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, and 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: Extend (renew) a .eth name.
The added time counts from your original expiry date. A short extension may leave the name still in grace period. That's fine, it stays yours either way (see the note below).
Good to know: the time you add counts from your original expiry date, not from today, so a short extension can leave the name still in its grace period. Say it expired 60 days ago and you extend by 30 days: the expiry moves to 30 days ago, so the name is still in grace period and still shows as expired. That's fine: it keeps working and stays yours throughout. If you'd rather it show as Registered again, extend by more than the time it's currently 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 into active registration, some things are locked:
You can't transfer the owner or Manager.
Listings and trades on secondary markets like OpenSea won't work.
For names wrapped in the Name Wrapper, two more restrictions apply:
You can't edit the resolver.
You can't create subnames.
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?
Because the time you added counts from your original expiry date, not from today, so a short extension can land the new expiry still in the past, leaving the name in grace period. For example, if it expired 60 days ago and you extend by 30 days, the expiry moves to 30 days ago and the name stays in grace period. Nothing is wrong: the name keeps working and stays yours. If you'd like it back to Registered, extend again by more than the time it's currently past expiry.