Who runs it
.ch is administered by SWITCH, and its expiry process is a registry serving businesses that chose it deliberately.
What happens after expiry
SWITCH runs its own process rather than the ICANN model.
The grace period
There is a period after expiry during which the holder can reactivate.
Recovery after that
After that the domain is released. Recovery options are limited compared with gTLDs.
Worth knowing about .ch
Swiss domains are often held for data-residency reasons, which means the domain matters to a compliance story as well as to the website. Losing one has consequences beyond the site being down.
What is true of every extension
- The domain stops resolving the moment it expires. Website and email both stop at once, because both depend on the same records.
- Your registrar panel may still show the domain as active while the rest of the internet already treats it as gone.
- Every stage after expiry costs more than renewing did, and the last stage cannot be undone at any price.
Registry policies change. The shape of the process is stable, but confirm exact windows with your registrar before relying on a number.