Recovery · expired name
Your .com.au expired: what to do at each stage
An expired .au name goes through fixed stages. What you can do depends on the stage. Find the stage first, then act.
The .au expiry clock
- Day 0Expiry
The licence period ends. The website and email on the name can stop working.
- Days 1 to 30Expired hold
Only the current holder can renew the name. Act here and recovery is simple.
- After day 30Drop list, 24 hours
The name goes on the public drop list for 24 hours. Drop-catchers watch this list.
- ThenPurged and released
The name is released. Any eligible person or business can register it. The first application wins.
Act on the stage the name is in
In the 30-day expired hold
Only the current holder can renew the name. If the name is in your business, renew it through the registrar or the reseller that manages it. Find who that is on the registry record.
Often the renewal reminder went to an old email address, or to a person who left. You must get access to the account that manages the name, or ask the registrar how to prove that you are the holder.
On the drop list
The name stays on the public drop list for 24 hours. Drop-catchers watch this list. If you are still the holder, ask the registrar at once if a renewal is still possible.
After release
Any eligible person or business can register the name. The first application wins. If someone else registered it, read what to do when a drop-catcher has your name.
- The exact web address, with its ending (.com.au or .au).
- The date it expired, if you know it.
- Who registered it: you, your web designer, or a past staff member.
- The email address on the old account, if you remember it.
Send these details with your enquiry. We check the registry record and tell you which stage the name is in.
Enquiries
Send us the expired name
Type the web address and the date it expired, if you know it. We check the status and reply by email.
- A person reads your enquiry. No bot replies.
- We check the name on the registry record.
- We reply by email with what we found and your options.