What if my domain expires?
To use Google Apps, you need a registered domain. Google uses this primary domain to set up your Google Apps account, including users, email, and other Apps services.
You register your domain ownership with a host for a certain period of time, usually 1 year or more. Your domain ownership expires if you don’t renew it by the end of your registration period.
What happens when my domain registration expires?
- You no longer own the domain, making it possible for someone else to purchase it.
- You might not be able to receive emails if your domain’s MX records are reset by the host or a new owner. These records control how email is directed from your domain to your Google Apps account.
- If your expired domain is purchased by someone else, you can no longer use the domain with Google Apps and must remove it from the account. If the domain is your primary domain, you have to delete the Apps account.
How can I protect my Google Apps account?
To retain ownership of your domain, renew your domain registration before it expires, or set it to renew automatically. You do this in the domain host website where you purchased your domain.
Note: Be sure to renew all domains that are a part of your Google Apps account.
- Go to the WHOIS lookup page provided by ICANN, a non-profit organization that compiles domain information. (You can also search for “whois free” to find a company that performs free lookups.)
- In the search field, enter your domain name and click Lookup.
- In the Registrar section, look for the name of your domain host and their website.
- Sign in to your domain host account.
- Find the domain that you need to renew.
- Open the billing settings for the domain.
- Renew the domain for a year or more. You can choose to have your domain’s registration automatically renew , so you don’t have to do it manually.
Note: If you purchased your domain when you signed up for Google Apps, go to Manage domain registration renewals for more information on how to renew your domain.
I don’t want my domain anymore
You can let your domain expire, but you need to remove the expired domain from your Google Apps account. If it is your primary domain for your Apps account, you must delete the Apps account.