ICANN will disclose the applicants and proposed strings in its 2026 new generic top-level domain round on October 7, setting a firm date for the first public view of where the round’s 1,616 proceeding applications overlap and compete.

According to ICANN’s September 29 announcement, the information will be published at 18:00 UTC on October 7 through the 2026 Round Application Publication and Statistics system. The disclosure will include applicant identities, all primary strings, applicable variant and replacement strings, public portions of the applications and initial contention sets involving identical strings.

The date moves disclosure a week ahead of ICANN’s previous outside estimate. ICANN said on September 22 that Reveal Day would occur no later than October 14, nine weeks after the application window closed. CIRCLEID reported that timetable when ICANN confirmed that 1,616 of the 1,663 submitted applications had completed payment and would proceed in the round.

Reveal Day will provide the first verified picture of demand at the individual-string level. Initial contention sets will identify applications seeking identical strings, although additional contention can arise later through processes including singular/plural determinations and String Confusion Objections. The published applications will also allow examination of proposed geographic names, brand applications and the concentration of applications among portfolio applicants.

A two-week replacement period begins hours after the disclosure. From 00:01 UTC on October 8 through 23:59 UTC on October 21, eligible applicants that submitted an alternate replacement string may switch from their primary string. A replacement cannot be used if it is identical to another primary or replacement string, although ICANN notes that a replacement could still enter contention later through other parts of the evaluation and objection process.

ICANN has also fixed November 17 as String Confirmation Day, when it will publish the final list of chosen strings and updated contention sets. That date starts the Community Input and Objections Period and the final 10-day window in which applicants can withdraw and receive a 65% refund of their evaluation fee. The refund deadline is November 27 at 23:59 UTC.

The Prioritization Draw, which will establish processing order after string evaluation, is now scheduled for an as-yet-undetermined date in the first half of 2027. ICANN expects the preceding String Evaluation Stage to last about 180 days.