How the transfer code works
Every common extension works the same way: you get an authorisation code (also called an EPP or auth code, or a transfer code) and give it to the new registrar, which requests the transfer. For a .com or another generic extension the code comes from your current registrar, and the transfer usually completes within five days, often faster. For a Belgian .be, DNS Belgium sends a transfer code to the registrant's email, valid for seven days, and the move completes within hours. Country extensions such as .co.uk or .nl have their own procedure; your new registrar tells you what it needs.
The new registrar charges a transfer fee, for a .com usually including a year's renewal; the old one sometimes charges a small fee too. Compare the yearly price after the first year as well: a low starting price is not always the lowest over three years. What your domain costs next to hosting and upkeep is in website cost per year. Bought your domain through a site builder? Then it is often registered there; see is Wix free for what happens when you leave.
The records that have to come along
Your domain moves; the records that belong to it do not move by themselves. Export or screenshot every record at the current registrar, set them up at the new one, and only then use the code. If the domain sits with a web designer who no longer replies, see my web designer disappeared.
Do not forget the three email records explained in SPF, DKIM and DMARC.
| DNS record | What it does | If you forget it |
|---|---|---|
| A or AAAA | Points your domain to your website | Your site is unreachable |
| CNAME for www | Points www to the same site | www stops working |
| MX | Says where your mail arrives | Your mail stops arriving |
| TXT with SPF | Says who may send mail for your domain | Your mail lands in spam |
| DKIM | Signs your outgoing mail | Your mail lands in spam |
| DMARC | Tells receivers what to do with suspicious mail | Less protection against spoofing |
| TXT for verification | Proves ownership to Google or Microsoft | Search Console or Microsoft 365 loses the link |
A forgotten MX record hurts most. A small business receiving 150 emails a day, one in ten an enquiry or invoice, misses about fifteen messages that matter in a single day. Senders sometimes get a bounce, but not always, and a customer asking for a quote asks someone else. Copying the records takes fifteen minutes.
A .be transfer, day by day
- Day minus 7Record the records, lower TTLExport everything.
- Day minus 1Set up the recordsAt your new registrar.
- Day 0Request and use the codeValid for seven days.
- A few hours laterTransfer doneTest mail and site.
Quarantine and Belgian domains
Can my old registrar block the transfer?
Only on the grounds the rules allow, such as a recent registration, a dispute or unpaid fees. A registrar may also delete a .be after you requested the code and before the transfer starts; the transfer can still go ahead, but out of quarantine.
Do I need a Belgian address for a .be?
No. Anyone can register a .be, from anywhere. The transfer works the same for a holder abroad, as long as the registrant email in the register is current.
When to wait
Do not move your domain in the week of a launch, a big mailing or the year-end close, and not on a Friday. Unsure about the name itself? Read choose a domain name first: a new name is a different move, with a 301 redirect for every old page, as moving a website to a new host explains.
After the transfer your site is usually reachable right away, and with the same URLs Google barely notices a change of registrar. If in doubt, check with the website not showing on Google tool. If your site sends forms or invoices, test those too: at Park & Wash the fleet form runs through our own mail service, which depends on the domain's records. Want emails and forms handled automatically? That is AI automation.