Registrar guide

Renewing and locking a domain at Namecheap.

Where each setting lives at Namecheap, and the three changes that actually stop a domain lapsing.

Where the settings are

Everything below is in Domain List, then Manage.

Renewing

  • Sign in and open Domain List from the left menu.
  • Find the domain and press Manage.
  • Renewal is on the same page. Auto-renew is a toggle near the top.

Turning on transfer lock

Registrar Lock is on the Manage page under the Sharing & Transfer section. It is on by default for new registrations.

Moving the notices somewhere safe

Under Profile, then Contact Information. Namecheap sends renewal notices to the account email rather than the domain contact, so changing the domain contact alone is not enough.

Worth knowing about Namecheap

Namecheap includes WHOIS privacy at no cost, which means the registrant contact is masked. Notices still go to your account email, so keep that address on something that survives someone leaving.

The three that actually prevent a lapse

  • A payment card that is current. An expired card with auto-renew on is the most common cause of a lapse, and the failure notice goes to the same place as everything else.
  • A contact address that survives someone leaving. Not a personal address, and not an address at the domain that is expiring.
  • The renewal date recorded somewhere other than the registrar's email, because that is the channel that failed.

Related

Check yours

Not sure who holds your domain?.

The free check reports the registrar, the renewal date and whether the transfer lock is on.

A different registrar?

The menus and defaults differ enough to be worth their own page.

Dynadot · Hover · Enom · an unknown registrar · Porkbun · Name.com

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