
• Make sure the registrar's notices reach a mailbox someone reads, not the address of a former employee.
• Renew for several years at once for the main domain.

The certificate expires on its own schedule: see certificate expiry and both dates in one article.