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Domain Names:Transfer a domain name to Alibaba Cloud

Last Updated:Sep 29, 2024

If you register a domain name at another domain name registrar and need to transfer this domain name to Alibaba Cloud for management, follow the instructions in this topic. This topic describes the transfer procedure to guide you through a swift and smooth transfer.

Background information

After a domain name is transferred to Alibaba Cloud, its registrar is changed to Alibaba Cloud. The transfer process is usually complete within five to seven days. The actual time required depends on the time taken by the domain name registry to process the transfer and the time taken by the original registrar to confirm the transfer.

Note
  • Alibaba Cloud is only the registrar of the domain name. The domain name belongs to the domain name registrant.

  • To comply with the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data issued by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), and the compliance requirements stated in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Alibaba Cloud WHOIS no longer provides personal information about registrants from May 25, 2018. Therefore, the domain name proxy service of Alibaba Cloud was suspended from May 25, 2018.

Billing

Alibaba Cloud charges no fees for transferring a domain name to Alibaba Cloud. However, you must renew the domain name that is transferred to Alibaba Cloud for one year based on the regulations of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). For example, the original expiration date of a domain name is August 1, 2016. After the domain name is transferred, the expiration date of the domain name is August 1, 2017. When you transfer a domain name to Alibaba Cloud, you must pay a one-year renewal fee. In this case, the transfer price is the one-year renewal price of the domain name.

Note
  • If you have renewed a domain name for the maximum period of 10 years, the expiration date of this domain name cannot be extended after this domain name is transferred to Alibaba Cloud.

  • If your domain name has been renewed with your original registrar upon its expiration, we recommend that you wait for at least 45 days after the renewal date and then transfer this domain name to Alibaba Cloud. Otherwise, your original registrar will return the renewal fee to you after the transfer and your new registrar will collect a transfer fee based on current regulations. In this case, the expiration date of your domain name cannot be extended by one year.

  • The prices displayed in the transfer price list are only the prices of standard domain names. The prices of premium domain names are obtained from the domain name registry in real time. The prices displayed on the order page prevail.

Prerequisites

  • The domain name that you want to transfer to Alibaba Cloud must meet the following transfer rules.

    • The administrative contact information is modified. This rule is optional.

      All subsequent confirmation emails related to the transfer are sent to the email address of the administrative contact. You must make sure that the administrative contact information of the domain name is valid and modify the information if required.

    • The domain name is unlocked if it is in the clientHold state. This rule is optional.

    • The prohibition of domain name transfer is disabled.

    • If transfer prohibition is enabled for your domain name, you must disable this feature.

    • The transfer key, which is also known as transfer code, transfer password, or domain name password is obtained. For more information, see Obtain a transfer key for transferring a domain name.

  • The domain name can be transferred to Alibaba Cloud.

    • Only domain names with prefixes in English or Chinese can be transferred to Alibaba Cloud. If a domain name has a prefix in another language, such as Russian or Japanese, the domain name cannot be transferred to Alibaba Cloud.

    • You can check whether the domain name can be transferred to Alibaba Cloud in the Transfer Price column on the Check all our TLDs page.

      Note

      You can transfer only domain names that have transfer prices to Alibaba Cloud.

  • The validity period of the domain name after transfer must be within 10 years. The domain name registry or the original registrar may refuse to transfer domain names whose validity period is longer than 10 years. For such domain names, we recommend that you do not transfer the domain names to Alibaba Cloud until the validity period is less than 10 years.

Procedure

  1. Submit a request to transfer a domain name.

    1. On the domain transfer page, enter the domain name and transfer key, and then click Submit.

      Note
      • Enter the information in the <Domain name> <Transfer key> format.

      • A space is required between <Domain name> and <Transfer key>. Enter a domain name and a transfer key in each row.

      • You can transfer a maximum of 50 domain names to Alibaba Cloud at a time.

      • If you want to transfer a large number of domain names to Alibaba Cloud at a time, we recommend that you edit the domain names and transfer keys in a text editor such as Word, Excel, or Notepad and then copy them to the list.

    2. Select a registrant profile and click Next.

      Note

      When you transfer a .cn domain name to Alibaba Cloud, you must select a registrant profile that has passed the real-name verification. Otherwise, the transfer request fails to be submitted. For more information about the real-name verification for a registrant profile, see Real-name verification for .cn domain names.

    3. Check the order amount and click Pay.

  2. Verify the transfer key of the domain name.

    The system automatically checks whether the transfer key that you enter is valid. If the transfer key is valid, domain name transfer starts. The transfer process is usually complete within five to seven days based on the rules of the domain name registry.

View the transfer status

  1. Log on to the Alibaba Cloud Domain Names console.

  2. In the left-side navigation pane, click Domain Transfers-In. On the page that appears, check the transfer status of the domain name.

    If the transfer status of the domain name is Transfer-in Succeeded, the domain name is successfully transferred to Alibaba Cloud.