How to Reactivate Your Expired Squarespace Domain
TL;DR:
- Squarespace domains auto-renew, but enter a grace period if payment fails
- Grace periods vary by registrar: 30 days for Squarespace, 40 days for Tucows
- Reactivate through your domain dashboard by updating payment and clicking renew
- Domain takes up to 48 hours to become fully operational after renewal
- Original billing cycle stays the same after reactivation
Squarespace domains are set to renew automatically, keeping your website live without any hassle. But when auto-renewal fails due to payment problems or gets turned off, your domain expires and enters a grace period where you can still renew it.
Understanding Grace Periods
The grace period length depends on which registrar manages your domain:
Squarespace Domains LLC & Squarespace Domains II LLC: You get 30 days to renew before the domain becomes unavailable.
Tucows: Offers a 40-day grace period. After this, domains go back to Tucows for redistribution.
Key-Systems: Grace periods for country code domains (like .uk or .de) vary based on different regulations for each country.
During the grace period, your website will be offline, but you can still recover your domain by renewing it.
How to Reactivate Your Domain
Here's how to get your expired domain back:
- Log into your Squarespace account and go to the domains dashboard
- Find your expired domain and click on it
- Click the 'Renew Domain' button
- Check your payment information. If it needs updating, click 'Edit' next to your payment method
- Complete the payment to finish reactivation
Your domain should be fully working again within 48 hours of renewal. The good news is that reactivating won't mess with your billing cycle. Your renewal date stays exactly as it was originally scheduled.
Keep your billing information current to avoid this situation in the future. Auto-renewal works great when your payment method is up to date.
What Happens After the Grace Period
Miss the grace period deadline and things get complicated. Your domain might get snapped up by someone else or returned to the registrar. Once that happens, you'll need to register a completely new domain name.
This is why acting quickly matters. The grace period is your safety net, but it's not unlimited.
FAQs
What happens if I don't renew my domain within the grace period?
Your domain becomes available for anyone else to register. Once someone else claims it, you'll need to find a new domain name or try to negotiate with the new owner.
Can I change my payment method while renewing an expired domain?
Yes. During reactivation, click 'Edit' next to your payment information to update your card details or choose a different payment method.
Can I reactivate a domain that's transferring away from Squarespace?
No. If you've started transferring your domain to another registrar, you'll need to cancel that transfer first before you can reactivate it on Squarespace.
Will my website work immediately after renewal?
Not quite. It takes up to 48 hours for everything to propagate properly across the internet. Your domain should be fully operational within that timeframe.
Jargon Buster
Domain Registrar: The company that manages your domain registration and renewal. This could be Squarespace, Tucows, or Key-Systems depending on your domain.
Grace Period: The window of time after your domain expires where you can still renew it before it becomes available to the public again.
ccTLD: Country code top-level domain. These are domain extensions tied to specific countries, like .uk for the United Kingdom or .ca for Canada.
Auto-renewal: The automatic system that renews your domain before it expires, as long as your payment method works.
Wrap-up
Reactivating an expired domain is straightforward if you catch it during the grace period. The key is keeping your payment information current so auto-renewal works properly in the first place.
Don't wait if you notice your domain has expired. Each registrar has different grace period lengths, and once that window closes, getting your domain back becomes much more difficult and expensive.
Ready to dive deeper into domain management? Join Pixelhaze Academy for more detailed guides and expert support.