Your domain name’s registration is about to run out, or already has. When it lapses, the website and email on it stop working, and if it isn’t renewed, someone else can register it.
What it means
Domains are registered with a registrar for a year or more at a time. If the registration isn’t renewed by its end date, the domain usually stops working, and after a grace period it’s deleted and released.
What triggers it
Domain monitoring looks up the registered domain (example.com for shop.example.com) with its registry once a week, and daily within 30 days of expiry. The issue appears 30 days before as High, and turns Critical with a day or less left. You’re emailed a month, a week and a day before, and once it has expired.
Common causes
- Auto-renew is off, or the card on the registrar account has expired.
- Renewal reminders go to an old email address or someone who has left.
- Nobody is sure which registrar or account holds the domain.
How to fix it
- Find the registrar: it’s listed with the Domain monitoring results in the website’s Website health section.
- Sign in there and renew the domain, ideally for more than a year.
- Turn on auto-renew, and check the payment details and contact email are up to date.
When it clears
It clears at the next lookup that shows an expiry date more than 30 days away; registries can take a day to show a renewal. If the domain lapses into its last grace period, this issue is replaced by Domain about to be deleted.