Withdraw a strike off application at Companies House (DS02)

Provide the pending voluntary DS01 reference and actual withdrawal approval from any one current director. We check the uploaded contents, current company and director records and actual online authentication before payment. Corporate directors need their actual representative and authority verified; uncertain or paper cases stay in separate review.

Paper DS02 v5 still requires a genuine director signature; unlike DS01 v9, it does not ask for an authentication date. Selecting a name or checking a box does not sign it. The original application date and reason in our intake are private identification checks, not mandatory government DS02 fields.

DS02 is the Companies House form a company uses to withdraw its own application for voluntary strike off. It cancels a DS01 that has been sent but has not yet led to the company being dissolved.

You can withdraw online through the Companies House service or send a paper DS02 by post to the address on the form. Companies House warns that posted forms are slower to process, and a paper DS02 must be printed at full size on white A4.

A single director can sign the withdrawal. That is different from the DS01, which needs a majority of the directors. Our form asks you to choose the director who is authorising the withdrawal.

Withdrawing is not always a choice. GOV.UK says you must withdraw the application if the company is no longer eligible to be struck off, for example because it is trading or has become insolvent. The Companies Act 2006 (section 1009) says the directors must make sure the application is withdrawn straight away (the Act says 'forthwith') if any of the following happen after the DS01 was made and before it is finally dealt with. Failing to do so is an offence. Paying a debt the company ran up while it was trading does not, on its own, count as trading.

• The company changes its name.
• The company trades or otherwise carries on business.
• The company disposes for value of property or rights, other than those it needed to keep in order to make or proceed with the application.
• The company carries on any other activity, unless it is needed to make or proceed with the application, to finish affairs left outstanding by that process, or to meet a legal requirement.
• A voluntary arrangement is proposed, an administration application is made, notice of intention to appoint an administrator is filed with the court, or an administrator is appointed.
• A winding-up petition is presented, or circumstances arise in which the company could be wound up voluntarily.
• A receiver, manager or judicial factor is appointed, or an application is made for a compromise or arrangement under Part 26 or 26A.

You can also withdraw simply because you no longer want to close the company, as long as it is still on the Companies Register. Common reasons include a new contract, a buyer for the business, money still to come in, or realising there are debts or assets that have not been dealt with.

If money is due to the company, such as a tax refund, withdrawing gives you time to collect it. Once a company is dissolved, anything left in its name passes to the Crown.

• The company is still on the register. Check its status on Companies House. If it shows as dissolved, a DS02 can no longer be used.
• The company authentication code, so the withdrawal can be filed for the company.
• The name of the director authorising the withdrawal. One director is enough.
• A short reason for withdrawing, such as the company starting to trade again or the directors deciding to keep it.

After a DS01 is accepted, Companies House publishes a notice in The Gazette. If nobody objects, the company is struck off once the 2 months in that notice have passed, and a second notice confirms dissolution. The withdrawal has to be in place before that happens.

If one of the section 1009 events has happened, do not wait for the end of the notice period. The law expects the withdrawal straight away.

Once the company has been dissolved it no longer legally exists. To bring it back you would need to restore it to the register, which is a separate and more involved process. Our restoration review service can help you check the route.

Enter the reason and choose the authorising director. We check the details and you approve the withdrawal before it is filed. The strike off is only cancelled when Companies House accepts the withdrawal. Paying for the service or receiving a submission receipt does not, on its own, mean it has been accepted.

Once withdrawn, the company stays on the register as a normal company. Its usual duties carry on, including filing accounts and confirmation statements on time and keeping its HMRC registrations in order. If you closed the company's PAYE scheme or cancelled its VAT registration while preparing to close, you may need to deal with those again if it starts trading.

If you later want to close the company after all, you would need to make a new strike off application with a new DS01 and pay the Companies House fee again (£13 online or £18 on paper, per the current fees list).

• Leaving it too late. A DS02 cannot be used once the company has been dissolved.
• Carrying on trading while the strike off application is still live, instead of withdrawing first.
• Thinking every director has to sign. Only one director needs to sign the withdrawal.
• Assuming the withdrawal is done once you have sent it. Check the company's filing history for the accepted withdrawal.
• Forgetting that overdue accounts or confirmation statements still need filing once the company stays open.