The Domain Transfer Process:
Transferring Your Domain to Dynadot

A domain transfer is a process in which a domain is moved from one domain Registrar to another. Most transfers include an additional year of registration for your domain, which is built into the price. We love it when our customers choose to transfer their domain to us, but we know sometimes the process can be confusing. Here is a little more information about the process of transferring a domain to your Dynadot account from another Registrar.

Let's start with a quick breakdown of what you need before you initiate a domain transfer:

- 60+ day old domain registration or transfer
- Domain whose expiration date is more than 2-3 weeks away
- Unlocked domain
- Correct email address listed in the Whois directory
- Domain authorization code

The first thing you need to know is that you won't be able to transfer a newly registered or transferred domain. You must wait 60 days after a new registration or transfer before you can transfer your domain to another Registrar. This is all part of the lifecycle of a domain and you can find out more in our previous blog post on the subject.

To transfer your domain you'll need to unlock it and get its authorization code. If you don't know how to unlock your domain or where to find its authorization code, you'll need to call your Registrar as each one is different. Then you can start the process by submitting a domain transfer order on our site. Please note that we also have a bulk transfer option that makes it easy to transfer multiple domains to us at once.

Once we have received payment, we do a whois lookup of your domain. You will receive an authorization email from us to the email that is listed in your whois. This is to prevent your domain from being transferred without your - the owner's - permission. We can't send the authorization email to any email address you want, so make sure that the email in your whois is an email you can access before initiating the transfer. If you want the authorization email sent to a different email address, you will need to update your contact records with your current Registrar before initiating the transfer.

In addition to receiving an authorization email, you may also be contacted by your previous Registrar to confirm the transfer. If you want to move forward, just tell them that you do authorize the transfer. Once the transfer is authorized, you can check on the status of your domain's transfer process by logging in to your Dynadot account and going to "Open Orders." When the transfer is approved by you and your previous Registrar, the Central Registry will change the Registrar for your domain to Dynadot. We will then add your domain to your account and notify you via email. Usually the entire process can vary from about 5-15 days, depending on how fast each step is completed.

Now that you better understand the process, here are some things to be aware of when you transfer a domain:

If your website is hosted by a third party, your site should not be affected by the transfer. We do not change the name server settings for your domain during the transfer process. The only exception is if your site was hosted with your previous Registrar - some Registrars will only host your website and email if your domain is also registered with them. This is something that you may want to talk to your Registrar about before starting the transfer process.

If your domain is about to expire, your domain can still be transferred as long as your domain transfer was initiated before the expiration date. Please be aware that a domain transfer does not start right after you submit a domain transfer order to us. It actually starts after the transfer has been authorized and you will receive a "Transfer Initiated" email from us when this occurs. Most domain Registrars will let the domain transfer continue even if the domain has expired before the transfer has been completed; however, there are a few Registrars that will manually deny the transfer after the domain has expired. If this worries you, you should contact your previous domain Registrar to confirm if they will let the domain transfer continue. We recommend starting the transfer process at least 2-3 weeks before your domain's expiration date to avoid any potential issues.

Some domains have different steps to initiate and complete the transfer process. If you are transferring a .UK domain to Dynadot, you do not have to submit a transfer order. .UK domains can simply be pushed between Registrars, which does not require a fee; however, this does mean that an additional year of registration is not added to your domain. To transfer your .UK domain to Dynadot, you can follow the steps in our help file. There are also special steps on how to transfer your .EU domain to Dynadot and how to transfer your .BE domain to Dynadot in our help files.

You can also find more answers to usual questions such as...

Why can't I transfer my domain?
Why hasn't my domain been transferred yet?

…in our help files under the domain transfers category.

Post by Robyn Norgan