An expired domain typically enters a short grace period, then a longer "redemption period" with steep renewal fees, and eventually becomes available for anyone to register. During any of this, your website, email, and any service tied to that domain simply stops working.
Timeline (varies by registrar/TLD)
- Expiry date passes: domain usually still resolves for a short grace period
- Grace period ends: domain is suspended (site and email go down)
- Redemption period: often possible to recover, but at a significant premium fee
- After redemption: domain is released and can be registered by anyone, including squatters
Preventing it
Enable auto-renewal with a payment method that’s actually kept up to date, and set an independent domain-expiry monitor — a declined credit card on auto-renewal is one of the most common real-world causes of "surprise" domain loss.
FAQ
Can someone else register my domain the moment it expires?
Not immediately — there are grace/redemption periods first — but once those pass, yes, anyone can register it, including domain speculators who specifically watch for expiring domains.