How to transfer your domain off Weebly
Your domain is the one thing you genuinely cannot rebuild — it carries your email, your printed marketing and years of search history. Here is how to get it out of a closing account.
Quick answer
A domain registered through Weebly or Square has to be transferred out while your account is still active, which means before 26 December 2026. In Weebly, open Domains, unlock the domain, turn off privacy protection if it blocks the request, and get the authorisation code (also called an EPP or transfer code), then start the transfer at your new registrar and approve the confirmation email. One trap matters more than the rest: do not update your registrant contact details first, because changing them triggers a 60-day transfer lock that can strand the domain past the deadline. Transfer first, correct the details afterwards.
Transfer the domain, or leave it and repoint it
| Transfer to a new registrar | Keep it and change DNS | |
|---|---|---|
| Survives 26 Dec 2026 account deletion | Yes | No, if it is registered through Square |
| Time it takes | 5 to 7 days | Minutes, plus DNS propagation |
| Cost | One year's registration, usually | Nothing |
| Needs the authorisation code | Yes | No |
| Right choice when | The domain is registered through Weebly or Square | The domain is registered somewhere else already |
Step-by-step
- 1
Find out where the domain is actually registered
This decides everything that follows, and plenty of people guess wrong. If you bought the domain inside Weebly, Square is your registrar and the deadline applies. If you bought it from GoDaddy, Namecheap, Google Domains or anywhere else and merely pointed it at Weebly, your domain is not at risk at all — you only need to change where it points. A public WHOIS lookup on your domain will name the registrar if you are unsure.
- 2
Unlock the domain and request the authorisation code
In Weebly, go to Domains and open the domain's settings. Turn off the transfer lock, and turn off privacy protection if it prevents the request from going through. Then request the authorisation code — you may see it called an EPP code, a transfer code or an auth code. It's usually emailed to the registrant address on file instead of appearing on screen, so that address needs to be one you can still open.
- 3
Do not change your contact details first
People lose domains this way. Updating the registrant name or email address triggers an ICANN-mandated 60-day transfer lock, and 60 days from a late start runs past 26 December 2026 — at which point the account authorising the transfer no longer exists. If the details on the domain are wrong or out of date, transfer it first and fix them at the new registrar afterwards.
- 4
Start the transfer at your new registrar
Choose where the domain is going, and start an incoming transfer there, not an outgoing one at Weebly. You will pay for a year's registration, which is added to your existing expiry instead of replacing it, and you will enter the authorisation code. Pick a registrar you will still recognise in three years, because this is the account that controls your business address.
- 5
Approve the confirmation emails and wait
Both registrars email the registrant to confirm. Approve them promptly: unanswered confirmations are the usual reason a transfer silently stalls, and the standard process takes five to seven days even when everything goes right. Start with weeks in hand, not days.
- 6
If you would rather not move it, repoint it instead
Leaving the domain where it is and changing its DNS records to aim at a new site is a legitimate option — but only when the domain is not registered through Square. If it is, the registration disappears with the account, so repointing buys you nothing past 26 December 2026.
Tips & best practices
- Check the registrant email on the domain before you start. If it is an old work address or a colleague who left, sort that out first, as every approval goes there.
- Transfer well before the domain's own renewal date. A transfer that overlaps an expiry can fail on both counts and put the domain into a redemption period that costs far more to undo.
- Your domain outlasts every platform you will ever use. Registering it somewhere independent of whoever builds your site is the lesson worth taking from this whole episode.
Common questions
What is an EPP or authorisation code?
+−
It is a password proving you control the domain, and the receiving registrar needs it to accept a transfer. Registrars usually email it to the registrant address on file instead of displaying it in the dashboard.
What happens if I miss 26 December 2026?
+−
If the domain is registered through Weebly or Square, the account that authorises the transfer is gone, and recovering the domain becomes a support case, not a process you control. Treat the date as hard, and aim to be finished several weeks early.
Will my email stop working during the transfer?
+−
A transfer moves the registration, not the DNS records, so email usually continues uninterrupted. The risk comes from the new registrar applying its own default DNS. Note your existing MX records before transferring so you can restore them if they are replaced.
Do I lose the time left on my registration?
+−
No. A transfer normally requires paying for one additional year, and that year is added to your current expiry date instead of replacing it. You do not lose what you already paid for.