There may be times when you want to transfer your domain name from one registrar to the next. It could be that you are paying $30 a year and you want a cheaper registrar. Or maybe you have your registrar set up with one company and you want to consolidate all your names with one company. In my case, I have a client who wants a cheaper price. So I’m going to walk you through the process of how to transfer a domain name from one registrar to another. In this specific example, the current domain name is at a company called Register4Less and I am going to transfer to my 1&1.com account, because of the ridiculously low price. At the time of this post, it costs $0.99 for the first year and that includes private registration.
The process is not hard, but there are some details to look for. And it takes time. So make sure if you are going to transfer a name to allow yourself plenty of time before your name expires. In some occasions, it has happened to me that the current registrar wasn’t releasing the domain name, so I had to start the process again. Here are some common FAQ’s.
The overall summary is as follows:
- UNLOCK your domain name from the current registrar.
- Get the AUTHORIZATION code from the current registrar.
- PURCHASE domain transfer from new registrar.
- Enter AUTHORIZATION code from the new registrar.
Below I will show you the step-by-step process I used to transfer my client’s domain name.
GO TO THE EXISTING DOMAIN REGISTRAR
In my case, I headed over to Register4Less.com since that is where I had registered the domain I wanted to transfer. The reason you want to go there first, is because you are going to need an authorization code to input into 1&1.com.
Click on “Profile”
You want to UNLOCK your domain so that it can be transferred. But before doing that, you have to disable your WHOIS PRIVACY. So click on “Whois Privacy.”
Then click on “Disable All.”
You will get confirmation that your WHOIS PRIVACY was disabled. Then go back into “Profile”
You are going to click on “Registrar Locking”
And click “Unlock All.” This enables your domain name to be transferred.
You should get confirmation that the Registrar lock is set to off. Then click on “Profile.”
Next, you want to find the AUTHORIZATION CODE. This is the code that you will be entering into 1&1.com. So to find that code, look in the “Domain Details.”
Once you find your AUTHORIZATION CODE. Copy it.
GO TO THE NEW DOMAIN NAME REGISTRAR
Now it’s time to head over to 1&1.com. You will enter the domain name you want to transfer in the box. Click here to be taken to 1&1 to transfer your domain name.
Click “Transfer of Registrar”
Enter the AUTHORIZATION CODE that you copies from the previous registrar, and enter it into the form below.
Once you have entered your code, you are ready to check out and pay. You will go through a couple of pages of 1&1 trying you to upsell you on some products. Just keep clicking continue. You will get to a page that will asking you the below question. Make sure you click on “Register your domain privately.” It’s free with your purchase!
And you have completed the transfer for now.
WAIT, IT’S STILL NOT OVER
So what usually happens now, is that 1&1 will send an email to the current owner of the domain name. In that email, they will mention that somebody is trying to transfer the domain and they need to confirm the transfer.
You will usually confirm the transfer by clicking on a link.
Once that’s done, it should take several days for the actual transfer to happen.
And you will get a final confirmation once it’s done.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE DOMAIN TRANSFER
You should allow at least a month for doing this transfer because you never know how long this is going to take. It has happened to me before that the new registrar had sent an email to the previous registrar and I never knew about it, so I was waiting days without anything happening. So you need to be vigilant and on top of it.
