How to Transfer a Domain to Another Registrar: A Safe Checklist

You may want to change registrars for a better price, better support, simpler management or to consolidate domains in one place. A transfer moves the registration, meaning who you pay and where you manage it, from one registrar to another. Done properly it causes no downtime. Done carelessly, it can interrupt your website and email. This general checklist covers the process for common generic extensions. Country-code extensions often have their own procedures, so check the registry's rules for yours.

Transfer, hosting and DNS are different things

Many people confuse three separate items:

• Registration: who holds the domain. This is what a transfer changes.
• DNS: where your records are hosted, controlled by the name servers.
• Hosting and email: where your website and mailboxes run.

Transferring the registration does not have to touch the others. In a well-planned transfer, the name servers stay the same, and the site and email keep running throughout. Moving DNS or hosting is a separate decision.

Before you start: preparation

1. Check eligibility. Under the transfer policy for generic domains, a domain generally cannot be transferred within 60 days of initial registration or of a previous registrar transfer. A change of registrant details can also trigger a lock unless you opted out.
2. Check expiry. Do not start a transfer when the domain is about to expire or has expired. Renew first if needed.
3. Record your DNS. Export or note every DNS record. If your DNS is hosted by the old registrar, the transfer may stop that service, so you will need to move DNS first or recreate the zone at the new place.
4. Confirm contact details. The registrant email must be one you can access, since approval messages are sent there.
5. Disable DNSSEC if enabled, following your registrar's instructions, unless both registrars support a coordinated handover.

The steps

1. Unlock the domain at the current registrar. The transfer lock is a protective status that prevents unauthorised moves.
2. Get the authorisation code, often called the auth code, EPP code or transfer key, from your current registrar. Keep it secret. Anyone who has it and can approve the email can move your domain.
3. Start the transfer at the new registrar. Enter the domain and the code, and pay for the transfer. For most generic extensions the transfer includes a one-year extension of the registration, added to your current expiry.
4. Approve the request. The old registrar may email the registrant for confirmation. Approving quickly speeds things up. If you do nothing, many transfers complete automatically after a waiting period, commonly up to five days.
5. Verify at the new registrar. Confirm the domain appears in your account, with the same name servers and the expected expiry date.
6. Re-enable the lock and automatic renewal, and set up two-step sign-in on the new account.

What can go wrong

Problem	Cause and fix
Transfer rejected	Domain still locked, wrong code or inside the 60-day window
Approval email never arrives	Registrant email outdated, or filtered as spam
Website or email stops	Name servers or DNS zone changed during the move
Transfer stuck	Waiting for the old registrar to release it; contact support
DNSSEC errors after moving	Old keys still published without a matching signing setup

Protect yourself during the process

• Never send the auth code over insecure channels, and never give it to someone who contacts you unprompted.
• Do the transfer yourself, from the account that owns the domain. If an agency manages it, make sure you also have the credentials.
• Avoid doing a transfer, a hosting migration and an email migration on the same day. Separate the changes so a problem is easy to isolate.
• Keep the old registrar account open until the transfer has completed and you have checked everything.

After the transfer

1. Check the website, email sending and receiving, and SSL certificate renewals.
2. Review the DNS zone at its current location.
3. Update billing records and calendar reminders for the next renewal.
4. Remove the domain from your old registrar's auto-renewal, if it remains listed.

Transferring versus pointing

If you only want a website hosted by a new company, you do not need to transfer the domain at all. You can leave the registration where it is and change the name servers or A records. Transfer when you want to change who manages the registration. Our article on nameservers versus A records covers the other option.

How long does it take?

Timing varies. Some transfers complete within hours once approved, while others use the full waiting period allowed by the rules, which can be several days. Start well before any deadline, and never begin on the last days of a registration. Avoid scheduling the transfer for the week of a major sales campaign or launch. A calm, boring transfer is a successful one.

Domains and hosting with Zebra Hosting

To host your website or email with Zebra Hosting, you can keep your domain at its current registrar and point it to us. The team will move your site, databases and email for free, and support in 17 languages can walk you through the DNS side. See the migration page or compare hosting plans.