How To Do A Domain Transfer

So you decided to transfer the management of a domain to another registrar.  So let’s say you registered a domain from Godaddy but want to transfer the registration to Network Solutions.  There are critical steps involved but they are pretty straight forward.  I will outline the steps in order to make the process as efficient as possible.  You will need to check with your specific provider on exactly what needs to be done to complete the transfer process but this guide will at least explain the overall process so that you will be better able to communicate with both your current and new domain registrar.

Step 1 – Obtain a transfer authorization code
You want to contact the company that currently holds your domain name and request a transfer authorization code.  Some companies also refer to this as an ‘auth code’ or ‘EPP key’.  You will then provide this unique code to the new domain registrar so that they can initiate the transfer with your current registrar.

Step 2 – Prepare the domain for the transfer
Next, there are 2 domain settings that you need to check .  First, you will need to make sure that your domain is unlocked.  Generally, all domains are locked by the registrar to avoid people from taking your domain without your knowledge or permission.  But to do a transfer, the domain needs to be unlocked.  Your current registrar should be able to take care of this for you or if they provided you with a domain management panel.  Secondlly, you will need to make sure that the administrative contact email address is a valid and active email address that you have access to.  I will explain  why this is important in the next step.

Step 3 – Confirming the transfer
By now the transfer of the domain should have been started by your new registrar.  What they will do at this point is contact the the domain owner, in this case you,  asking to confirm that a domain transfer was requested.  They do this by sending an email to the administrative contact email address attached to the domain.   Usually this email will be sent out 24 to 48 hours after the authorization code is received by the new registrar.  If you don’t respond to the confirmation, then the transfer will be canceled.  That is why it is so important to make sure the admin contact email address is one you have access to.

Step 4 – Waiting
After you have responded to the confirmation email, all that is left to do is wait for the domain to be transferred.  The new registrar should send you an email when the transfer is complete.  How long you have to wait depends on how quickly your current registrar releases the domain and how quickly the new registar notifies you of the transfer completion.  Transfers can take anywhere from just 1 day to 1 month or longer.  But on average shouldn’t be longer than a few days.

So while there are only a few steps needed to transfer a domain name, making a mistake at any point can delay or even cancel the domain transfer.  But this information will help make the transition as smooth as possible.  But always remember to contact your domain registrar to go over the exact steps.