Transferring a domain between registrars is a defined process that takes about a week. The transfer itself rarely goes wrong. What goes wrong is everything attached to the domain, because a transfer can carry DNS settings with it or reset them, and a domain with reset DNS takes the website and the email down simultaneously.
Why businesses move a domain
Consolidation, cost, better management tools, or, most often, because the domain is sitting in an account belonging to a former supplier or employee and needs to come under the business's control.
That last reason is the important one. A domain registered to someone else is the single most consequential gap in a website arrangement, since everything else can be rebuilt and a domain you do not hold cannot be recovered on your terms.
What has to be true before you start
- The domain is at least sixty days old and has not been transferred or had its registrant details changed in the last sixty days. Either resets the clock and the transfer will be refused.
- The transfer lock is off, a protective setting enabled by default at most registrars.
- You have the authorisation code, obtained from the current registrar. It expires, so get it close to when you will use it.
- The administrative contact email is one you can access, because approval is sent there. This is the most common reason transfers stall.
- The domain is not close to expiry. Renew first if it is within a few weeks, since transferring near expiry risks losing it entirely.
The contact email deserves particular attention. If it points at a former employee or a supplier's address, that has to be corrected first, and correcting it may itself trigger the sixty-day restriction.
The step that actually breaks things
DNS.
Depending on the registrars involved, a transfer may carry your existing settings, or the new registrar may apply its own defaults. If the second happens and you have not prepared, the domain stops pointing at your website and your email records disappear at the same moment.
The protection is straightforward and it has to happen before the transfer rather than after. Export the entire current zone, every record exactly as it stands, and either recreate it at the destination in advance or keep it ready to paste in immediately. What each record does is set out in DNS explained for business owners.
The safest version is to leave the nameservers pointing where they currently are throughout the transfer. That way the transfer changes who bills you and nothing about how the domain resolves, and the two changes are separated rather than happening together.
The sequence
- Export the full DNS zone and save it somewhere outside the registrar.
- Confirm the administrative contact is an address you can read today.
- Renew if expiry is close. Time added is not lost, since a transfer typically adds a year on top.
- Unlock the domain and request the authorisation code.
- Start the transfer at the new registrar and pay for the year it adds.
- Approve the confirmation email promptly, since it expires.
- Verify the zone at the destination the moment the transfer completes, comparing against your export.
- Test the website and send a test email in both directions.
- Re-enable the transfer lock, which is the step everyone forgets.
How long it takes
Typically five to seven days for common extensions, most of which is a waiting period built into the process. It can complete faster where the current registrar approves promptly.
The domain continues working throughout, provided the DNS has been handled. Nothing goes offline because a transfer is pending, and there is no need to plan downtime.
The Canadian extension
Domains ending in .ca follow their own procedure under the national registry rather than the general one, including different requirements around the authorisation process and Canadian presence requirements for the registrant.
It is not difficult and it is different enough that assuming the standard steps apply will cause a stall. Worth confirming the specific process with the destination registrar before starting, particularly where the registrant details also need correcting.
Afterwards
Three things, none of which take long.
Re-enable the transfer lock. Set the renewal to automatic and confirm the card on file is current, since a renewal failure takes a business offline entirely and is completely preventable. And record the new arrangement in whatever document holds your domain, hosting, and email details, so the next person who needs this does not have to work it out from scratch.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a domain transfer take?
Usually five to seven days for common extensions, most of it a built-in waiting period. The domain keeps working throughout, so no downtime needs to be planned.
Will my website go down during a transfer?
Not if DNS is handled beforehand. The risk is that the new registrar applies its own default settings, which would stop the domain pointing at your site and remove your email records at the same time.
Why was my domain transfer refused?
Most often the transfer lock is still on, the domain is within sixty days of registration or a previous transfer or contact change, or the authorisation code has expired.
What is the most common reason a transfer stalls?
The administrative contact email being an address nobody can access, since approval is sent there. Correcting it first may itself trigger a sixty-day restriction, so check early.
Should I transfer a domain close to its expiry date?
Renew first. Transferring near expiry risks losing the domain, and the time is not wasted since a transfer typically adds a year on top of what remains.
Is transferring a .ca domain different?
Yes. It follows the national registry's own procedure, including different authorisation steps and Canadian presence requirements for the registrant. Confirm the process with the destination registrar before starting.
West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.
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