If your .eth name has expired, you haven't lost it yet. A 90-day Grace Period starts the moment the registration ends. During that window the original owner can still extend the name at the standard renewal price — nobody else can register it. Anyone can extend any .eth name; extending doesn't change ownership.
Good to know
Grace Period lasts 90 days from the expiry date.
The name still resolves — funds sent to
yourname.ethstill arrive at the wallet the name points at, and the ENS NFT stays in your wallet.Extending in Grace Period adds time from the original expiry date, not from today.
Some actions are locked until you extend: ownership transfer, marketplace listings, Resolver edits (wrapped names), and subname creation (wrapped names).
After Grace Period ends, the name enters Temporary Premium and has to be registered as new — not extended.
My name expired. What do I do?
Extend the name at the standard renewal price before the 90 days run out.
Go to app.ens.domains and search the name.
Click Extend, pick how long, and approve in your wallet. Full walkthrough: How do I extend my .eth name?
Extend by enough to clear Grace Period. The added time runs from the original expiry date, not from today. If your name expired 60 days ago, an extension shorter than about 91 days leaves you still in Grace Period.
Important: when you extend a name in Grace Period, the added time runs from the original expiry date, not from today. If a name expired 60 days ago and you extend by 30 days, it's still in Grace Period for another 30 days. To fully exit Grace Period, extend by more than the time already past expiry.
What can I still do during Grace Period?
The name keeps working. Funds sent to yourname.eth still arrive at the wallet the name points at, records still resolve, and the ENS NFT stays in your wallet. But until you extend, some things are locked:
The owner and Manager can't be transferred.
Listings and trades on secondary markets like OpenSea won't work.
For names wrapped in the Name Wrapper, two more restrictions apply:
The Resolver can't be edited.
Subnames can't be created.
Extending the name unlocks everything.
What happens if I don't extend in time?
When the 90 days run out without an extension, the name enters Temporary Premium and has to be registered as new — not extended. The previous owner has no priority. Anyone can register the name by paying the current premium plus the standard annual fee. The premium starts at $100 million and drops to $0 over 21 days. Full guide: What is a Temporary Premium?
For how Grace Period fits into the full lifecycle of a .eth name, see What happens to a .eth name when it expires?
Common questions
Can I extend a name my wallet doesn't own?
Yes. Anyone can extend any .eth name. Extending doesn't change ownership — the name stays with its current owner, the payer just pushes the expiry date forward.
Is the name still functional during Grace Period?
Yes. Records stay intact, funds sent to yourname.eth still arrive at the wallet the name points at, and the ENS NFT stays in your wallet. You just can't transfer ownership or change records until you extend.
What happens to my ENS NFT after Grace Period ends?
It stays in your wallet until someone else registers the name. Records keep working too. When a new owner registers, the old NFT is burned and a new one is minted to them.
Why is my name still showing as expired when I just extended it?
You extended during Grace Period but didn't add enough time to clear past the original expiry. For example, if your name expired 70 days ago and you extend by 30 days, both the expiry and the Grace Period end date shift forward — the name is still 40 days into Grace Period. Extend again by more than the time already past expiry to push it back into Registered.
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