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Country extensionSince 1985

.uk domain registration

The United Kingdom’s extension in its shortest form: two letters after your name telling your British customer you’re close by, open to anyone, person or company, from any country, with no documents.

Score card

.uk in six cells

Our score out of five, as we see it when we help a customer choose.

Trust
5 out of 5
Easy to remember
5 out of 5
Global reach
2 out of 5
Price stability
5 out of 5
Short names available
3 out of 5
Local meaning
5 out of 5

Overview

What is .uk

.uk entered the internet’s root in 1985 as the United Kingdom’s extension, and its manager in the IANA record is Nominet UK, which also runs its whole family: .co.uk, .org.uk, .me.uk, .ltd.uk and .net.uk. A name directly under .uk is its shortest form, with no part in the middle.

Anyone, person or company, from any country can register it, with no documents and no address in Britain. It suits any business addressing customers in Britain, and a student or resident there who wants a short address saying they’re from the country they live in.

It supports DNSSEC signing, but Nominet doesn’t offer internationalized names, so a name in it is Latin letters, digits and hyphens only. Its price with us is lower than .com and fixed every year. As for your customer in Qatar or around the world, it says nothing to them, and .com is closer.

Type
Country extension (ccTLD)
In the root since
July 24, 1985
Name’s origin
United Kingdom
Responsible body
Nominet UK
Who may register
Anyone, person or organization, from any country
DNSSEC
Supported
Names in Arabic
Not supported

Who it suits

For your field: is .uk the best fit?

Every field has an extension that says something about it. Here is what .uk says in each, and which extension completes it.

  • A business serving Britain

    Excellent · The first choice

    Two letters telling your British customer you’re close by; add .co.uk for those used to the longer form.

    Register it with.uk.co.uk

  • A student or resident in Britain

    Good · A good fit

    A short address for your page or project saying you’re from the country you live in; add .me.uk for your personal name.

    Register it with.uk.me.uk

  • A community association in Britain

    Good · A good fit with .org.uk

    .uk is short for any body, and .org.uk says you’re a non-profit; register both.

    Register it with.uk.org.uk

  • An exporter from Qatar to Britain

    Good · A good fit with .com

    It’s open to you with no address in Britain, so you can address your customer there; add .com for the rest of the world.

    Register it with.com.uk

  • A local business in Qatar

    Consider another · Consider .com

    Your customers are in Qatar, not in Britain, and they know .com and type it out of habit.

    Register it with.com.shop

  • A brand addressing the world

    Consider another · Consider .com

    Britain’s extension says “this is Britain,” and a brand speaking to everyone needs the extension everyone knows.

    Register it with.com.co

What it does for you

What you gain when you register it

  • Says “Britain” in two letters

    Your customer there knows from the extension that you speak to them in their country.

  • The family’s shortest form

    mashghal-doha.uk is shorter than its .co.uk form, so it’s quicker to write and say.

  • Short email

    info@mashghal-doha.uk is a short address for the invoice and the business card.

  • Open from any country

    You need no address or company in Britain to register it.

And where its value shows

On invoices to your customers there

An extension matching the market you address.

On the business card

Two letters after your name, no extra part.

In local ads there

A short link read in one go.

In your email signature

A short address, written once and kept.

Pros and cons

What you should know before you register

Frankly, as we’d tell a customer who asks us before registering.

Pros

  • 01The shortest form of the British extension
  • 02Open to everyone from any country, with no documents
  • 03Lower-priced than .com with us, and fixed every year
  • 04Says “Britain” to your customer there
  • 05In the internet’s root since 1985, and supports DNSSEC signing

Cons

  • 01Says nothing to a customer outside Britain
  • 02Some people may type .co.uk instead, out of habit
  • 03Doesn’t support names in Arabic

Rules

Registration terms for .uk

What the registry requires and what we add, in one place.

Who may register
Anyone, person or organization, from any country
Documents
None required
Name length
Up to 63 characters
Characters
a–z, digits and hyphens, never first or last
Names in Arabic
Not supported
Registration term
1 to 10 years
DNSSEC
Supported
Privacy protection
Your name and address don’t show in WHOIS unless you agree
Transfer
By a tag change at Nominet, free and with no change to the expiry date; with a transfer code from February 9, 2027

Life cycle

From registration until the name is free again

What happens to your name if it isn’t renewed, and when you can still get it back.

  1. 01Registration1 to 10 yearsThe name is yours from the moment you pay, for the term you chose.
  2. 02After expiryThe first 30 daysThe website and email keep working, and you can renew it.
  3. 03SuspensionUntil day 90The name stops working, but it can still be renewed.
  4. 04DeletionUntil day 95It can’t be renewed after day 90, and is free again on day 95.

Tips

Before you register

  1. 1Register both .uk and .co.ukThe same name in the short form and the longer one, so whoever types either reaches you.
  2. 2Find out who owns your name in .co.ukIf it’s a competitor, some of those who forget which form is yours go to them.
  3. 3A short name, read as it’s writtenIf it needs spelling out on the phone, it’s too long or too complicated.
  4. 4No digits or hyphens that need explainingEvery hyphen or digit has to be said, and what has to be said gets forgotten.
  5. 5Renew automatically, or register for yearsUp to 10 years at once, so you never miss a date.
  6. 6Make sure the name isn’t someone else’s trademarkA registered trademark’s owner can recover the name from whoever registered it first.

Nearby extensions

If your name is taken in .uk

FAQ5 questions

Frequently asked questions about .uk

Didn’t find your answer? Our technical support team is with you around the clock.

Contact support

  • $15 a year, for the first year and every renewal: the price you see when you search, with no other fees at registration.

  • Anyone, person or organization, from any country, with no documents and no address in the UK.

  • Yes. Until February 9, 2027 a transfer is a “tag” change at Nominet, free and with no change to the expiry date; from that day it takes a transfer code valid for 14 days, with an optional renewal at transfer.

  • Under Nominet’s current rules the name keeps working for 30 days after it expires and can be renewed; then it stops until day 90 and can still be renewed; then it is deleted and is free again on day 95. From February 9, 2027, .uk follows grace periods like the generic extensions’.

  • No. IANA’s repository of internationalized names (IDN) holds no Arabic table for .uk, so names in it use Latin letters, digits and hyphens.

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