How to Transfer a Domain to Blue Arctic
Check that your website and email don't rely on your current registrar, unlock the domain there and get its transfer code, then choose Domains > Transfer Domains to Us in the Blue Arctic Client Portal and enter the code. Most transfers finish within 5 to 7 days.
On this page
Transferring a domain moves its registration (the yearly renewal and the ownership record) from one registrar to another. A registrar is the company you pay each year to keep your domain name. You don’t need to transfer your domain to host your website with Blue Arctic. You can keep it where it is and point it to Blue Arctic by changing its nameservers at your registrar; if you need our nameservers, ask in a support ticket. Transfer it if you want your domain and hosting renewed in one place.
Note
Transfer prices are on the domain pricing page. Most transfers finish within 5 to 7 days, unless the current registrar or the domain owner delays them. These steps are for common extensions such as .com, .net and .org. Country extensions, such as .uk or .ca, follow their own registry’s rules. For those, open a support ticket before you start.
Warning
Don’t change the owner’s name, organization or email address on the domain until the transfer is finished. Any of those changes can start a 60-day lock that blocks the transfer. You also usually can’t transfer a domain within 60 days of registering it or last transferring it.
Step 1: Check your website and email first
The transfer moves the registration only. If your website or email relies on services from your current registrar, they can stop when the domain leaves.
- Look up your domain at lookup.icann.org and write down its nameservers.
- If the nameservers contain your current registrar’s name, or you use its email or email forwarding, write down every DNS record and forwarding setting it shows for the domain.
- Before you transfer, open a support ticket with that list and ask how to move those settings, so nothing stops working.
If your nameservers already point to Blue Arctic or to another DNS service you keep (such as Cloudflare), your website and email keep working during the transfer. Don’t change the nameservers while the transfer is running.
Step 2: Prepare the domain at your current registrar
- Sign in to your current registrar.
- Check that the domain isn’t expired. If it expires in the next couple of weeks, renew it first.
- Check that you can read email at the domain’s owner (contact) address, because transfer messages go there. If you can’t, ask your current registrar how to fix it without starting a 60-day lock, or open a support ticket.
- Turn off the transfer lock. Registrars call it Domain Lock, Transfer Lock or Registrar Lock.
- If your registrar says privacy protection (it hides your name and address from public lookups) blocks transfers, turn it off.
- Get the transfer code, called the EPP code or Auth Code. Most registrars let you show it yourself. If yours doesn’t, it must send it to you within five calendar days of your request.
Step 3: Start the transfer
- Go to the Client Portal at my.bluearctic.com.
- In the top menu, open Domains and choose Transfer Domains to Us.
- Under Transfer your domain to us, type your domain name and click Transfer.
- When the Authorization Code box appears, paste the transfer code exactly as your registrar gave it, then click Confirm.
- Follow the steps to sign in (or create an account) and finish the order.
- Check the domain’s contact email over the next few days. If your old registrar asks you to approve the transfer, approve it so it finishes sooner.
You may not get an approval email at all, and that’s fine. If you can’t find the transfer option, open a support ticket and we’ll help you start it.
How to tell it worked
The domain appears in your Client Portal account, and your old registrar shows it as transferred away. A lookup at lookup.icann.org shows a different registrar than before. Blue Arctic registers domains through accredited partner registrars, so you may see the partner’s name there, not Blue Arctic.
After the transfer
- Check that your website loads and that email still arrives. If not, open a support ticket.
- Check that the domain is locked again in the Client Portal. If you can’t find the lock setting, ask in a support ticket.
- Keep your payment method and email address up to date. Blue Arctic domains renew automatically by default, using the payment method on file, and we email reminders about 60, 30 and 7 days before the domain expires.
Troubleshooting
- The transfer was rejected for an invalid code: get a new code from your old registrar and try again. Codes can expire.
- The old registrar refuses the transfer: check whether the domain was registered or transferred in the last 60 days, had an owner change, or is still locked.
- Nothing has happened after 7 days: open a support ticket with your domain name. Don’t start a new transfer first.
- Your website or email stopped working after the transfer: the domain may have used your old registrar’s DNS or email service, which stops when the domain leaves. Open a support ticket right away.
Still need help?
Open a support ticket from the Client Portal at my.bluearctic.com. Our support page explains how. Include your domain, the registrar you’re moving from, the date you started the transfer, any rejection message, a screenshot, and what you already tried. Never include a password or your transfer code.