The Polkadot unbonding period is 28 days on the Polkadot relay chain, and when it ends your DOT does not move by itself: you must submit a second transaction called Withdraw Unbonded before the tokens become transferable. If you unbonded weeks ago and your DOT still shows as locked, the most common reason is that this final step has not been done yet.

This guide walks through the exact official steps for direct nominators and for nomination pool members, explains how to read the countdown, and shows what a "stuck" balance usually turns out to be. Always confirm the current numbers in the official Polkadot Wiki before you move funds, because parameters such as the unbonding period can change by on-chain governance, and changes to staking have been proposed there.

How Polkadot unbonding works

Staking on Polkadot has three separate states. Knowing which one you are in answers most questions.

Bonded. Your DOT is locked and backing your nominations or your pool.…