.root
Is .root a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
Nobody has applied for .root in its own right, as of 7 October 2026. Endpoint Domains named .root as a backup string for its .nsfw application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup. ShortDot named .root as a backup string for its .way application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup.
A niche TLD for developers, security and sysadmin projects trading on the "root access" connotation, plus natural-products, ancestry and plant-based brands wanting a roots-and-origins name.
Nobody has applied for .root in its own right.
The nearest 2012 strings, and how many names each holds today
The closest 2012 string, .zone, held 52,525 names, June 2026. .link held 310,085; .space held 634,547. Chosen by AI from every string in the 2012 round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet exactly: a DNS-native infrastructure term that is also a plain, meaning-rich English noun, sold as an open short generic whose value comes from the word working in several unrelated contexts at once rather than from owning one industry.
Another everyday internet-plumbing noun taken to market as a broad, self-explanatory generic — the buyer is anyone who wants a technical-sounding common word as their primary identity, not members of a defined vertical.
Same shape of bet — a short, polysemous, evocative English noun with a tech-culture pull and no single owning industry, betting that ambiguity attracts volume across dev, lifestyle and brand buyers alike.
developers, security and sysadmin projects trading on the "root access" connotation, plus natural-products, ancestry and plant-based brands wanting a roots-and-origins name
What a .root domain is
.root is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, in our AI & tech category. Nobody has applied for .root in its own right. It is named on ICANN’s list as part of an application for another string.
Is the .root domain extension real yet?
.root is not yet a domain extension you can register: nothing resolves under it, and no registrar sells names in it. Nobody has applied for it on the public record; the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round is the process that would decide whether it becomes one.
When can you buy a .root domain?
You can’t yet. A .root name can only be registered once the string is delegated (added to the DNS root) and its registry opens. Last round's closest parallel to .root was .zone, delegated on 14 January 2014.
Is .root a real TLD?
Not yet. .root is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because ICANN’s list names .root as part of an application for another string. Every entry on this page links to its source.
- ShortDot · now deactivated backupICANN
- Endpoint Domains · first recordedICANN
- ShortDot · now abandonedICANN
- ShortDot · now announced
- ShortDot · first recordedShortDot (Ireland) Limited
“EDI2665T-T15424 · Endpoint Domains, Inc. · replacement string of .nsfw · Deactivated NA2626T-T72240 · ShortDot (Ireland) Limited · replacement string of .way · Deactivated”ICANN
“ShortDot (Ireland) Limited has submitted 40 applications to ICANN's 2026 New gTLD Program. The 80 strings shown include applied-for and designated replacement strings across ShortDot's 40 ICANN applications, presented without revealing their status or pairing.”ShortDot (Ireland) Limited
- Band chosen: 30-49 (usable but limited). The string is short, a real English word, and carries a strong developer-culture meaning (root user, root directory, root cause) plus a softer heritage/nature meaning, which gives it more identity potential than a joke or vanity string, so it sits above the 10-29 band. It does not reach 50-69 because no single category would treat .root as a primary-identity default: developer and security projects already have entrenched homes (by analogy, .dev, .io and .sh absorbed that demand, and later dev-flavoured strings tended to capture only spillover), and the heritage/natural-products reading is diffuse across unrelated buyers, so adoption would need explaining in every case. The term's DNS-infrastructure connotation may also read as confusing rather than credible to the technical audience most likely to notice it. Operator context, stated neutrally: the cataloguing registry runs several short, volume-oriented strings, which by analogy suggests .root would more likely be registered at volume on price than built as a premium dev namespace, consistent with this band. Main market uncertainty: whether a visible developer-tool or security community adopts .root as a badge (which could push it toward the strong-niche band) or whether it settles into low-price volume registrations with a thin aftermarket.