Transfer Your Domain to Square
Note: Use a custom domain name by upgrading your Square Online subscription.
Transferring your third-party domain name to Square allows you to manage both your domain and website from your Square account, making billing for everything your Square Online site needs much easier to manage.
| Prefer managing your website and third-party domain separately? Try connecting your domain. |
When it comes to third-party domains, you can either simply connect them to your site with Square and leave the hosting and billing with the third party, or you can completely transfer the domain hosting and billing to Square.
Another way to think of the difference is that connecting third-party domains leaves the website and domain in two completely different accounts. For example, your website could be hosted at Square, but your domain could be hosted elsewhere.
Transferring, on the other hand, means that your website and domain are in the same account. In this case, Square could host both your website and the domain.
Note: If you prefer managing your domain with a different host, check out how to transfer your domain away from Square.
Before You Begin
Below are important points to note before you begin the transfer process.
We recommend you connect your third-party domain to your Square Online site first before you transfer, as this greatly minimizes any potential downtime for your site while the domain is transferring. Learn how to connect your domain to Square Online for more details.
Confirm with your current domain host what the domain transfer process should be to make sure you don’t miss any steps.
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Ensure that your domain is eligible for transfer. To confirm if your domain is eligible, consider the following:
At this time, Square can only accept “.com,” “.net,” and “.org” domains for transfer. All other domains will need to be connected to your site instead.
Since Register.com is Square’s registrar, domains that they already host (but not through Square) can’t be transferred. These domains will need to be connected to your site instead (this scenario is uncommon).
Making any changes to your registrant contact information (name, address, email, phone number) will result in a 60-day registrar lock, during which you’ll be unable to transfer your domain. If you wish to transfer your domain right away, do not update your registrant contact information. This is not a policy put in place by Square, but a restriction put in place by ICANN – the international, non-profit organization that oversees the registration of all domain names globally.
Start the Transfer Process
To transfer in your domain to Square:
From your Square Online Overview page, go to Website > Domains.
Select Connect domain.
Under Use a domain I own elsewhere, type in the domain name you want to transfer and select Verify.
Select transfer your domain and follow the step-by-step instructions.
You’ll complete the process by purchasing a one-year transfer, which will add an additional year to your original domain registration with the current host. Most domain transfers will take approximately 7–10 days to complete.
Note: If you don’t see the option to transfer your domain, then your domain isn’t eligible for transfer.
Complete the Transfer Process
Once you’ve completed the purchase process in Square, be sure to complete these follow-up steps.
With your current domain host, follow their steps to:
- Disable WHOIS privacy protection
- Disable the registrar lock
- Ensure your contact email address is correct and you have access to it
- Get your domain authorization (EPP/transfer) code from the current registrar and enter it in Square Online to authorize the transfer process
You’ll also need to decide where to connect the domain name. From Square Online, you can choose to connect it to a Square Online site in your account or leave the domain set up the way it is if you don’t want to use it with a Square Online site.
Cancel the Transfer Process
To cancel your domain name transfer to Square:
From your Square Online Overview page, go to Website > Domains.
Under your transferring domain, select See status.
Select Cancel Transfer.