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Generally, you will need to see with the gaining registrar with regards to their transfer procedure. For the most popular extensions, all that you need to do at Gandi is to obtain your authorization code and be sure that your domain is not locked against transfer.

Note that changing web hosts does not require that you transfer your domain name to them, but rather, simply updating your DNS on our website, which is free of charge.

Often, when customers want to change web hosts, they are led to transfer the domain away from Gandi. However, in many cases this means that they are transferring to a reseller (as the webhost is usually not a registrar themselves) of a different registrar. This can make managing your domain not only more complicated, but also more expensive. In the worst-case scenario, you might lose ownership of the domain name.

The decision is up to you; just be aware that changing web hosts often only requires updating your DNS, and that you must be wary of any ownership change that is requested.

• Removing the transfer protection from your domain
• How to get your authorization code (If applicable) ¹⁾
• Updating your IPS tag (If applicable) ²⁾
• Remove anti-spam protection of your email address from the whois
• Deactivate private domain registration
• Back up your email by downloading it to your computer – it will not be transferred with your domain.
• Lower the TTL (time-to-live) of the entries in your domain name's zone file to minimize downtime.

The transfer process varies by TLD. For the most common extensions, transfers are validated via one or more confirmation emails (FOA) sent to the email address of the owner as visible in the Whois.

In these cases, when you initiate the transfer, the gaining registrar will notify the appropriate Registry, who will then notify Gandi. Within 24 hours we will send the verification email(s), which must be confirmed before the transfer can go through.

Generally, in the event of a problem transferring a domain away from Gandi, you will need to contact the support of the domain's new registrar.

Once a transfer has been successfully initiated, there is a five-day finalization period where you have the opportunity to contact us to cancel the transfer on your behalf. At the end of the five-day waiting period, the transfer will be completed automatically.

After a domain name is transferred away from Gandi, and to your new registrar, you will still see the domain name in your domain name list for one week (7 x 24 hours). This is simply because you can continue to use our DNS during this period, and other products/services that Gandi requires to be the registrar of the domain name to continue these services, like GandiMail. This will allow you to make backups of your GandiMail mailboxes, or other migrations and backups in order to prevent downtime. It does not mean that you can make modifications (transfer lock, contacts, which DNS servers, etc) to your domain name via our interface: these can only be done at your new registrar. However, if the domain name uses Gandi DNS, you will be able to update our DNS servers (zone file) using the interface or API.

No, there is no charge imposed by Gandi to transfer away, though you may have a fee to pay to the new registrar.

We allow outgoing sites to continue using our DNS for one week (7 x 24 hours), in order to give you plenty of time to set up your DNS at the gaining (new) registrar. You will be able to make changes to how Gandi's DNS servers point your domain name (zone file) during this period.

To minimize downtime, you may want to lower the TTL (time-to-live) as necessary, then raise it again once the transfer has completed.

If you have anti-spam protection activated, your email address will be obfuscated in the whois. This shouldn't normally be a problem, since emails to that address are supposed to be forwarded to you, but you can turn off this feature just to be sure. This can be done within your account, under “Update your personal information.” Instructions are available here.

If your domain name is managed by a reseller (such as MoonFruit), you will need to see with their support team regarding this change, as they are the technical intermediary between you and Gandi.

They may be able to transfer your domain for you. Otherwise, you should ask them about 'releasing' your handle, which would allow you to log in to our site to manage your domain.

For some extension, after successfully completing the transfer process at the new registrar (eg. accepting their transfer in confirmation mails and providing them with the auth code), we will send a outgoing confirmation email to the domain's owner with these details:

Subject: [GANDI] IMPORTANT: Transfer of EXAMPLE.COM to another registrar
From: ****-transfer-out@gandi.net

If you do not see this mail in your inbox, you can access it from within your Gandi account; just click on the “Messages” tab.

If you do not click the link in the emails, the transfer will be accepted automatically 5 days after it was launched successfully at the new registrar.

Domains generally cannot be transferred within 60 days of registration or transfer. There is an exception, however: You can transfer back to the registrar you transferred away without having to wait the 60 days.