Domain suspended: ServerHold and ClientHold explained
If your website and email suddenly stop working and your domain’s WHOIS record shows clientHold or serverHold, your domain has been suspended. The domain is still yours, but it has been taken off the internet until the cause is fixed.
What the two statuses mean
Section titled “What the two statuses mean”| Status | Set by | Common reasons |
|---|---|---|
| clientHold | The registrar (Ruachost) | Contact details not verified, domain expired, unpaid invoice, abuse report |
| serverHold | The registry (e.g. Verisign or NiRA) | Expired .ng domain in its suspension period, registry policy or legal order, abuse report |
To check your domain’s status, see Checking a domain’s WHOIS and nameservers.
How to fix it
Section titled “How to fix it”1. Has the domain expired? Check its expiry date in Domains → My Domains and renew it. See Renewing an expired domain. This is the most common cause, especially for .ng domains between 31 and 60 days after expiry.
2. Did you miss a verification email? After you register a domain or change the registrant’s details, you have 15 days to click the link in a verification email. Look for it in your inbox and spam folder, or resend it. See Domain is suspended for ICANN domain verification.
3. Is there an unpaid invoice? Check Billing → My Invoices in the client area and pay anything overdue.
4. None of the above? Open a support ticket with the domain name. If the hold was placed because of an abuse report or by the registry, we’ll tell you what’s needed to lift it.
Once the cause is fixed, the hold is usually removed within a few hours. Your website and email come back as DNS updates, which can take up to 24 hours.