Domain Transfer
A domain transfer moves the registration of your domain name from one registrar to another, without changing the name itself or who owns it.
In plain English
Your domain is registered with a company, and you can move that registration elsewhere in the same way you can move a phone number between providers.
It is a different job from moving your website. The site lives on hosting, the domain lives at a registrar, and either one can move without the other.
Why it matters
Registrars vary a lot in price, in renewal price especially, and in how much they try to sell you at checkout. Being able to leave keeps you out of a bad one.
Consolidating also helps. Domains scattered across four accounts, each with a different card on file, is how a domain quietly expires.
How it works
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You unlock the domainAt the current registrar, and turn off any transfer protection.
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You get the authorisation codeA one-time code, sometimes called an EPP or auth code, proving you control it.
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The new registrar requests itYou pay for a year, which is added to whatever time you had left.
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You approve, and it movesUsually within a few days. Sixty days after a registration or a previous transfer, not before.
Check where the DNS is pointing first
Transfers sometimes reset the name servers to the new registrar’s defaults, which takes your site and your email offline. Note the current settings before you start so you can put them straight back.