What is drop catching?

Updated 12 November 2026

Drop catching means registering a domain name at the exact moment it becomes available again after its owner lets it expire. For any name worth having, that happens within a fraction of a second of the release, so it is done by automated systems rather than by hand.

Why domains “drop”

Every domain is registered for a fixed period. If the owner doesn't renew it, the domain isn't freed straight away: the registry holds it through a series of grace periods, so the owner can still change their mind. At the end of that cycle the registry deletes the domain and anyone can register it. That release is called the drop.

For .uk domains the registry is Nominet. Today an expired .uk domain drops about 95 days after its expiry date, at a time Nominet publishes in advance. From 9 February 2027 the cycle gets shorter: see .uk domain expiry changes in 2027.

How a drop catch works

Watching. A drop catcher follows the domain through the expiry cycle, and keeps watching in case the domain is cancelled before its normal drop date.
Timing. Once the drop time is known, the catcher plans exactly when its registration requests will be sent.
The catch. At the drop, registration requests reach the registry in the first fraction of a second. The first valid request after the release registers the domain, and every other request fails.

Only Nominet members with their own registrar tag can send registration requests straight to Nominet, so .uk drop catching is done by registrars and specialist drop catchers, from systems built for speed.

Why you can't just register it yourself

You can, if nobody else wants the name: it will still be free after the drop, and any registrar can register it for you. But a name with any value, such as a short word, a well-known brand or a domain that still gets traffic, is usually taken within the first second by a drop catcher. By the time anyone refreshes a registrar's search page, it has gone.

Why some names are hard to catch

Popular names attract many drop catchers, all sending requests at the same moment, and only one request can win. No service can guarantee to catch a particular domain. What a good service can do is watch reliably, send its requests at the right moment and charge nothing when it misses.

Drop catching and backorders

A backorder is the booking you place with a drop catching service: your instruction to try to catch a domain for you when it drops. The two words are often used to mean the same thing. See How to backorder a .co.uk domain.

Drop catching with Drop Catcher

Search for any .uk domain and book it free, at any stage of the expiry cycle, up to 1 hour before the drop.
When it drops, Drop Catcher and the independent drop catchers you choose all try to register it for you.
If we catch it, you pay £35, including the first year's registration. If several customers booked it, it goes to a private 72-hour auction between them. If we don't catch it, you pay nothing.

See the best .uk names dropping this week

Catching domains with your own tag

If you buy expired domains regularly, you can become a drop catcher yourself, with a Nominet tag of your own. How to become a drop catcher.