Transfer your Squarespace domain to another person

If you own a Squarespace domain, you can transfer ownership to another contributor by transferring ownership of the site where the domain is connected. It's not possible to transfer domain ownership without connecting a domain to a Squarespace site. If you don't have a Squarespace site, this guide will walk you through how to create a temporary trial for ownership transfer purposes.

Transferring domain ownership is useful if, for example, you're leaving an organization and want to shift all responsibility of domain management, ownership and payment to another person. After you transfer ownership, you'll become a contributor with billing and administrative permissions for the site where the domain is connected. The new site and domain owner can then change your permissions as needed.

Changing domain ownership won’t disrupt service. All services and DNS records remain intact and unaffected by domain ownership transfers. We recommend that the new owner updates payment and contact information for the domain after taking ownership.

Tip: This guide explains how to transfer domain ownership to another person. To transfer, or move, a domain to Squarespace, review Transferring a domain to a Squarespace site. To understand all of the different ways to move a domain, visit Transferring vs. connecting domains.

Before you begin

• Domains need to be active to change their ownership. To confirm your domain is active, verify you own it via email. If your domain is expired, you can reactivate it.
• Only the current site owner can transfer ownership of their site and domain to another person.
• When you transfer ownership to another person, the billing information on file doesn't change. You may want to update the billing information prior to transferring ownership.

Transfer domain ownership

There isn't a way to update the owner of a domain that isn't attached to a Squarespace website. To update the owner of the domain, move it to a paid site and change the ownership of the site.

If you don't have a paid site or don't want to take that action, then follow these steps:

1. Create a new trial site under the same account as your domain.
2. Add payment information to your new trial site. This will be the payment method used when your domain renews. You don't have to upgrade the site when the free trial expires, and the site won't automatically upgrade or charge your card for anything other than the domain renewal. You can manage your domain through your domains dashboard indefinitely even after the trial expires.
3. Contact us for help moving your domain to the trial. In your message, include the name of your domain and your trial site's URL (also called its built-in domain). 
4. After we respond with a confirmation that we successfully moved your domain, invite the future owner as a contributor to the site.
5. Open the Permissions & Ownership panel.
6. Click the current site owner's name under Owner.
7. Click Transfer ownership.
8. In the pop-up message, verify your account by logging in, then select the new owner from the drop-down menu.
9. Click Continue, then click Confirm.
10. Have the new owner update the domain contact information to their information.
11. If your domain previously directed to a non-Squarespace site, forward or point it to that site again.

After you've updated the domain owner, you can remove yourself as a domain manager.

Note: Squarespace trial sites are private by default, and can only be accessed by site owners and contributors. If visitors visit your custom domain while it's attached to a trial site, they'll see an owner login screen.

Next steps for the new domain owner

If you're the new domain owner, take these steps to confirm the domain is set up correctly:

Step 1 - Ensure billing information is correct

When you transfer domain ownership to another person, the billing information in the Payment information panel doesn't change. You may want to update the billing information so the previous owner isn't charged when the domain renews. 

Tip: If you have more than one Squarespace domain, the billing information for your domains may be grouped, meaning the payment information is linked. If you update the credit card information on one domain, it'll update the credit card for all grouped domains. Learn more in Squarespace domains overview.

Step 2 - Confirm domain contact information is up-to-date

Changing the domain owner doesn't change the contact email for Squarespace domains. To change the domain's contact email address, visit Domain contact information.

Step 3 - Review permissions from the previous domain owner

After the domain changes ownership, the former owner became a domain manager. This means that they can still manage domain settings and DNS records. Domain managers can’t update domain billing information or transfer domain ownership to another person. 

• If you're the former domain owner, you can remove yourself as a domain manager.
• As the new domain owner, you can either remove the old domain owner or change their permissions.

Understanding domain permissions

There are two types of permissions you can have with a Squarespace domain: domain owner and domain manager. You can only have one domain owner. The domain owner can add and manage multiple people as domain managers. To learn more about adding and managing domain contributors, visit Managing domain permissions.

Error message: This person doesn’t have a Squarespace account

This error message appears when you complete the steps to transfer domain ownership to another person who hasn’t yet created a Squarespace account.

To resolve this, send the new owner an invite to contribute to your site. Whey they accept the invitation, try following our steps again.