How to Transfer a Domain from GoDaddy to Static.app

To transfer a domain from GoDaddy to Static.app, run GoDaddy's transfer checklist, which unlocks the domain and gives you its authorization code. Then start the transfer at Static.app with that code and approve it at GoDaddy. Approved, it finishes within the hour. Left alone, GoDaddy releases it within seven days. The one thing to do first is save a copy of your DNS records.

Before you start

• Check the dates. A domain cannot move within 60 days of being registered or transferred. The same 60 days apply after a change to the owner details, but only if the owner chose that lock when approving the change. A domain bought as part of a bundle has to wait 120 days.
• Check the expiry. An expired domain can still move, up to the point it enters redemption. After that it has to be restored at GoDaddy first.
• Check the owner's email address. GoDaddy emails the code to the registrant email on the domain, which is not always the email you sign in with. Look under the domain's contact details and fix it now if nobody reads that inbox.
• Save your DNS records. If the domain uses GoDaddy's own nameservers (they end in domaincontrol.com), its DNS records live in your GoDaddy account. GoDaddy does not promise that they keep answering once the domain has left, so plan as if they will not. Open the domain's DNS page and use Export Zone File under Actions, or write down every record, especially the MX and TXT records your email depends on.
• Check what else is tied to the domain. Microsoft 365 email bought from GoDaddy is moved separately, and the GoDaddy licences do not come with it. Sort the mailboxes out before the domain moves.

Step 1: Run the transfer checklist at GoDaddy

1. Sign in to GoDaddy and open your Domain Portfolio.
2. Select the domain to open its settings.
3. Under Transfer, choose Transfer to Another Registrar.
4. Read the checklist and choose Continue with transfer.

That last click prepares the domain for you: it unlocks it, switches off Domain Privacy so the contact details can move with it, and takes Domain Protection down to none. You do not need to change any of those by hand.

Step 2: Copy the authorization code

If the domain has Domain Protection, GoDaddy asks you to prove it is you. With two-step verification on for at least a day, that is a code from your phone or authenticator app. Otherwise it is a one-time code sent to your GoDaddy account email, not to the domain's owner address.

Then choose Click here to see Authorization Code and Copy to Clipboard. GoDaddy also emails the code to the registrant email on the domain, so you have a copy if you close the page.

If GoDaddy says the domain is not eligible, the reason is usually one of the dates above. Moving several domains at once? GoDaddy can export the codes for all of them in a .csv file from the Domain Portfolio.

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 GoDaddy. 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 transfer at GoDaddy

You do not have to wait out the week. Once Static.app has sent the request:

1. In GoDaddy, open the Transfers page and go to Transfers Out.
2. On the In Progress tab, tick the domain.
3. Choose Approve Transfer.

GoDaddy says an approved transfer completes in 15 to 30 minutes. If you do nothing, it approves the transfer itself within seven days of the start.

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 GoDaddy: 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 GoDaddy take?

Under an hour if you approve it at GoDaddy, and up to seven days if you do not. Most of the waiting is usually before that, on the code and the 60-day rule.

Do I lose the time I already paid GoDaddy 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. GoDaddy does not refund anything for the move, and if the domain came free with a GoDaddy product, cancelling that product later can cost you the domain's list price.

Will my website or email stop working?

Not because of the transfer itself: Static.app keeps your nameservers as they are. The risk is DNS that lived at GoDaddy. 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 copy you saved matters. Moving DNS to Static.app as soon as the domain arrives takes a few minutes.

Do I have to turn off Domain Privacy first?

No. GoDaddy switches it off when you choose Continue with transfer, so the owner details can go with the domain. If you prefer your details hidden again afterwards, you can add WHOIS privacy at Static.app once the domain has arrived.