100% Australian owned and operated
The short version
- A transfer moves your domain to a different registrar. The name, the registrant and the time left all stay the same.
- You need two things: the domain unlocked, and its transfer code.
- .au transfers take up to three days, and often only hours. .com and similar names usually take five to seven days.
- If your old registrar also hosts your DNS, move the DNS first, or the website and email can drop out.
What moves, and what stays put
A transfer changes which registrar looks after your domain. It doesn’t change the domain.
Two things called “transfer”
The word covers two different jobs, and mixing them up causes trouble. auDA’s guide puts both in one sentence: you can transfer a licence “to another eligible person or a different domain name provider”.
- A transfer between providers keeps the same registrant and changes the registrar. This is the ordinary kind, and the subject of this lesson.
- A change of registrant keeps the same registrar and puts the domain in someone else’s name, as when a business is sold. It has its own form and, for .au names, the new holder has to be eligible. Read our guide to changing the registrant of a .com.au.
A transfer, step by step
Check the contact email
Codes and confirmations go to the registrant’s email address. Make sure it’s one you can read.
Sort out the DNS
If your current registrar hosts your DNS, copy the records to their new home first.
Unlock the domain
Switch off the transfer lock at your current provider.
Get the transfer code
Ask your current provider, or reveal it in their dashboard.
Start it at the new provider
Enter the domain and the code. The new provider does the asking from here.
Wait, then check
Hours for .au, days for .com. Then confirm the site and email still work.
The transfer code
Every transfer needs a code that proves you’re entitled to move the name. It has more names than it deserves: auth code, authorisation code, EPP code, authInfo and, for .au names, the domain password. They’re all the same thing.
- For .au names, auDA lists two ways to get it: “contacting your current registrar by email or phone and they will send it to the registrant contact email address listed in the .au registry”, or “using the .au domain password recovery tool” at pw.auda.org.au, which emails it to the same address. Lost access to that address? Read our guide to getting your .com.au domain password.
- For .com and similar names, ICANN’s Transfer Policy sets a deadline: registrars must provide the code and remove the lock “within five (5) calendar days” of your request.
Treat the code like a password. Anyone who has it, and an unlocked domain, can start moving your name.
How long it takes
| Ending | Typical wait | Why |
|---|---|---|
| .au names | Up to three days, often much less | auDA: “Once the transfer has been approved, it can take up to three days for the transfer to take effect.” |
| .com and similar | Usually five to seven days | The registry completes the transfer unless the current registrar objects “within five (5) calendar days”. |
Your website and email keep running throughout. A transfer doesn’t touch your nameservers, unless your old registrar hosts your DNS (see above).
Locks, and the 60-day rules
A transfer lock (or registrar lock) makes the registry refuse any transfer request until you switch it off. On a public lookup it appears as the status clientTransferProhibited, which ICANN explains as telling “your domain’s registry to reject requests to transfer the domain from your current registrar to another”. Leave it on except when you’re actually moving.
For .com and similar endings there are also waiting periods, set out in ICANN’s FAQ for domain name holders:
- New registrations. “Your registrar may deny a transfer request if the domain name is within 60 days of initial registration.”
- Recent transfers. The same applies within 60 days of a previous transfer.
- Coming change. ICANN is moving the two locks above to 30 days.
- Changed contact details. “You cannot transfer a domain name to a different registrar within 60 days of making changes to the registrant name, organization or email address”, although some registrars let you opt out of that lock.
The practical lesson: don’t update the registrant’s name or email on a .com the day before you plan to move it.
The status codes you’ll see
Look a domain up and you’ll find one or more status codes. They’re the registry’s notes on what state the name is in. ICANN’s summary of the two families: “Client status codes are set by registrars”; “Server status codes are set by registries, and they take precedence over client codes.”
| Code | In plain English |
|---|---|
ok | Normal. No locks, nothing pending. |
clientTransferProhibited | Transfer lock is on. Normal for a domain that isn’t moving. |
serverTransferProhibited | The registry is blocking transfers. Ask your provider why. |
pendingTransfer | A transfer is in progress. |
clientHold | The registrar has switched the domain off in the DNS. It won’t resolve. Usually unpaid, expired or in dispute. |
serverHold | The registry has switched it off. Contact your provider. |
redemptionPeriod | Deleted after expiry, but still restorable for 30 days. |
pendingDelete | About to be released. Too late to restore. |
inactive | No nameservers are set, so the domain can’t resolve. |
The last four link to what happens when a domain expires. The WHOIS tab of the toolbox shows whether a domain is locked.
Moving without breaking anything
- Don’t leave it to the last week. Start a transfer with weeks of registration left, not days. If the name has already expired, renew it where it is first.
- Move the DNS before the domain if the old registrar hosts it. Moving your DNS safely has the steps.
- Remember email forwarding and URL forwarding. If the old provider was doing either, it stops when you leave. Set them up again at the new one.
- Lock it again afterwards. The transfer lock doesn’t always come across switched on.
At Chill Domains. Moving in: enter the domain and its code on the transfer page, and we check the registry will accept it before you pay. Moving out: your transfer code is in your dashboard whenever you want it, with a transfer lock you control. No exit fee, and no phone call asking you to stay.
Terms in this lesson
- Transfer
- Moving a domain from one registrar to another.
- Auth code
- The password that proves you’re allowed to move a domain to a different registrar.
- Registrar lock
- A setting that blocks a domain from being transferred to another registrar until you switch it off.
- Change of registrant
- Putting a domain into a different person’s or business’s name.
- Status code
- A label on a domain’s public record that says what state it’s in, such as
ok,clientTransferProhibited(locked) orserverHold(switched off by the registry). - EPP
- The language registrars use to talk to registries.
- Registrar
- A company accredited to add and change names in a registry.
- Registrant
- The person or organisation a domain is registered to.
- Redemption period
- For .com and similar endings, the 30 days after an expired name is deleted during which the old holder can still get it back, usually for a sizeable fee.
- Pending delete
- The last stage for an expired .com or similar name: it can no longer be renewed or restored, and in a few days it will be released for anyone to register.
Every term, in full, is in the glossary.
Sources
All read on 2 October 2026.
- How to transfer your .au domain name (auDA): the two kinds of transfer, getting the authorisation code and how long a transfer takes.
- Transfer Policy (ICANN): the five-day deadlines for providing the code and for the current registrar to object.
- FAQs for Domain Name Holders: Transferring Your Domain Name (ICANN): the 60-day rules.
- EPP Status Codes (ICANN): what each status code means, and client codes versus server codes.