# Archive a domain you no longer own

> Tidy a finished domain out of your list without losing its history — and understand why archiving is not the same as cancelling.

Source: https://infranest.io/docs/archive-a-domain
Last updated: 2026-10-26

---

This article is for anyone who wants to tidy up their **Domains** list after a domain has expired, been transferred away, or otherwise stopped being theirs — and who wants to understand how that's different from cancelling a domain.

## Overview

- Archiving tidies a finished domain out of your **Domains** list without deleting anything — its costs, tags, notes and linked records are all kept.
- Archiving happens only in InfraNest and changes nothing at the registrar.
- To actually stop paying for a domain, turn off **Auto-renew** and let it expire, or transfer it away — that happens at the registrar, not here.

> [!WARNING]
> InfraNest won't let you archive a domain that is still active. Archiving a live domain would hide something you're still being billed for, so if the domain is still active, InfraNest tells you so and points you at **Auto-renew** instead.

## When you can archive a domain

You can archive a domain once it is genuinely over:

- it has **expired**
- it was **Transferred** away to another registrar
- its registration **Failed**
- or it is **No provider linked** — for example because you disconnected the registrar it came from, so InfraNest can no longer keep it up to date

## Archive a domain

1. Open your **Domains** list.
2. On the domain's row, open the **Domain actions** menu and choose **Archive domain**. (You can also do this from the domain's own page, under **Actions**.)
3. Confirm.

<!-- screenshot: archive-a-domain -->

<!-- docs-screenshots:start:archive-a-domain -->

![Archive a domain you no longer own](/media/663c4a7e-a439-4693-8c70-1b44321b3fbc)

<!-- docs-screenshots:end:archive-a-domain -->

The domain leaves your list straight away. Nothing is deleted: its costs, **Tags**, notes, custom fields and any linked DNS zones or certificates are all kept.

## See your archived domains

1. In the **Domains** list, open the status dropdown next to the **Search** box.
2. Choose **Archived**. It appears there once you have at least one archived domain.

Every other view — **All domains**, **Active**, **Expiring soon**, **Auto-renew off** — shows only domains you still have, which is what makes archiving worth doing.

## Bring a domain back

1. Open the **Archived** view.
2. Open the domain, then choose **Unarchive domain** — either from the row menu or from the banner at the top of the domain's page.

You don't have to do this by hand in the common cases. If you register the domain again, or transfer it back in, InfraNest reuses the same record automatically — with all its history intact — and notes the change in your **Activity history**.

> [!NOTE]
> A registrar sync on its own will never bring an archived domain back. Many registrars keep listing a domain during its redemption period, so InfraNest would otherwise un-hide domains you had deliberately put away. It waits for a real signal instead: you, a new registration, or a transfer in.

## Does an archived domain count towards my plan?

No. Archived domains do not use up your plan's domain allowance.

## What happened to "Delete"?

It has been replaced by **Archive domain**. Deleting only ever removed InfraNest's record of a domain — it never cancelled anything, so the domain stayed registered and stayed billed while vanishing from your list. Archiving does the part InfraNest can honestly do, and says what is true about it.