How to Check a Domain Expiry Date

On macOS or Linux, whois example.com | grep -i expir prints the expiry lines in one step. On Windows, use the Sysinternals whois tool or query RDAP over HTTPS from PowerShell.

# macOS / Linux (install on Ubuntu with: sudo apt install whois)
whois example.com | grep -i expir
whois example.in  | grep -i expir

# RDAP with curl and jq: print only the expiration event
curl -s https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/example.com |
  jq '.events[] | select(.eventAction == "expiration")'

# Windows PowerShell
(Invoke-RestMethod https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/example.com).events |
  Where-Object eventAction -eq 'expiration'

The Verisign RDAP address above serves .com; other extensions have their own RDAP servers, which ICANN’s lookup at lookup.icann.org finds automatically. A status such as clientTransferProhibited is a transfer lock and has nothing to do with expiry; registrar lock explains the codes.

For generic names such as .com, an expired domain typically moves through a renewal grace period, a 30-day redemption period and a five-day pending delete before anyone can register it. Country-code names follow their own registry’s rules, so for .in rely on NIXI’s windows as notified by your registrar.

ICANN’s Expired Registration Recovery Policy requires gTLD registrars to send renewal reminders about one month and one week before expiry, plus one within five days after. If those emails never arrived, your registrant email address is probably stale; fix that before anything else. The full story of what buyers do with dropped names is in the expired domains guide.

Turn on auto-renew at the registrar, keep a valid card or UPI mandate on file, keep the registrant email working, and set your own reminder 30 days before the date. Each of those fails on its own sometimes, which is why you need all four.

1. Sign in at the registrar named on the WHOIS Registrar line and open the domain.
2. Switch auto-renew on and confirm the payment method will still be valid on the expiry date.
3. Check the registrant and admin email addresses are on a mailbox you read, ideally not one on the same domain.
4. Renew for two to five years where the extension allows it, for important names.
5. After the charge, recheck WHOIS: the Registry Expiry Date should move forward by the term you paid.

Use an outside mailbox for the registrant email because, if the domain lapses, mail on that same domain stops too and you will miss the very warnings meant to save it.