ENS App and Explorer are on the Sepolia testnet. Features may change before mainnet.
Your name is yours until its expiry date, and for 28 days after that. At expiry it stops working, but nobody else can take it. Those 28 days are the grace period: renew at any point in them and the name comes straight back to you. Only when grace runs out does the name become available to anyone.
Good to know
Anyone can renew a name in grace, but it only ever comes back to its owner. Renewing never changes ownership.
Names not yet upgraded to ENSv2 keep the 90-day grace period. The end date is the same either way: upgrading adds a free 62-day renewal, and 90 minus 28 is 62.
Renewals add time to the expiry date, not to today's date. Days already spent in grace come out of the term you pay for.
What happens during the grace period
The grace period is a 28-day window that starts the moment your .eth name expires. During it:
The name does not resolve. Anything pointing at it stops working until it is renewed.
Nobody can register the name, and it cannot be transferred. To transfer it, renew it first.
Anyone can renew it at the standard price, and it returns to the previous owner with its records.
Once the grace period ends, the name enters Price Cooldown: for 21 days anyone can register it, with an additional fee that falls to $0. After that it is available at the normal price. See Price Cooldown.
Renew a name in grace
To renew before you lose a name, find it in app.ens.dev and select Renew Name ». The steps are the same as renewing an active name: pick a length, pay, and the name is back. See Renew (extend) a name.
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Common questions
How long can I renew for during grace?
Any length. The time you add goes onto the old expiry date, so to bring the name fully back, renew by more than the days already spent in grace.
What happens if I miss the grace period?
The name enters Price Cooldown. Anyone can register it by paying the normal price plus an additional fee, which starts high and falls to $0 over 21 days. If nobody registers it in that time, it is available at the normal price like any other name. The previous owner has no priority.
Can I upgrade a name in grace?
No. Only a name with an active registration can be upgraded (moved from ENSv1 to ENSv2). Renew it first, from any wallet, and it returns to its owner; then upgrade it.
Can I put my names on the same date?
Yes, and it is worth doing. Renew each name on its own to the date you want, then renew them together from then on: one date to remember instead of ten. Renewing for several years at once costs less per year and puts the next date further away. Both habits cut the chance of losing a name to a renewal nobody noticed. See Renew several names at once.