autoRenewPeriod domain status
autoRenewPeriod starts when a domain passes its expiry date un-renewed: the registry renews it automatically and gives the registrar a window to delete it for a refund.
Updated
- Set by
- Registry, at expiration
- Effect
- Registration extended automatically; registrar can still delete for credit
- Typical duration
- Set by each registry; 45 days at .com
- RDAP shows
- auto renew period
What autoRenewPeriod means
When a registration expires without the registrant renewing, the registry extends it anyway and marks it autoRenewPeriod. RFC 3915 leaves the length of this grace period to registry policy; the .com registry agreement sets it at 45 calendar days. If the registrar deletes the name inside the window, the registry credits the renewal cost; if the registrar keeps it, the renewal stands and the registrant owes it.
This registry-level window is what sits behind the expired-domain grace period registrants actually experience. ICANN’s Expired Registration Recovery Policy obliges the registrar to keep the name renewable by the registrant at expiration and to interrupt its DNS resolution for part of the post-expiry window so the lapse is visible. How long a given registrar lets an expired name be renewed at normal price before deleting it is registrar policy, not the registry status.
On a domain you are watching
An expired lookalike showing autoRenewPeriod has not necessarily been abandoned: the registry renewed it on paper while the registrar decides what to do. Registrars commonly park or auction expired names during this window, so an infringing name can keep serving a page while technically expired.
Check a domain’s status codes
The lookup reads a domain’s live RDAP record and returns its current status set.
What to do about autoRenewPeriod
A registrant who wants to keep an expired name can still renew inside this window, and under the ERRP must be permitted to. If the registrar deletes instead, the name moves into redemptionPeriod, where recovery requires a restore fee.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
Two overlapping things. The registry auto-renews the name and gives the registrar an autoRenewPeriod (45 days at .com) to delete it for a credit. Inside that, the registrar runs its own post-expiry renewal window, shaped by the ERRP requirement that the registrant must be able to renew and that DNS resolution be interrupted for a stretch.
The registration still exists because the registry auto-renewed it. Whether the name keeps resolving depends on the registrar: the ERRP requires DNS resolution to be interrupted for a period after expiry, but registrars often point the name at a parking or auction page rather than dropping it outright.
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