# About drop-catch > Drop-catch watches domains you'd like to own, follows each one as it heads toward expiry, tells you how good the name is and how likely it is to actually be… Source: https://infranest.io/docs/drop-catch Last updated: 2026-09-19 --- Drop-catch watches domains you'd like to own as they head toward expiry, tells you how good the name is and how likely it is to actually be released, and — when you want — tries to grab it the moment it becomes free. It's for anyone hoping to acquire a domain that's currently registered to someone else. ## Overview - Watch a name with notes and tags, and InfraNest tracks it through its expiry lifecycle and estimates when it will drop. - See two clear scores for each watch — **Quality** and **Catchability** — each with a plain explanation of why. - Get alerted at the moments that matter: dropping soon, available, went to auction, caught, or failed. - Choose how to catch it — just get an alert, register it automatically, or use a backorder service. ![About drop-catch](/media/5836fe5e-6a40-4c8f-87d0-31ae56a61cd2) ## Watch a domain 1. Go to **Drop Catch** in the sidebar. 2. Select **Watch a domain**. 3. Type the full domain you want to watch. 4. Optionally add **Notes (optional)** and one or more entries under **Tags**. 5. Choose **+ More options** if you want to set a **Priority: {n}/10** or other advanced settings, or **− Fewer options** to collapse them again. 6. Pick how you want it caught when it drops: **Just alert me**, **Register with my own registrar**, or **Use a backorder service**. 7. Select **Start watching**. If you already own the domain, InfraNest will let you know with **You already have {domain}**, showing which registrar it's at and when it expires — this isn't an error, and it can still act as a safety net if the domain later lapses. > [!NOTE] > Turning on auto-renew is the surer way to keep a domain you already own — catching it back yourself is a race against professional drop-catchers, and it's one you can lose. ## Choose how to catch it 1. Open the watch from **All watches** or **Watching**. 2. Open the ⋯ menu and select **Edit** (or set this when you first create the watch). 3. Pick one of the three catch methods: - **Just alert me** — you're notified the instant the name is available, and you register it yourself. - **Register with my own registrar** — InfraNest registers the domain automatically through your connected registrars the moment it drops. Good for uncontested names. - **Use a backorder service** — a specialist service tries to catch the name ahead of the drop. This gives the best chance for a hotly-contested name. You're only charged if it wins. 4. Save your choice. Use the **Catchability** score on each watch to help decide — low catchability usually means a backorder service is the better bet. ## Understand auctions Some expiring names are routed to a registrar auction instead of dropping for anyone to register. When this happens, InfraNest flags the watch as **In auction** and shows a link straight to the listing, along with the current price, bid count and end time where available. There's no way for InfraNest to bid on your behalf — only registrars can — so you'll need a participating registrar if you want to join the bidding. On a few extensions (`.io`, `.ai`, `.ca` and `.cz`), a released name is first offered at a registry-run auction open only to registrars, and only becomes normally registrable afterwards if nobody takes it. For `.ai`, InfraNest can show an end date because the auction length is published. For the others, the expected drop date is shown as not yet known, and the watch keeps checking often rather than guessing a date. During this time the watch shows **Released**, you'll be alerted, and nothing is charged — your catch still fires automatically if the name comes through unsold. ## Resume a failed watch 1. Open the watch — it will show as **Failed** if a registration attempt didn't go through (registrar refusal, low funds, or someone else got there first). 2. Sort out whatever caused the failure (for example, add funds or check your registrar account). 3. Open the ⋯ menu on the watch and select **Resume**. 4. The watch goes back to active watching within a minute, using the same catch setup as before. While a watch is failed or paused, **Next check** on its page reads *Not scheduled*, since nothing is queued to check it. ## Manage the watch list 1. Go to **Drop Catch** to see all your watched domains in one table. 2. Use **Search**, **Filter** (including an **In auction** filter), and **Tags** to narrow the list, or sort by catchability. 3. Select a watch to open its lifecycle timeline, scores, catch setup and WHOIS history. 4. Use the ⋯ menu — on the row or on the watch's own page — to reach **Edit tags**, **Remove**, or pause/resume. > [!WARNING] > Removing a watch deletes its check history and cancels any backorder that's been placed. If you only want it to stop looking for now, pause it instead. ## Tips - If the owner renews the domain at the last moment, InfraNest tells you and shows the new expiry date — the watch keeps running for next time. You won't get an alert for a routine renewal that was never close to a drop; it just appears on the timeline. - If InfraNest can't read the registry for a while, it lets you know once the drop estimate might be out of date, along with how long ago the record was last read successfully. This is normal and usually clears on its own. - Once you own the domain — however you got it — the matching watch closes automatically and stops checking, though its history is kept. A watch you added after you already owned the domain is left alone, since that one's a deliberate safety net.