Will my website go down during the transfer?

No. As long as your DNS records stay the same, your website and email keep serving throughout. A transfer changes the registrar (who you renew the domain with), not where the site is hosted. The safest approach is to get DNS pointing where you want it before starting the transfer.

Why was my transfer rejected?

The usual reasons are: the domain is still locked, WHOIS privacy is hiding the admin email so approvals don't arrive, the auth code is wrong, or the domain is inside the 60-day post-registration or post-transfer lock. Fix the specific cause at your current registrar and start again — or open a ticket and we'll tell you which one it is.

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How to Transfer a Domain to Hosting Cheap

Updated 20 July 20265 min read

To transfer a domain to us, first prepare it at your current registrar: unlock the domain, turn off WHOIS privacy temporarily, and get the authorization (EPP) code. Then start the transfer on our domains page, paste the EPP code, and approve the confirmation email. Transfers of most extensions (.com, .net, .org) take a few days and add a year to your registration. Your website and email keep working throughout.

Before you start (at your current registrar)

1Make sure the domain is at least 60 days old and wasn't recently transferred — registries block transfers inside that window.
2Unlock the domain (look for a 'domain lock' or 'transfer lock' setting).
3Temporarily disable WHOIS/domain privacy so the transfer emails can reach you.
4Request the authorization code (also called EPP or auth code). It's usually emailed to you.

Start the transfer with us

1Go to our domains page and choose Transfer.
2Enter your domain and paste the authorization (EPP) code.
3Pay for the transfer — for most extensions this adds a full year to your registration.
4Approve the confirmation email from the losing registrar to release the domain.
5Wait for completion — commonly a few days depending on the extension and your old registrar.

Keeping your site and email up during a transfer

A transfer moves who manages the domain, not its DNS settings — so nothing breaks automatically. To be safe, set your DNS (nameservers or records) the way you want before you transfer, so the settings carry over. If your site is already hosted with us, point the domain here first, then transfer at your leisure.