How to Transfer Domain To Shopify in 3 Steps [2023]

If you’re looking to Transfer your Third-party Domain to Shopify, this guide is all you need to stop your eyes at. So, you have a Third-party Domain Name from Domain Providers such as GoDaddy, Google Domains, or 1&1 IONOS, and you’ve already connected that domain to your Shopify Store. And now you have to manage your store from Shopify Admin, but for Domain settings, you require to visit the Third-party Domain Provider.

And at this point, you must have wished how convenient it would be if it was possible to manage the Domain directly from Shopify Admin.

And Yes, that’s possible!

Even there are several benefits after you transfer your Domain to Shopify. And one them is that you don’t need to pay Domain Maintenance Fees or Domain Renew Fees to your Domain Provider anymore. And it will be all included in your Shopify Plan.

For Money Savers, It’s more than COOL!

Okay! So Before we start to learn about How to Transfer the Domain to Shopify; Let's have a look at some considerations, requirements, and necessities to transfer your Third-party domain to Shopify.

Requirements & Considerations for transferring a Domain to Shopify

Below are some requirements and considerations you need to review before you think to transfer your domain to Shopify.

• Check if your Domain is eligible for transfer.
• After you transfer your domain to Shopify, For the upcoming 12 months, you need to pay to register your domain on Shopify.
• Your domain will be hosted by Shopify for $14 a year.
• The domain's server name will remain the same even after the transfer.
• It’s Necessary for you to own the domain you’re looking to transfer. If you do not already own it and it is available for registration, you can purchase it straight from Shopify.
• If you’ve already purchased your Domain from Third-party Domain Provider, You must wait for 60 days after registration to transfer your domain to Shopify. or if you’ve made any change to contact information, you still need to wait for 60 days to transfer your domain to a different domain provider.
• To renew your domain for another year, you must pay the registration charge. The 12 months are added to the existing expiry date of your domain.
• Additional changes may occur while transferring your domain to Shopify, and you can contact your domain provider for more information about transformation costs.
• You must have access to both the email account you used for logging in and your original domain provider account.
• Make sure your email address is not associated with the domain you wish to transfer. As you will need to answer emails sent to this email while the domain is being transferred. Your existing email address will get deactivated during the transfer if it is linked to the domain you’re transferring. For example, Avoid using the email address [email protected], when you’re looking to transfer abcd.com.
• To finish the transfer procedure, you must keep an eye out to reply to confirmation emails.
• It might take up to 20 days to transfer your domain. And Yes, your domain keeps functioning on time of transfer.

Benefits of Transferring your Domain to Shopify:

1. No Information Leakage:

Many Domain Registrars leak contact information even when domain protection is in place. But with Shopify, there are no chances of Information leakage. You can feel secure knowing your information is protected with Shopify.

2. Low Domain Maintenance Cost:

Shopify offers to host for your name for a modest $14 per year.

3. Super Helpful Support Team:

You will receive full help from the knowledgeable Shopify Support Team when you decide to move your domain to Shopify and pay for domain registration.

4. Better Domain Management:

When you transfer a domain, Shopify will also take over domain administration. As a result, you can change your domain settings, pay for your domain, and renew your domain all from the Shopify admin. And we all know how convenient and user-friendly Shopify is.

Steps to follow before you Transfer Your Domain to Shopify:

1. Check your domains eligibility for transfer:

As per ICANN rules, if you've created or transferred your domain name in the last 60 days, it's not eligible for a transfer.

And Some domains, such as .ca and .co.uk domains, aren't eligible for transfer at all. So it’s necessary for you to find out if your domain is eligible for transfer or not. Otherwise, it would be a waste of time.

2. Look after your Domain Providers Transfer Policy:

As I already told you, for transferring your domain to Shopify, you need to check if your domain is eligible for transfer or not. And in order to be aware of this, you must check the policies of the domain provider. To find the Transfer Policy Documentation, simply search for the term "Transfer Domain" in the help center of Domain Providers

Although most domain providers allow domain transfers, there are several circumstances in which this is not permitted.

These are the transfer policies of Top Domain Providers.

• Bluehost
• Godaddy
• Google Domains
• Namecheap

And finally, we can start with our main topic;

How to Transfer your Domain to Shopify in 3 Steps

Step:1 Connect your domain to Shopify

You must Connect your Domain to Shopify in order to prevent unplanned downtime. Changes in the domain might take up to 48 hours to accomplish. Before you start to transfer your domain, be certain that you’ve already connected your domain to Shopify.

Or Visitors to your domain will encounter connection difficulties throughout the transfer process.

Step:2 Prepare your domain for transfer

Even with your express authorization, Shopify Support cannot connect to your third-party domain account on your behalf.

And that’s the reason you must unlock your domain and obtain a transfer authorization code from your domain provider before you transfer your domain to Shopify.

Here are the steps to prepare your domain for transfer:

• Make a Login to your third-party domain provider account.
• Check whether the email address linked to your account is up to date and does not belong to the domain you want to transfer.
• To set up your domain after the transfer, make a duplicate of any domain records you might require.
• Select Unlock, placed next to the domain you wish to transfer. It's possible that you'll need to confirm this decision by clicking a link in a confirmation email.
• To obtain a transfer authorization number from your supplier, click Transfer this domain, Transfer out, or a similar button.
• You can Contact your third-party domain supplier if you need assistance setting up your domain for transfer.

There are a few differences in steps to prepare your domain for transfer, It depends on different third-party domain providers. But they are mostly the same.

Step:3 Transfer Domain to Shopify

Once you’ve prepared your domain for transfer, it’s time for you to work on the transfer process from your Shopify Admin.

Steps to Transfer your Third-party Domain to Shopify:

• To begin, go to Settings >> Domains in your Shopify admin.
• Depending on your circumstances, pick one of the following.
  1. If you haven't already connected any additional domains, click on Connect Existing Domain, then select Transfer it to Shopify.
  2. Click on Transfer Domain if you've already connected your domain to Shopify.

• Once you've reached the Transfer Domain page, enter the domain you want to transfer to Shopify without the www. In beginning.
• After selecting Next, click on Verify Domain.
• A message will appear there depending on your situation.
  1. If the Message says DOMAIN UNLOCKED, then click on Next to continue with the transfer process.
  2. If the Message says DOMAIN LOCKED, see if you have already set up your domain for transfer or not.

• Enter the Authorization Code or EPP code provided by your domain provider in the verification code popup.
• Press Next.
• There will be an option to renew your Domain automatically before it expires. This is not mandatory but if you’re looking to renew your domain automatically then click on Auto-renew this domain every year.
• Select Buy and Transfer.
• Verify the email account linked to your domain. Your domain provider may have sent you an email asking you to confirm these changes. If you get an email, click the link in the email to confirm the domain transfer. The link may be titled Confirm Transfer or Approve Transfer, for example.

The entire domain transfer process will take 20 days to finish. You'll get a confirmation email from Shopify after the domain once the domain has been transferred. From that point forward, you can use your Shopify Admin to access your domain. Just reach out to the domains section in your Shopify Admin. If the domain transfer is unsuccessful, your one-year renewal fee will be refunded.

After 20 days, If your domain hasn't transferred to Shopify, Check your Junk or Spam email boxes for any alerts regarding the transfer or necessary steps. And if you haven’t received anything in your Spam/Junk either then contact Shopify Support.

You will receive a refund for the one-year renewal fee if Shopify is unable to accept the transfer of your domain.

Additional Information:

When your domain transfer is completed, Shopify will send you an email with the subject line "Control how your data is shared."

The mail will have an attached link connecting you to Tucows Inc's Data Use Consent Settings. Tucows Inc. is the second-largest domain registrar in the world which operates OpenSRS. And Shopify uses its services to resell domains to merchants.

Giving consent is optional, and you can withdraw it at any time.

You can set up your Shopify Store, third-party email hosting, forward email addresses, add subdomains, set up foreign domains, and set up automatic renewal for your domain after transferring your domain to Shopify.

Final Words:

Doesn’t matter if you’re new at building a store on Shopify or you’re working on Shopify for years. if you’ve your Domain connected to Shopify, It can make your work process easier and quicker.

And rather than going through domain transfers, you can also connect your current domain to your online store if you just bought a third-party domain or you don't mind having a separate place to manage your domain.

It will still be possible for you to direct traffic to your Shopify store. Just know that the Shopify admin panel won't let you control things like your domain DNS settings.

I hope you’ve found this blog to be knowledgeable. And if you still have any queries left in mind, you can solve them by contacting your Domain Provider or Shopify Support.

And in case you need any help from MageSpark, for Store Migration, Building your Store from Scratch, or Support & Maintenance; You can always contact our Dedicated Shopify Developers.

They’ll be most happy to help you.

Thanks for reading!