pendingDelete

The final registry window before an expired domain is released. Nothing can recover it here, not even the original owner: the name is queued for deletion. Commonly five days on generic TLDs.

pendingDelete

Deleting

The final registry window before an expired domain is released. Nothing can recover it here, not even the original owner: the name is queued for deletion. Commonly five days on generic TLDs.

Registry codes pendingDelete pendingRelease pendingRemoval pendingCancel toBeDeleted

What it means for you

pendingDelete is the only stage in the lifecycle with a genuinely predictable ending, which is why it is the one that matters to anyone waiting on a name. When it ends the domain is deleted from the registry and becomes available to register, usually inside a daily drop batch at a time the registry runs to. Recovery is over: a restore request at this point will be refused. For a watcher, this is the stage to have a plan for, because a desirable name is often registered within seconds of release by services doing nothing else.

Where it sits in the lifecycle

Active
Expiring soon
Grace period
Redemption
Pending delete
Available

No longer redeemable. The drop is scheduled.

Example

A .com enters pendingDelete 75 days after its expiry date. Five days later it is deleted during the registry's daily drop window and becomes available. The former owner has no way to get it back except by registering it again like anybody else.

Monitor it Drop forecasting

Tool Watch a domain and get told when it drops

The status label and the stage sentence above are the same ones Domainyze shows on a monitored domain.

Domain lifecycle statuses

Registered (active): A domain that is currently held by a registrant and is not near its expiry date. The registry will not let anyone else register it.
Expiring soon: A registered domain whose expiry date falls inside the next 90 days. It is still fully active; the clock is simply visible.
Grace period: The window immediately after expiry in which the registrant can still renew the domain at the ordinary renewal price. Length is set by the registry, commonly around 45 days for generic TLDs.
autoRenewPeriod: The EPP status a registry sets when it has automatically renewed an expired domain on the registrar's account, giving the registrar a window to either collect payment or cancel the renewal for a refund.
clientHold: An EPP status set by the registrar that removes the domain from the DNS zone. The name stays registered, but it stops resolving: no website, no email.
serverHold: The registry's own version of clientHold. The domain is removed from the zone and stops resolving, and the registrar cannot lift it.
clientTransferProhibited: An EPP status that blocks the domain from being transferred to another registrar. It is a lock, not a problem, and most registrars set it by default.
Domain lock (update, delete and registry lock): The remaining EPP prohibitions: clientUpdateProhibited and clientDeleteProhibited set by your registrar, serverUpdateProhibited and serverDeleteProhibited set by the registry, and the bundled registry lock services that apply several at once.
pendingTransfer: A transfer to another registrar has been requested and is waiting on the losing registrar. The domain still works normally while it sits here.
Expired: The registration term has run out and has not been paid for. The name is past its expiry date but has not yet been released.
Redemption period: The recovery window after the grace period, in which only the original registrant can get the domain back, and only by paying a restore fee on top of the renewal. Commonly 30 days on generic TLDs.
Available: The name is not registered. Anyone can register it at any registrar, at the going price for its TLD.
Auction: The domain is being sold on a marketplace rather than released to the public. It may never reach a public drop at all.
Blocked or reserved: The registry will not let anyone register this name at all. It is reserved by policy or blocked by a brand-protection service, and it will not drop.
Reclaimed: A domain you were watching was renewed or restored by its original owner. It went through the recovery windows and came back out registered to the same registrant.
Taken: A domain you were watching dropped and was registered by somebody else. The registration is new, so the registrant changed.
Unknown status: We do not have an authoritative answer about this name yet. It describes our read of the domain, not anything the domain is doing.

Domain lifecycle Browse the category All glossary terms