Transferring Domains to Vercel

With Vercel, you can assign a custom domain to any of your projects. If you want to transfer your domain in from an external registrar to Vercel, you can do that painlessly without worrying about domain and DNS configuration.

This guide will walk you through how to transfer your domain to Vercel in a few steps.

Step 1: Unlock Your Domain

To transfer your domain, the first step is to unlock your domain from your registrar's domain management area. Most domains are usually locked by default to prevent unauthorized changes.

The domain lock feature appears in different forms across registrars. Sign into the host where your domain is registered and look for a Domain Lock or similar option to unlock your domain.

After unlocking, request an authorization code. The code will be sent to the email address associated with your domain by your registrar. In some cases, your authorization code pops up on your dashboard.

Note: A domain can't be transferred to another registrar within 60 days of the date they were registered or transferred to a new registrar.

Step 2: Transfer In Your Domain

When transferring a domain, you will have two options to choose from. Either using the Vercel Dashboard or Vercel CLI.

Option 1: Using Vercel Dashboard

Using the Vercel Dashboard, you can perform a domain transfer by entering the domain you want to transfer in, and the respective authorization code from the domain registrar via the UI like so:

Transferring in a Domain via the Vercel Dashboard.

Option 2: Using Vercel CLI

With Vercel CLI, you can run the following command from your terminal.

vercel domains transfer-in [your-domain]

Transferring in a Domain via Vercel CLI.

You will be requested to provide an authorization code from your registrar after running this command. Once you get the authorization code from your registrar, paste it into the prompt and the transfer will begin.

Note: In a case where your domain cannot be transferred, check if it's not up to 60 days since the domain has been registered, or if the domain had previously been transferred within the past 60 days. If none of that checks out, contact your registrar.

DNS Transfer

After activating a domain transfer-in, you will be informed that the DNS settings for your domain will not be transferred along with the domain. Instead, you will need to download a zone file from your registrar and upload it to Vercel.

You can import the zone file to Vercel DNS by running the following command:

vercel dns import [your-domain] [zonefile]

Importing a DNS zone file with Vercel CLI.

Note: If you do not apply a custom zone file, transferring in a domain automatically applies the default Vercel DNS settings.

Deploying with the Domain

You can deploy your app with Vercel once the domain has been successfully added to your account.

By setting a production domain from your projects' Domains dashboard, you will be able to use the following command with Vercel CLI:

vercel --prod

Deploying with a production domain using Vercel CLI.

This command will deploy your project and make it accessible at the production domain that you have setup.

For more information on production domains, you can read the custom domains documentation.

Transferring Out

If you are looking to transfer your domain away from Vercel, you can read the custom domains documentation.

WARNING: Before requesting a domain transfer, make sure that the domain has been registered with Vercel for at least 60 days.

After obtaining an authorization code, please consult your new providers' documentation for information on how to use the authorization code and the likely speed of the transfer.

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