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Transfer domain ownership: how a Change of Registrant works

Source: ICANN Transfer Policy and ICANN FAQs, fetched September 27, 2026 · Updated

In short

To hand a generic TLD domain to someone else, ask your current registrar for a Change of Registrant. ICANN's Transfer Policy counts any change to the registrant's email address, or a real change to the name or organization, as one. The registrar needs confirmation from you and from the new owner, makes the change within 1 day of both, notifies you both, and then locks the name against moves to another registrar for 60 days unless you opted out beforehand. Rules adopted in June 2026 drop the confirmations and the lock, but they are not in force yet.

What counts as a Change of Registrant

Owning a domain name means being its registrant, the Registered Name Holder in ICANN's contracts. The policy protects your right to change that: "In general, registrants must be permitted to update their Registration Data and transfer their registration rights to other registrants freely." Some edits get extra checks, though. A Change of Registrant "means a Material Change to any of the following:" the registrant's name, organization or email address. A Material Change "means a change which is not a typographical correction." The policy names three material changes:

The typo exception is narrow and left to the registrar: "Registrars have some flexibility to determine what a typographical correction is." ICANN gives four examples of typo fixes:

Even so, "For avoidance of doubt, nothing prevents the Registrar from treating any change to the Registrant Name or Registrant Organization field as a Material Change." A new postal address or phone number alone is not a Change of Registrant, because neither field is on the list.

Change of Registrant checker

Type the registrant data as it is now and as it will be. The checker applies the definitions of ICANN's Transfer Policy, tells you whether the edit is a Change of Registrant, and gives the dates of the notice and the transfer lock. What you type stays in your browser.

Now

After the change

Also
Try:

Source: ICANN Transfer Policy (updated February 21, 2024), Part II and its implementation notes, fetched September 27, 2026. The typo test covers all of ICANN's examples; your registrar has the final word.

How the change is made

You start it with the registrar that holds the name. ICANN's FAQ: "To transfer your domain name to another registrant, you can initiate a change of registrant by contacting your current registrar." The registrar first checks that the name may change hands, then asks both sides. For the new owner, "The Registrar must use a secure mechanism to confirm that the New Registrant and/or their respective Designated Agents have explicitly consented to the Change of Registrant.", and it tells them that "the New Registrant must enter into a registration agreement with the Registrar". You, as the prior registrant, confirm the same way, typically by answering an email with a code.

Each side has a deadline: "You must provide your confirmation within the number of days set by your registrar (not to exceed 60 days) or your transfer will not proceed." Either side can act through someone else, since a Designated Agent "means an individual or entity that the Prior Registrant or New Registrant explicitly authorizes to approve a Change of Registrant on its behalf." Once both confirmations are in, the registrar must "Process the Change of Registrant within one (1) day of obtaining the confirmations described above" and "Notify the Prior Registrant and New Registrant before or within one day of the completion of the Change of Registrant."

A registrar must refuse the change in some cases, among them when "The domain name registration agreement has expired, and the Registered Name Holder no longer has the right to renew or transfer the domain name to another registrar", when either side did not authorize it, and while a UDRP, URS or transfer dispute or a court order is pending. Updates made after a court order, a UDRP decision or an abuse complaint follow other rules.

The 60-day transfer lock

The step owners notice most comes after the change: "The Registrar must impose a 60-day inter-registrar transfer lock following a Change of Registrant, provided, however, that the Registrar may allow the Registered Name Holder to opt out of the 60-day inter-registrar transfer lock prior to any Change of Registrant request." While it runs, a move to another registrar must be refused, as the EPP code page shows. The opt-out only works in advance; ICANN's FAQ says "registrars may not allow registrants to opt out of the 60-day inter-registrar transfer lock during the 60-day lock." Also, "The Registrar may, but is not required to, impose restrictions on the removal of the lock described in Section II.C.2."

The lock may not show in a lookup: "Registrars are not required to apply a specific EPP status code for the 60-day inter-registrar transfer lock described in section II.C.2". If the new owner wants the name at another registrar, move it first, before the change. The registrar has to tell you that "the Prior Registrant is advised to request the inter-registrar transfer before the Change of Registrant to avoid triggering the 60-day lock described in Section II.C.2".

Selling is your call: "It is up to you to decide if you would like to respond to an offer for the purchase of your domain name." A sale through a marketplace can also use a registrar transfer that you pre-approve, which ICANN's registrar FAQ allows.

Change of Registrant Data: the rules adopted in 2026

On June 7, 2026 the ICANN Board adopted the Transfer Policy Review recommendations, which call for the "design and production of a separate Change of Registrant Data (CORD) Policy". ICANN lists the implementation as "Currently in the planning/resourcing process.", with "a window of at least six months for contracted parties to update their operations" once new rules are announced, so the rules above still apply. The new definition keeps the same fields: Change of Registrant Data "is defined as a Material Change to the Registered Name Holder's name or organization, or any change to the Registered Name Holder's email address, subject to the language in 25.3."

The confirmations go: "The Working Group recommends eliminating from the future Change of Registrant Data Policy the requirement that the Registrar request and obtain confirmation from both the Prior Registrant and the New Registrant prior to processing a Change of Registrant Data". So does the lock: "The Working Group recommends eliminating from the future Change of Registrant Data Policy the requirement that the Registrar impose a 60-day inter-Registrar transfer lock following a Change of Registrant." In their place comes a notice, as "the Registrar MUST send a Change of Registrant Data notification to the RNH without undue delay, but no later than 24 hours after the Change of Registrant Data occurred." Registrars may let owners switch that notice off.

Domain ownership transfer: frequently asked questions

How do I transfer domain ownership to another person?
Ask your current registrar for a change of registrant. It confirms the change with you and the new owner, makes it within 1 day of both confirmations and notifies you both. Then the name is locked against registrar transfers for 60 days, unless you opted out beforehand.
What is a change of registrant?
A change to the registrant's name or organization that is more than a typo fix, or any change to the registrant's email address, at a generic TLD. It needs confirmations from both registrants and leads to a 60-day transfer lock.
Does changing my email address lock my domain?
Under the current policy, yes: any change to the registrant email address is a change of registrant, and the registrar must lock the name against registrar transfers for 60 days, unless it let you opt out before the change.
Can I opt out of the 60-day lock?
Only if your registrar offers it, and only before you ask for the change. ICANN's FAQ says registrars may not allow an opt-out once the lock has started.
Is fixing a typo in my name a change of registrant?
Not under the policy, which excludes typographical corrections. But each registrar decides what counts as a typo, and it may treat any change to the name or organization as a material change.
Is the 60-day change of registrant lock going away?
It is due to. Recommendations the ICANN Board adopted on June 7, 2026 remove the lock and the double confirmation, but ICANN has set no effective date, and registrars get at least six months after one is announced.

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