Understanding the 60-Day Domain Lock: What It Is & Why It Exists
If you've registered a domain name before, you're likely aware of the 60-day domain lock that is automatically applied to newly created domains. While this lock doesn't limit your ability to manage domain settings, such as updating name servers or DNS, it does prevent transferring the domain to another registrar.
Likewise, if you recently transferred a domain from one company to another, it’s sometimes locked for 60 days and can’t be moved again until the wait period is over. This can make buying and selling domain names difficult for domain investors, thus, Dynadot receives a lot of requests to override or completely remove these locks.
Why Does the 60-Day Lock Exist?
The 60-day transfer lock serves as a security measure designed to:
- Prevent unauthorized transfers: If someone gains temporary access to your account, they can't immediately transfer your domain away.
- Allow time to detect fraud: Domain owners have a window to notice and report suspicious activity.
- Reduce domain hijacking: Adding friction to the transfer process makes it harder for bad actors to quickly move stolen domains through multiple registrars.
Who Actually Controls Transfer Locks?
There’s a lot of confusion regarding who actually manages registration and transfer locks. Over the years, customers assumed the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) mandated the locks while others believed it was the domain registrar themselves.
We can confirm that Dynadot doesn’t place locks on new registrations or incoming transfers—it’s not a policy that we’ve adopted or implemented ourselves. We also don’t add a 60-day lock when there’s a change of registrant (i.e. when the registrant’s name, organization, email, etc. is updated) so long as the opt-out is selected prior to the change. Although we don’t impose these locks, central registries may enforce them under their policies. Some examples are:
| Registry | Lock Specification |
| Verisign (ex: .com, .net) | 60-day lock after initial registration |
| Identity Digital (ex: .digital, .live) | 60-day lock after initial registration |
| PIR (.org) | 60-day lock after initial registration and new transfers |
| Afilias (ex: .info) | 60-day lock after initial registration and new transfers |
| GoDaddy Registry/Neustar (ex: .co, .biz) | 60-day lock after initial registration and new transfers |
For more details, you can review ICANN's Transfer Policy and individual registry agreements.
How to Check If Your Domain Is Locked
Want to verify your domain's lock status? Here's how to check in your Dynadot account:
Step 1: Sign in to your Dynadot account.
Step 2: Select "My Domains" from the left-side menu bar and click "Manage Domains" in the drop-down.
Step 3: Find the domain name(s) from your domain list and look for the "Lock" icon. Hover over the icon to see if it says "Locked" or "Unlocked".
Step 4: For more details, click on the domain from the "Manage Domains" page and scroll down to the "Transfer Locked" section.
We recommend keeping your domains locked unless you are actively initiating a transfer. This helps ensure their security. If you leave a domain unlocked, our system will automatically relock it after 14 days (though this can vary based on factors like upcoming expiry).
Registration Locks vs. Transfer Locks
Let's go over both registration and transfer locks and see what are the differences between them.
Registration Locks
Most of the registries above lock domains for 60 days after they’re registered. Users are unable to successfully transfer a domain from one registrar to another within the first two months of creation. This should be true for all domain registrars under Registry-Registrar Agreements (RRA). Here at Dynadot, we do allow domain pushes (also known as Change Ownership requests) if the domain is less than 60 days old. The domain can’t be transferred out of our network until the wait period is over, but you can still move your domain names between Dynadot accounts during this period. Domain buyers and sellers find this feature extremely beneficial, especially if their sale is time sensitive.
Here is a video explaining domain pushes in more details:
Transfer Locks
Transfer locks vary across registries. Newly transferred .com and .net domains don’t carry a 60-day lock with them. Similarly, newly transferred .digital or .live domains don’t have transfer locks. You can move your domain from registrar A to B and then B to C and not get caught in a 60-day lock each time you switch companies. Other TLDs, like .org, do have a 60-day lock on recently transferred domains. You can move your domain from registrar A to B, but would need to wait 60 days to move from B to C. Anytime the domain switches registrars, the lock will be enabled.
Dynadot's Flexible Solution
In conclusion, Dynadot doesn’t add our own registration locks on new domain names, transfer locks on incoming transfers, or registrant locks when the registrant changes (if opted out). When our system notifies you of a denied transfer request (for these reasons), it’s because the registry kickbacks an error stating the domain isn’t in a transferable state. Domains must be eligible for transfer to initiate and complete a transfer request.
We know policies can be confusing, especially when there are multiple parties involved with different rules and regulations. We’d like to thank the Internet Commerce Association (ICA) for providing guidance to better understand ICANN rules and for always advocating for the rights and interests of domain name owners.
Are your .COM domain names in a transferrable state? Transfer them over to your Dynadot account.
FAQs
Can the 60-day lock be waived or removed?
No, the 60-day lock cannot be waived by registrars when it's imposed by the registry. This is a registry-level policy that registrars must enforce. However, Dynadot does allow domain pushes during this period as an alternative.
Does the 60-day lock apply to all TLDs?
No. Each registry sets its own policies. Some TLDs don't have a 60-day lock. Always check the specific policy for your TLD before planning transfers.
Does changing my WHOIS information trigger a new 60-day lock?
It depends on the registrar. At Dynadot, you can opt out of the 60-day registrant change lock when updating your Whois information. Select the opt-out option before making changes to avoid an additional lock period.