Domains » Transfer a domain to another registrar
Contents
- How domains work
- Preparing your domain for transfer
- Remove private registration
- Set the domain manager password
- Log into the domain manager
- Unlock the domain
- Send the transfer authorization code
- Starting the transfer with your new registrar
- Completing the transfer
- Frequently Asked Questions
Related
Transferring your domain registration to another registrar means that management of the domain name, including renewing it, will no longer be done with WordPress.com.
If you’re moving your site away from WordPress.com and your new host supports incoming domain registration, this is a good way to take your domain with you.
Important: This information relates only to domains registered with WordPress.com. If you registered your domain elsewhere, you can contact your registrar for more information about transferring the registration. You can use the Domain Helper to check where your domain is registered.
How domains work
A domain name is like a shortcut that points to your blog. It’s not really a part of your blog: you can have a blog without a domain name, and you can have many domains pointing the same blog. Your blog is the collection of posts, comments and widgets, your theme, your settings, and everything else that your visitors see when they visit it. The domain is just a shortcut to help them get there.
If you registered a domain with WordPress.com, we make sure that the domain remains in your control and that it points to your site, and we remind you to renew it every year. Many other hosts provide the same service, so if you move your site from WordPress.com to another host, it might make sense to take your domain with you — to transfer the registration to the new host.
To make sure that only you can transfer your domain, the process includes several checks and controls, and takes a few days to complete. For new domains and after changing whois contact information, there is a waiting period of 60 days before a transfer can be initiated.
Remember that your registered domain and your WordPress.com site are two separate things. After the transfer is complete, your WordPress.com site will still be available at its original address.
Preparing your domain for transfer
To start the transfer, you’ll first have to cancel private registration of the domain, and then unlock it so it will be available for transfer. We’ll then send you a special transfer code (also sometimes called EPP code), and you’ll pass that code on to your new registrar. Your new registrar will contact us directly and give us the same code you gave them – this proves that you asked for the transfer, and we’ll transfer the registration to them.
Before starting the process, make sure that you don’t have private registration on the domain you want to transfer. The private registration feature is meant to mask your contact information in the domain records, but this information has to be reviewed during the transfer process. The transfer will fail if the information is not available.
Remove private registration
If you do not have Private Registration, please continue to the next step.
If you have Private Registration, go to Store → My Upgrades in your dashboard, find the domain you want to transfer, and click on Cancel Private Registration. You will then be asked to confirm the cancellation. Click on Cancel Privacy Upgrade to confirm and cancel private registration.
Set the domain manager password
The next step is to log in to your domain manager, from Store → Domains in your dashboard. Find the section titled Domain Administration, and then choose Transfer ownership to another registrar from the drop down menu below it. Read the instructions, and click on Next Step when you’re ready.
This will reveal a form with the information you need to log in to your domain manager. Make a note of the customer number, and choose the password you want to use with your domain manager. This password is used just for managing your domains – it won’t work anywhere else on WordPress.com.
Log into the domain manager
Now that you have a password and your customer number you will need to repeat a couple of steps, bear with us, you’re almost there.
Find the section titled Domain Administration again, choose Transfer ownership to another registrar from the menu below it again, you’ll need to click the Next button again as well.
Now, click on Manage Your Domains link. You will be taken to a new login screen. Enter the customer number and password you just chose to log in to the domain manager.
You may be prompted to enter a PIN for phone support. Read the instructions and enter the code, and click on Save to proceed.
Inside the domain manager, you’ll see a list of domains – click on the domain you want to transfer. If you only have one domain, just click on that one.
Unlock the domain
The next page includes the links to unlock the domain and to send the transfer code.
Under Domain Information, find the line starting with Locked, and click on Manage next to that line. Uncheck the box that says Lock domain(s), and click on OK to proceed.
Send the transfer authorization code
The last thing to do here is to send the transfer authorization code. Under Domain Information, find the line starting with Authorization Code, and click on Send by Email. A confirmation will pop up – click on OK to have the code delivered to your email.
The email will be sent to the email address you entered when you registered the domain. You can see this email address in the domain manager, at the table on the bottom of the page, under Administrative.
This is what the email with the code should look like:
We blurred out the actual code in this sample – but in the email you receive it will be easily readable :)
Starting the transfer with your new registrar
Once you have the transfer code, all that’s left is to head to your new registrar’s website and start the transfer. How this would actually work depends on your registrar.
Below you’ll find links to instructions provided by some popular domain registrars. If you can’t find yours here, you may want to try their help section for more information, or contact their support.
Completing the transfer
Once you start the transfer process with your new registrar, you will receive several emails to confirm the transfer. Depending on your registrar, they will usually include links to confirm the transfer. You will have to click those confirmation links for the transfer to be completed successfully.
The transfer usually takes a few days, and you’ll receive notifications by email for every step along the way. Note that if you don’t accept the emails and click the confirmation links, the transfer will be canceled and the domain will still be registered with WordPress.com, but if that happens you can always just start the transfer again.
Frequently Asked Questions
I have an email address on my domain. What will happen to my email?
If you used Google Apps for Domains to create an email address on your domain (such as you@yourgroovydomain.com), this address will stop working after the transfer.
For the address to work again, you will have to set it up again with your new registrar. How this would work depends on your new registrar, but you can contact them or Google Apps for Domains for more information and support.
Please make sure that this email address is not used in your WordPress.com user account or the administrative contact on your domain. If it is, we may not be able to contact you when the email address stops working during the transfer, and the transfer will fail.
