How to Transfer a Domain from Gandi to Static.app

To transfer a domain from Gandi to Static.app, switch off the transfer lock in Gandi and copy the authorization code it shows you. Then start the transfer at Static.app with that code and accept it from the email Gandi sends you. Left alone, Gandi completes it after five full days. Two things to do first: allow for Gandi's unlock delay of up to 72 hours, and back up any Gandi Mail mailboxes, which stop working the moment the domain leaves.

Before you start

• Check the dates. A domain generally cannot move within 60 days of being registered or transferred. Changing the owner's email can lock it for 60 days at many registries, unless you tick the box authorizing Gandi as your "Designated Agent" when you make the change. An owner change left pending also blocks a transfer, so finish or cancel it first.
• Allow for the unlock delay. For security, Gandi can take up to 72 hours to unlock a domain before the code is available. The delay does not apply if your Gandi account uses two-factor authentication with an authenticator app (TOTP). Turn that on before you start if you are in a hurry.
• Sign in as the right person. Only the domain's owner, its administrative contact, or a user with the same rights can see the code. If a reseller manages the domain for you, ask the reseller.
• Back up Gandi Mail. Gandi says its mail service stops working as soon as the domain has been transferred out, and the mailboxes and their contents are deleted for good seven days later. Download everything over IMAP or POP before you start.
• Save your DNS records. If the domain uses Gandi's LiveDNS, its records live in your Gandi account. Gandi does not say whether LiveDNS keeps answering after the domain has left, so plan as if it will not. Write down every record, especially the MX and TXT records your email depends on. Gandi also asks you to make any nameserver, DNS or contact change before the transfer, since only one operation can run on a domain at a time.

Step 1: Switch off the transfer lock at Gandi

1. Sign in to Gandi and choose Domain in the left menu.
2. Select the domain and open the Transfer out tab. Some Gandi pages call it Outgoing transfer.
3. Switch Transfer Lock Enabled off. It turns grey when it is off.

If you see the code but no lock switch, the domain's ending does not use a transfer lock and you can go straight to the code.

Step 2: Copy the authorization code

On the same Transfer out tab, choose Copy to copy the code, or Generate a new code if you need a fresh one.

If the code shows as pending and the button to generate a new one stays greyed out, the unlock delay above is still running. If it does not clear within 72 hours, contact Gandi.

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 Gandi. 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: Accept the transfer at Gandi

Within 24 hours of the request, Gandi emails the domain's owner about the domain leaving. The subject starts with "[GANDI] IMPORTANT: Transfer of", and the email can contain a link to accept the transfer, which speeds it up.

If you do not click the link, Gandi completes the transfer automatically after five full days.

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 Gandi: 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 Gandi take?

Up to 72 hours to unlock without TOTP, then up to five full days unless you accept the transfer from Gandi's email. With TOTP on and the email accepted, it can be much quicker.

Do I lose the time I already paid Gandi 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.

What happens to my Gandi Mail?

It stops as soon as the domain has transferred out, and Gandi deletes the mailboxes and everything in them seven days later, with no way to recover them. Back them up first, and set up your new email provider's records at Static.app as soon as the domain arrives.

Will my website stop working?

Not because of the transfer itself: Static.app keeps your nameservers as they are. The risk is DNS that lived on Gandi's LiveDNS. Gandi does not promise it keeps answering, so move DNS to Static.app as soon as the domain arrives, using the copy you saved.