# 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: 2026-09-19

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Archiving lets you clear a domain out of your active list once it's truly finished with, while keeping its full history — and it's a different thing from cancelling a domain. This article is for anyone tidying up their **Domains** list.

## Overview

- **To stop paying for a domain**, turn off **Auto-renew** and let it expire, or transfer it to another registrar. That happens at the registrar, not in InfraNest.
- **To tidy a finished domain out of your list**, archive it. That happens in InfraNest and changes nothing at the registrar.
- Archiving a domain that is still live would hide something you're still being billed for, so InfraNest doesn't allow it.

## 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 not connected to any account — for example because you disconnected the registrar it came from, so InfraNest can no longer keep it up to date

If the domain is still active, InfraNest tells you so and points you at **Auto-renew** instead.

## 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.

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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. Go to your **Domains** list.
2. Open the status dropdown next to the **Search** box.
3. Choose **Archived**. It appears there once you have at least one archived domain.

Every other view — **All domains**, **Active**, **Expiring soon**, and similar — 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 shows what is actually true about the domain.

> [!TIP]
> If you just want to stop paying for a domain, turn off **Auto-renew** instead of archiving it — archiving doesn't touch billing at the registrar.