# How to move your domain away from Wix without downtime

Published 2026-11-08. Facts checked 2026-11-08.

Move your DNS first and your domain second. In that order, you can test your site and email, and put things back if something breaks, before the part that takes up to 7 days and that Wix can't track or speed up.

## What you are actually moving

"My domain" usually means three separate things. A domain transfer moves only the first one.

| What | What it does | Time to move |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Registration | Who you pay to keep the name | Up to 7 days |
| DNS | Sends visitors to your site and email to your inbox | Up to 48 hours |
| Website | The pages themselves | Wix can't export it |

Your email doesn't follow the domain by itself either. [Wix says](https://support.wix.com/en/article/transferring-your-wix-domain-away-from-wix-2477749) you have to add your MX records again after a transfer, or your business email stops working.

## Four checks before you start

- **Has it been 60 days?** You can't transfer a domain within 60 days of buying it or of its last transfer.
- **Have the owner's contact details changed in the last 60 days?** That starts the same 60-day lock, so don't tidy them up now unless you have to.
- **Can you read the owner's email inbox?** Wix sends the transfer code there. If that address is dead, you'll have to change it, which can start the lock. Use the option under "If you can't transfer yet" in the meantime.
- **When does it expire?** Wix [recommends](https://www.wix.com/blog/how-to-transfer-a-domain-name) transferring at least 45 days before expiry. An expired domain can only move during its grace period.

Domains ending in .uk use an IPS tag instead of a transfer code, so follow Wix's separate guide for those.

## The order that avoids downtime

Here is the whole route. The numbers match the steps below it.

<figure class="diagram">
<figcaption class="lab">The route, with its two decision points</figcaption>
<ol class="flow">
<li class="flow-check"><p><strong>Is the domain locked?</strong> Bought, transferred or owner details changed in the last 60 days.</p><p class="flow-branch"><strong>Yes:</strong> keep it at Wix and point it at your new site. Transfer when the lock ends.</p><span class="flow-on lab">No</span></li>
<li><span class="flow-n">1</span> Choose a provider</li>
<li><span class="flow-n">2</span> Copy every DNS record</li>
<li><span class="flow-n">3</span> Recreate them at the new provider</li>
<li><span class="flow-n">4</span> Switch to the new nameservers</li>
<li class="flow-check"><p><span class="flow-n">5</span> <strong>Wait up to 48 hours. Do the site and email work?</strong></p><p class="flow-branch"><strong>No:</strong> put the Wix nameservers back and compare your records.</p><span class="flow-on lab">Yes</span></li>
<li><span class="flow-n">6</span> Start the transfer at Wix</li>
<li><span class="flow-n">7</span> Give the code to your new provider</li>
<li><span class="flow-n">8</span> Change nothing for up to 7 days</li>
<li class="flow-end"><span class="flow-n">9</span> Test again. The domain has moved.</li>
</ol>
</figure>

1. **Choose where the domain is going.** Ask two questions first: can they host your DNS before the domain arrives, and do they charge for a year up front when it does?
2. **Copy every DNS record.** In your Wix account, go to Domains, click the Domain Actions icon next to the domain, and select Manage DNS records. Wix's help page doesn't mention an export, so copy each one by hand or take screenshots. Include every A, CNAME, MX and TXT record. TXT records often hold your email sending rules and site verifications, and they are the ones people forget.
3. **Recreate them at the new provider.** Use the same values. If the provider offers a proxy, such as Cloudflare's, turn it off for any record pointing at Wix.
4. **Point the domain at the new DNS.** At Wix, switch the domain to the new provider's nameservers. The domain stays registered with Wix, and only DNS moves.
5. **Wait up to 48 hours, then test.** Open your site on a phone using mobile data. Send an email to and from your domain. Try your contact form and any booking tool. If something is wrong, put the Wix nameservers back and compare your records.
6. **Start the transfer.** Back in Domains, click Domain Actions, select Transfer away from Wix, click Transfer Domain, then I Still Want to Transfer. Wix suggests turning off private registration first so you don't miss any emails about the transfer.
7. **Give the transfer code to your new provider.** Wix emails the code, also called an EPP code, to the owner's address. Enter it where your new provider asks for it.
8. **Change nothing until it finishes.** It usually takes up to 7 days. A pending status is normal. A Whois lookup should show "pending transfer", and your new provider is the one to ask for updates.
9. **Test again.** Check the site and email once more, turn privacy back on, and confirm auto-renew is set at the new provider.

Some providers can't host DNS until the domain arrives. In that case skip steps 3 to 5 and have your records ready to enter the moment it lands. Expect a short gap for email or the site, and tell anyone who needs to know.

## How long it takes

In the longest case, it's 9 days from switching DNS to a finished transfer. Almost all of that is waiting.

<figure class="diagram">
<figcaption class="lab">Timeline, longest case</figcaption>
<ul class="gantt">
<li><p>DNS spreads and you test. You can still switch back.<span class="gantt-when">Days 0 to 2</span></p><div class="gantt-track" aria-hidden="true"><span class="gantt-bar gantt-dns"></span></div></li>
<li><p>The transfer runs. Change nothing.<span class="gantt-when">Days 2 to 9</span></p><div class="gantt-track" aria-hidden="true"><span class="gantt-bar gantt-transfer"></span></div></li>
<li><p>Keep your Wix plan running.<span class="gantt-when">Until the new site is live</span></p><div class="gantt-track" aria-hidden="true"><span class="gantt-bar gantt-plan"></span></div></li>
<li class="gantt-done"><p>Domain at its new provider.<span class="gantt-when">Day 9</span></p><div class="gantt-track" aria-hidden="true"><span class="gantt-bar gantt-moved"></span></div></li>
</ul>
<div class="gantt-axis" aria-hidden="true"><span>Day 0</span><span>Day 2</span><span>Day 9</span></div>
</figure>

## If you can't transfer yet

You don't have to transfer the domain to leave Wix hosting. A domain bought from Wix [can stay registered there](https://support.wix.com/en/article/connecting-a-wix-domain-to-an-external-site) while your site lives somewhere else. In your Wix DNS settings, add an A record for the root domain and a CNAME for www, using the values from your new host, and delete the old A and CNAME records so they don't conflict. It can take up to 48 hours to spread.

This is also the way through a 60-day lock. Move the site now and the domain later. The trade-off is that you keep paying Wix's renewal price until you do.

## Don't cancel your plan first

[In most cases](https://www.wix.com/blog/what-happens-to-wix-domain), cancelling your Wix plan doesn't lose you the domain, because the plan and the registration are separate. But [your site reverts](https://support.wix.com/en/article/canceling-a-wix-premium-or-studio-plan) to a free Wix address with Wix ads. Keep the plan until the new site is live on your domain and you have tested it.

## The part a domain transfer doesn't solve

Moving the domain gets you a name with nothing behind it. [Wix doesn't let you host your Wix site elsewhere](https://support.wix.com/en/article/exporting-or-embedding-your-wix-site-elsewhere), so the pages have to be rebuilt.

That's the work we do. We rebuild your site from its public pages as a static site, with the same design, the same pages and the same URLs, and you keep every file. The audit below shows what would move and what needs a closer look before you cancel anything.

## Free audit

Get a report on your site's speed, security and running cost, plus a fixed price to rebuild it as a static site, at https://unhitch.tech/#audit.