How to transfer a domain away from Wix

Three things have to be true before Wix will release a domain.

• The domain is unlocked. Wix cites a 60-day lock, under the rules of ICANN, the body that coordinates domain names: no transfer within 60 days of registration, of an earlier transfer, or of a change to the registrant’s contact details.
• The registrant’s email address is one you can read, because the code is sent there. Wix recommends switching off private registration so that emails about the transfer are not missed.
• An account is open at the provider the domain is moving to.

1. Go to Domains in the Wix account.
2. Click the Domain Actions icon beside the domain.
3. Select “Transfer away from Wix”.
4. Review the information, click “Transfer Domain”, then “I Still Want to Transfer”.
5. Wix sends the authorisation code, also called an EPP code, to the registrant’s contact email address.
6. Enter the code at the new provider, which starts the transfer.

Wix states that a .co.uk domain is transferred by changing its IPS tag, and that no authorisation code is involved. The IPS tag is the label that identifies a provider of .uk names.

Ask the new provider for its tag first. Then follow the same route in Wix, enter the tag when asked, click “Continue” and then “Submit Request”. Wix says the new provider should complete its side within 5 days, or the transfer may be rejected.

Wix says the Wix site is disconnected from the domain once it leaves. A domain with nowhere to point shows visitors an error, so the new site should be ready first.

Email is the part most often broken. Wix notes that the MX records, which direct email for the domain, have to be added again at the new provider for a business mailbox to keep working. Copy every DNS record from Wix before starting, and recreate them at the new provider.

A transfer changes who the domain is registered with. Moving the website does not require it: a domain can stay registered where it is and be pointed at a site hosted elsewhere. Transfer when you want the domain and the site’s bills in one place, or when you are closing the Wix account altogether.

The domain is one part of leaving Wix. Our guide to what a Wix site lets you move covers the rest: the content, the rebuild and the redirects that keep the rankings.