In accordance with a directive from ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), as of September 1, 2014, domain providers such as IONOS are obligated to verify the contact details of domain owners to ensure they are valid. This applies to all owners of generic top-level domains and new top-level domains (nTLD). To do this, IONOS sends an email to the registered domain owner at the contact email address saved with IONOS.

You will receive this email when you perform any of the following actions:

  • Register a new generic top-level domain
  • Register a new top-level domain
  • Transfer a domain
  • Change your domain contact details

This email contains a verification link that lets you quickly and easily verify your contact details as the legal domain owner. If you would like us to resend the email, you can request it again at any time by logging in to IONOS and going to Domain Settings in your basic settings. Next to the field Status: Waiting for email verification, click Resend Verification E-mail.

Please note: You must verify the domain within 15 days, or the domain will be technically disabled. The domain will remain in your contract, but will no longer be accessible on the web. Visitors attempting to  view your website will receive an error message.

You may receive the following emails during the first 15 days:

  • Day 0: Immediately after you order the domain or change the domain contact details, you or the person registered as the domain owner will receive the first email with a verification link.
  • Day 7: If you have not yet verified the domain, you will receive the email again.
  • Day 14: If you still have not verified the domain, the email is sent one more time. We also send an email to the address saved for the contract owner in the contact details to inform him/her that the domain has not been confirmed.
  • Day 15: If the domain owner has not yet responded, we email the contract owner to notify him/her of the situation and that the domain has been disabled.

If the domain owner or contract owner updates the domain contact details at any time during this period, the verification process is stopped and restarted.

Effect of a Disabled Domain and How to Reactivate It

You can reactivate the domain by once again changing the domain contact details for the domain owner. This restarts the verification process.

Even though the domain is only technically disabled initially, ICANN reserves the right to cancel the domain registration (i.e. to make it publicly available again) if the contact details remain unconfirmed for a long period of time.

Log In and Restart ICANN E-mail VerificationRestart ICANN E-mail Verification