How to Transfer a Domain from DreamHost to Static.app

To transfer a domain from DreamHost to Static.app, switch the domain's Transfer Lock off in your DreamHost panel and get its auth code. Then start the transfer at Static.app with that code and approve the release in the DreamHost panel. Once both sides have approved, DreamHost says it should finish within a few minutes, though it can take up to 7 days. The one thing to do first is opt out of the 60-day lock before you change any owner or privacy details.

Before you start

• Check the dates. A domain cannot move within 60 days of being bought or transferred to DreamHost. A change to the registrant's name, organization or email puts the domain in a 60-day lock too, and so does a change to its privacy settings. Before you change any of them, select the checkbox in the panel to opt out of that lock.
• Check the expiry. DreamHost recommends starting the transfer at least a full week before the domain expires.
• Check the contact email addresses. Depending on the ending, the auth code may be emailed to the Registrant contact, and the approval email goes to the address in your DreamHost account profile. Make sure both inboxes are ones you read.
• Save your DNS records. If the domain uses DreamHost's nameservers (ns1, ns2 and ns3.dreamhost.com), its DNS records live in your DreamHost panel. DreamHost does host websites for domains registered at other companies, but it does not say what happens to the DNS of a domain that leaves, so plan as if it will stop answering, and write down every record, especially the MX and TXT records your email depends on.
• Check what else is tied to the domain. This moves only the domain registration. DreamHost treats moving your website's hosting as a completely different process, with its own guide, so check that separately.

Step 1: Switch off the Transfer Lock at DreamHost

1. Sign in to the DreamHost panel and open the Manage Domains page.
2. Find the domain. The Transfer Lock column shows On or Off.
3. Click the toggle so it shows Off.

You can also choose Manage beside the domain and use the Transfer Lock toggle in the Transfer widget. An unlocked domain shows the status "ok" in a registration lookup, instead of clientTransferProhibited.

Step 2: Get the auth code

1. Open the Transfer Domains page.
2. Click the Or transfer away from DreamHost link.
3. Click Reveal Auth Code.

Or choose Manage beside the domain and click Get Auth Code in the Transfer widget. Depending on the ending, DreamHost either shows the code in the panel or emails it to the Registrant contact address. If it is emailed and does not arrive, DreamHost also says to check the junk folder of the Admin contact address, so look in both.

Step 3: Start the transfer at Static.app

Sign in to Static.app, open Domains, and choose Transfer Domain. The form has three parts:

1. Which domain are you moving? Type the whole name, such as yourbusiness.com. Static.app checks at once whether it can move, what the transfer costs, and which company holds it now.
2. Authorization code: paste the code from DreamHost. Copy it exactly, with no space before or after.
3. Owner contact: the registry records these details against the domain, so use an email address you read.

Tick the terms box and choose Continue to Payment. A transfer is charged like a registration and adds a year to the domain (two years on a .ai name, which is sold two years at a time). The transfer is sent to the registry once the payment goes through.

Static.app keeps the domain on the nameservers it uses today, so the transfer changes who you pay for the name and nothing else. Your website and email keep working, as long as the DNS behind those nameservers keeps answering.

Not every ending can move here yet. Country endings such as .uk, .de and .eu are not supported, and the form tells you as soon as you type the name.

Step 4: Approve the release at DreamHost

When DreamHost receives the request, it emails the address in your account profile. Then:

1. Follow the link in that email to the DreamHost panel.
2. Click Approve to release the domain.

The pending transfer is listed on the Transfer Domains page, under Transfer a domain registration away from DreamHost. Once you have approved it, DreamHost says the transfer should complete within a few minutes but may take up to 7 days. DreamHost does not show a status for outgoing transfers, so watch for the domain to show as Active in your Static.app Domains list.

Step 5: Finish setting up the domain at Static.app

When the domain shows as Active in your Domains list, it is registered with Static.app. If the transfer does not go through, the domain stays where it was, the payment is refunded, and the domain page says why and offers Try the Transfer Again. The usual causes are a lock that is still on, a wrong or expired code, or a domain that changed hands in the last 60 days.

What is left depends on where your DNS lives:

• Your DNS is with a company you are keeping, such as Cloudflare or your hosting company: nothing changes. To open a Static.app website on the domain, add its records there, or move DNS here as below.
• Your DNS was at DreamHost: move it to Static.app the moment the domain shows Active, since that DNS may stop answering once the domain has left. The steps are in the next point.
• You want Static.app to run the DNS: open the domain, choose Edit beside Nameservers, then Reset to Default and Update Nameservers. Static.app writes the records for any website connected to the domain. Add everything else, such as your email records, in Manage DNS or Email & Forwarding right away, using the copy you made before the transfer.

To open one of your websites on the domain, choose Assign beside Website on the domain page and pick the website. With the DNS here, the records and the SSL certificate are set up for you. A paid plan is needed to publish a website on your own domain.

Moving a domain from another company? See every transfer guide.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a transfer from DreamHost take?

Often a few minutes once you click Approve, and up to 7 days at most, according to DreamHost. Most of the waiting is usually before that, on the code and the 60-day rule.

Do I lose the time I already paid DreamHost for?

No. For .com and the other common endings, the time left on the domain comes with it and the transfer adds a year on top. DreamHost's transfer page does not mention refunds or fees.

Will my website or email stop working?

Not because of the transfer itself: Static.app keeps your nameservers as they are, and hosting at DreamHost is a separate service. The risk is DNS that lived at DreamHost. If it stops answering after the move, your website and email stop with it until the records are set up again, which is why the list you wrote down matters.

I only changed my privacy settings. Why is the domain locked?

DreamHost applies the 60-day lock even when you change privacy settings, not just the owner's details. Make sure the opt-out checkbox is selected whenever you save a change like that before a transfer.