Domain Expired or DNS Down? How to Tell the Difference

The website won't load and email has stopped arriving. The first question almost everyone asks is whether the domain expired or DNS is down. From the outside they look nearly identical, because in both cases the name stops leading to your server. The fix is completely different, though: one gets solved at the registrar, the other in your DNS configuration.

Here's how to tell an expired domain from a DNS failure in a few minutes.

Why they get confused

A working domain depends on two pieces:

• The domain registration, which you pay for at the registrar. It says the name is yours and which name servers answer for it.
• DNS, which translates the name into your server's address and tells the world where email goes.

When a registration expires, the registrar typically pulls the domain from the zone or swaps its name servers for the registrar's own. When DNS fails, the registration is still current, but nothing answers correctly. Either way, browsers can't reach your site.

Signs the domain expired

• WHOIS or RDAP shows an expiration date in the past.
• The domain status includes codes like clientHold, serverHold, redemptionPeriod, or pendingDelete.
• The name servers changed to the registrar's, and the site shows a parking or "this domain has expired" page.
• The registrar sent an expiration notice to an inbox nobody checks.

Signs of a DNS failure

• WHOIS shows the domain is current, with your usual name servers.
• Lookups return SERVFAIL, or the name servers don't respond at all.
• Someone recently changed a record, the name servers, or the DNS provider.
• DNSSEC was enabled or changed and the signatures don't match, so validating resolvers return errors.
• Some users can reach the site and others can't, because a recent change is still propagating.

How to check, step by step

1. Run a WHOIS lookup with the WHOIS tool: expiration date, status, and name servers.
2. Run a DNS lookup with the DNS tool: whether A, MX, and NS records exist and respond.
3. Query your name servers directly. From a terminal:

dig NS yourdomain.com
dig @ns1.yourprovider.com yourdomain.com A

If the first command returns name servers you don't recognize, the registrar has likely swapped them because the domain expired. If the second doesn't answer, the problem is with your DNS provider.

4. Check DNSSEC if you use it: dig +dnssec yourdomain.com, then compare with what's configured at the registrar.
5. Log in to the registrar and check the expiration date and payment status. That's the definitive answer.

What to do in each case

If it expired: renew it at the registrar right away. Many registries allow a grace period, followed by a redemption period with a fee; after that, the domain may be released for anyone to register. Once renewed, confirm the name servers are yours again.

If it's DNS: roll back the last change, confirm the name servers respond, and if you use DNSSEC, make sure the signatures match what's published at the registrar. If you switched providers, verify the whole zone came over, MX and TXT records included.

A special case: country domains without public dates

Some registries don't publish expiration dates at all. Peru's .pe is one: WHOIS never shows when the domain expires, so only the registrar can confirm it. We explain why in why .pe domain expiration dates aren't public.

How to find out sooner

When the registry publishes the date, MonitoraWeb tracks it and sends email reminders 30 and 7 days before expiration. If the domain expires without renewal, the alert repeats weekly for a month, and once it's renewed you get a domain-renewed notice. For DNS, a DNS monitor checks that your records keep answering the way you expect.

We don't renew domains or touch your DNS. We alert the people who have access. The full details are on domain expiration monitoring.

Frequently asked questions

What's the fastest way to tell whether my domain expired?

Run a WHOIS lookup. If the expiration date has passed or the status includes clientHold or redemptionPeriod, it expired. Confirm in your registrar's dashboard.

My domain is paid up but the site won't load. What's going on?

Most likely DNS: a changed record, name servers that don't respond, or a DNSSEC mismatch. Query your name servers directly.

If I renew an expired domain, does it work again immediately?

It comes back once the registrar restores your name servers and resolvers refresh their caches, which can take anywhere from minutes to hours.

Does a DNS failure affect email?

Yes. If your MX records don't resolve, inbound email stops arriving, just as it would with an expired domain.

Why can't I see some domains' expiration dates?

Some registries, like Peru's .pe, don't publish them. In that case only your registrar knows the date.

Sources

• ICANN, EPP domain status codes: icann.org