In this guide, we will go through the life cycle of a domain, from the moment of registration to its potential expiration. Understanding each phase helps manage your online presence, whether you're securing a new domain, maintaining it, or recovering it after expiration. We'll cover the key steps in order for you to have a clear roadmap for effectively managing a domain at every stage of its life cycle.
Registration
Everything starts with the domain's registration. It is important to check if the domain is free before you order it.
Step 1 - Find your domain name via one.com.
Step 2 - Make sure to check if the domain is free to register or not.
If there is an Add button, the domain is free to register. If the buton says Transfer, it is already registered with another domain provider. If you own the domain somewhere else and want to transfer it to us, it will appear as a transfer option in the search result. You will then have to make a transfer order instead. Remember that this requires you to own the domain via another hosting provider. Read more about transferring your domain to one.com here.
Tip: You can always look where and when a domain is registered via WHOIS Lookup
Activation
Once you complete the order and are able to log in to the Control Panel, your domain will be activated within 24 hours. It usually takes less than 24 hours, depending on which TLD (.com, .se, .nl, .net, etc.) your domain has.
Email is usually the last thing that falls into place, so if you can not send/receive emails within these 24 hours - be patient. It will start working as soon as the domain is activated.
Depending on which TLD you have ordered, you might need to take action to activate it. If there are certain rules, you will receive a separate email explaining the process.
If you are experiencing issues activating your subscription, please read this guide.
Renewal or Cancellation
A domain at one.com is renewed once per year. It is not possible to renew it multiple years in advance.
When a domain is up for renewal, you will receive an invoice stating the annual fee for your domain. The invoice also states whether you have other services at one.com, such as web hosting.
If you wish to cancel your domain, it is important to cancel at least 30 days before the next period of your subscription starts. This is because the domain registry needs to know well in advance whether the domain is to be renewed or not.
Example: If you own a .se domain, we must notify and pay Swedish Internetstiftelsen, which is the Registry of .se domains, if you still want to renew your domain or not.
If the domain is not cancelled 30 days prior to renewal, we will renew your domain for one more year for you.
Expiration and Redemption
When a domain expires, all services, like the website and your emails, will stop working. If the subscription is cancelled, you need to contact support and reactivate it before the domain can be renewed again
If the domain is not recovered in the early phase of Expiration, it enters a period called Redemption. When the domain is in this stage, a Redemption fee has to be paid in order to recover the domain. Here is a list of all our domains and each domain's different Redemption fee.
Depending on which kind of TLD your domain has, the time frame for Redemption is different. Please contact our Support if you want to recover your domain from this stage or if you need more specific details about it.
Pending Deletion
Once the possibility of Redemption is over, the domain enters Pending Deletion stage. Please note that not all TLDs enter Pending Deletion stage. But, the rule of thumb is that the domain cannot be recovered anymore.
At this point, we cannot renew the domain anymore. The only option to recover it is to re-purchase it once it is available again. Unfortunately, one.com does not offer the service of re-purchasing your domain (aka Drop Catching), this is something you need to do on your own. Once it is deleted, it will be available for anyone to purchase.
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