Registration breaks in two ways: the app sits on "Almost there", or it shows a warning. Either way, first disconnect your wallet, close the page, reopen app.ens.domains and reconnect.
Good to know
Registration is a commit transaction (Step 1), a 60-second wait (Step 2), then the register transaction (Step 3).
You need ETH on Ethereum Mainnet for the fee and gas.
Never speed up the commit: it leaves the registration stuck on "Almost there".
Reconnecting won't break anything midway. Clearing your site data resets. If the app still holds your commit code, clearing it throws away the one thing that can finish the registration.
The app is stuck on "Almost there"
The app lost the commit code it saved in your browser, and it needs that code for Step 3.
Check whether anything was sent
Find the commit in your wallet's activity log and paste its hash into etherscan.io.
Your commit shows | What to do |
Still pending | Wait. Don't speed up, replace or cancel it. |
Success, under 24 hours | Reconnect and try Step 3. If it won't move, start over. |
Success, over 24 hours | The commit has expired. Start over. |
Sped up, replaced or cancelled | The app is tracking a hash that is not onchain. Start over. |
Nothing there | Your wallet never sent it. See If nothing was sent. |
If nothing was sent
Nothing reached Ethereum Mainnet, so you have not been charged. The usual cause is MetaMask Smart Transactions holding it back. Turn that off and start again using ens.eth.link below.
The app showed a warning
The warning | What to do |
"Commitment Too Old" | The commit confirmed over 24 hours ago, so it has expired. Start over. |
"UnexpiredCommitmentExists" | An earlier commit is still active but untracked. Disconnect, close the page, reopen and reconnect; if it still fails, start over. |
"Insufficient balance" | There's not enough ETH on Ethereum Mainnet for the fee and gas. |
If you think your balance is enough
What you hold | What to do |
USDC or another token | Swap some for ETH on Ethereum Mainnet. |
ETH on Base, Arbitrum or another L2 | Bridge it to Ethereum Mainnet. |
Roughly the price of the name | Gas sits on top of the fee. Add a little more ETH. |
How to start over
Try ens.eth.link
It's the quickest way out. Do both steps:
If you use MetaMask, turn off Smart Transactions in your MetaMask wallet: go to Settings → Transactions → Smart Transactions and toggle it off. Smart Transactions can hold transactions back, and break or block registrations and renewals.
Open ens.eth.link, connect the same wallet and register again from the start. It's the same ENS App at a second address, so it starts fresh and clears nothing.
Clear cache and local storage
Reopen app.ens.domains and reconnect the same wallet.
Search for the name and register it again from Step 1.