Transfer a domain to us

You can move a domain you already own to us. The transfer takes a few days, your website and email keep working the whole time, and the domain then renews here like any other.

What you need

• A Headpat Space account with a verified email address and your billing details filled in.
• Access to the account at your current registrar, so you can unlock the domain and get its authorization code.
• A domain that was registered or last transferred more than 60 days ago. Registries block transfers inside that window.

1. Prepare the domain at your current registrar

1. Switch the transfer lock (sometimes called registrar lock or domain lock) off.
2. Request the authorization code, also called the EPP code or auth code. Most registrars show it in the domain's settings or email it to the owner.
3. Make sure the owner's email address on the domain is one you can read. The registry may send an approval email there.
4. If the domain uses WHOIS privacy with a proxy email address, turn it off for now, or confirm that address forwards to you.

Do not cancel the old registration or let it expire. A transfer extends the domain by a year; an expired domain cannot be transferred.

2. Start the transfer in the panel

1. Sign in to the panel, open Domains in the sidebar and click Register Domain.
2. Enter the full domain name and click Check. The result says the domain is taken and shows what transferring it costs; that price includes the first year with us.
3. Click Transfer this domain instead and paste the authorization code.
4. Fill in the owner details. They become the registrant at the registry, so use the same person or company that owns the domain today.
5. Under DNS zone, choose whether we should host the DNS. Yes creates a zone here and points the domain at our nameservers once the transfer completes; No keeps the current nameservers, which is the safer choice if your DNS lives elsewhere and you do not want anything to change.
6. Tick the consent box, click Transfer & pay and complete the payment.

3. What happens next

The domain appears in your list with the status transferring. The registry asks your current registrar to release it. Depending on the extension this takes anything from a few minutes to five days; some registrars email the owner first and release the domain when they approve, or automatically after five days.

You do not have to do anything in the panel meanwhile. The status changes to active on its own, and the domain's expiry date moves one year further out.

If you chose to host the DNS here, add your records before the transfer completes so the switch to our nameservers is seamless: see Manage DNS records for your domain.

If it does not go through

A transfer is rejected when the authorization code is wrong, the domain is still locked, or the current owner declines the approval email. The panel then marks the domain as failed and refunds the payment automatically. Fix the cause at your current registrar and start the transfer again.

Good to know

• Not every extension can be transferred in. The extensions page lists which ones can and what the transfer costs.
• The price you pay for the transfer covers the first year. After that the domain renews at the extension's normal yearly price, which the checkout shows you before you pay.
• Nothing changes at your old registrar until the transfer completes; the domain keeps working there in the meantime.