pendingDelete domain status
pendingDelete is the last stop before a domain drops. Standing alone it means the name sat through redemptionPeriod without a restore and will be purged within days.
Updated
- Set by
- Registry
- Effect
- Domain cannot be restored; it will be purged
- Typical duration
- About 5 calendar days
- RDAP shows
- pending delete
What pendingDelete means
pendingDelete can appear mixed with redemptionPeriod or pendingRestore, in which case the redemption or restore description applies. Standing alone, per ICANN it means the domain spent 30 days in redemptionPeriod without being restored.
In this state the domain sits queued for deletion for about five calendar days. Then the registry purges it and it becomes available for registration under the registry’s usual policies. There is no restore path inside pendingDelete: the recovery window ended with redemptionPeriod.
On a domain you are watching
A lookalike in pendingDelete will be re-registrable within days. If the name belongs to your brand, this is the final window to arrange a backorder or to register it the moment it opens, before a drop-catching service or a new squatter does.
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 pendingDelete
A registrant who still wants the name can no longer use the redemption restore process. The only route back is re-registering the domain after it drops, which carries no priority over other buyers.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
Not through redemption. The 30-day restore window closed when the domain left redemptionPeriod. Once the registry purges it, anyone including the former registrant can register it again.
About five calendar days after it enters the state, though the exact drop moment varies by registry. Drop-catching services queue on this window, so desirable names are often re-registered within seconds.
RFC 3915 defines pendingDelete as the umbrella deletion state and redemptionPeriod as the restorable phase inside it. A domain in its 30-day redemption window carries both, so lookups commonly show them together.
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