Moving from GoDaddy to UK hosting
Your website, email and domains can all come across from GoDaddy, and they don’t have to move on the same day. We copy your site and mailboxes to our servers in Manchester for free while the GoDaddy versions keep running. You check the copy, then switch. Hosting starts at £2.99 a month and costs the same when it renews.
WebHostGB isn't connected with GoDaddy. The GoDaddy steps below come from GoDaddy's own help pages.
What to check in your GoDaddy account first
Ten minutes in your GoDaddy account now tells you which parts of the move apply to you, and stops a transfer failing halfway.
Find out what you've got
- Which hosting you have: Web Hosting (cPanel), Managed Hosting for WordPress, or a site made in a GoDaddy website builder
- Which email you have: Professional Email, Microsoft 365 from GoDaddy, or none
- Every domain in your Domain Portfolio, and when each one renews
- Whether any domain was registered, transferred or had its owner details changed in the last 60 days
Make sure you can approve things
- You can read mail sent to the registrant email address on each domain
- You know whether Domain Privacy or Domain Protection is switched on
- Two-step verification on your GoDaddy login still works, as Domain Protection may ask for a code
- You have the password for every mailbox you want to keep
Moving from GoDaddy, in the order we suggest
Hosting first, domains last. Your domain can carry on pointing at our hosting while it’s still registered with GoDaddy.
- 01
Choose a hosting plan
Web hosting from £2.99 a month or WordPress hosting from £3.99. Your account is ready straight away.
- 02
Send us access to GoDaddy
Open a migration ticket with your cPanel login, or FTP and database details, and your mailbox passwords. Use the ticket, not ordinary email.
- 03
We copy and you check
We copy the site, databases and mailboxes. You preview the site on our server before anyone else sees it.
- 04
Point the domain at us
Change the nameservers in GoDaddy to ours. We tell you what to enter. Downtime is usually a few minutes.
- 05
Transfer the domains
Once everything works, transfer each domain to us if you’d like it all in one place. This part is optional.
Moving a .co.uk or .uk away from GoDaddy
A .co.uk or .uk domain doesn’t use an authorisation code. GoDaddy’s help says so directly: instead of a code, you give GoDaddy the IPS tag of the company you’re moving to. An IPS tag is the name Nominet uses for each company that sells .uk domains.
- Order the transfer with us. Start a transfer and pay. A .co.uk or .uk is £8.01 a year, the same to register, renew or transfer in.
- Ask us for our IPS tag. Open a support ticket and we’ll reply with it. We don’t publish it on the website.
- Start the transfer away in GoDaddy. Go to your Domain Portfolio, pick the domain and choose the option to transfer it away from GoDaddy. GoDaddy runs a short checklist first.
- Enter our IPS tag where GoDaddy asks for the new registrar’s tag, then select Complete Transfer. Type it exactly as we give it to you.
The domain arrives once the tag change goes through, and its nameservers stay as they were, so the website and email keep running from wherever they are. Our step-by-step guide on how to transfer a UK domain with an IPS tag covers what to do if it sticks.
Moving a .com away from GoDaddy
A .com moves with an authorisation code (auth code). GoDaddy’s help lists three things to sort first, and its checklist can do them for you:
- Unlock the domain.
- Turn off Domain Privacy.
- Downgrade Domain Protection to none. If Domain Protection is on, GoDaddy asks you to prove it’s you, with a code from two-step verification (if it’s been on for at least 24 hours) or a one-time password sent by email.
Then open the domain from your Domain Portfolio, choose to transfer it away and copy the code from the authorisation code panel. GoDaddy also emails the code to the registrant address. Order the transfer with us, paste in the code, and approve the email that follows if you receive one. A .com is £12.72 a year with us.
GoDaddy won’t release a .com within 60 days of it being registered or transferred in, and in some cases within 60 days of a change to the owner’s name, organisation or email address. If yours is in that window, move the hosting now and the domain later.
Moving your GoDaddy email
What happens depends on which GoDaddy email product you have. Your list of products in your GoDaddy account shows which one it is.
If you have Professional Email
Professional Email mailboxes can be read over IMAP, and GoDaddy’s help gives the incoming server as imap.secureserver.net on port 993. That means the messages can be copied across:
- Create the same addresses on your new hosting. See how to create an email account.
- Send us each address and its password in a ticket, and we copy the mail for free. Or drag folders across yourself in Outlook or Thunderbird, as our guide on moving your email to WebHostGB explains.
- Leave the MX records pointing at GoDaddy until the copy is done and you’re ready for new mail to arrive here.
Only what’s stored on the server moves over IMAP. Contacts and calendars kept only in your email app should be exported separately.
If you have Microsoft 365 from GoDaddy
You don’t have to move it. Your Microsoft 365 mailboxes can carry on working alongside our hosting, as long as the domain keeps its Microsoft records. Our guide on using Microsoft 365 with your domain shows which ones. If you’d rather have mailboxes on our hosting instead, from £2.99 a month with business email, we can copy them over IMAP in the same way. GoDaddy has a separate help article on moving Microsoft 365 away from GoDaddy, which is worth reading before you cancel anything.
What we need to move a GoDaddy website
Our free migration covers files, databases and email. What we ask for depends on the GoDaddy hosting you have.
Keeping email working while you move from GoDaddy
Email is the part people worry about most, and it’s the easiest part to protect. Three rules cover it:
- Change the nameservers only once the mailboxes exist here. When you point the domain at our nameservers, mail starts arriving at our server. If the mailboxes aren’t set up yet, messages bounce.
- If you’re keeping Microsoft 365, tell us before the switch. We copy its MX and verification records into your DNS with us, so nothing changes for your mail.
- Keep GoDaddy email open for a few days afterwards. Messages sent just before the switch can land in the old mailbox. Check it, or ask us to copy it again, then cancel.
Moving only your email and not the website? Change the MX records instead of the nameservers. Our guide on changing MX records explains both routes.
Sources, checked November 2026
- GoDaddy Help: Transfer my domain away from GoDaddy
- GoDaddy Help: Get the auth code for my domain
- GoDaddy Help: Use IMAP settings to add my Professional Email to a client
- GoDaddy Help: Download a cPanel account using Daily Backups
- GoDaddy Help: FTP for Managed Hosting for WordPress
- GoDaddy Help: Move my Microsoft 365 email away from GoDaddy
Questions about moving from GoDaddy
Do I need an auth code to move my .co.uk from GoDaddy?
No. For .co.uk and .uk domains you enter our IPS tag in GoDaddy’s transfer away screen instead. Open a ticket and we’ll give you the tag.
Where do I find the auth code for a .com?
In your Domain Portfolio, open the domain and choose to transfer it away. After GoDaddy’s checklist, copy the code from the authorisation code panel. GoDaddy also emails it to the registrant address.
Why won't GoDaddy let me transfer my .com yet?
The usual reasons are the domain is still locked, Domain Protection hasn’t been downgraded, or it was registered, transferred or had its owner details changed in the last 60 days.
Do I have to move my domain to move my website?
No. Leave the domain at GoDaddy and change its nameservers to ours. You can transfer it later, or never.
Can you move my GoDaddy WordPress site?
Yes, free. On cPanel hosting we just need the cPanel login. On Managed Hosting for WordPress we need SFTP access and the database details.
Will my email stop while I move?
It shouldn’t. We copy the mailboxes before you switch, and the MX records stay pointing at GoDaddy until you’re ready. Keep the GoDaddy mailboxes for a few days afterwards to catch stragglers.
Can I keep Microsoft 365 from GoDaddy and host with you?
Yes. We keep its records in your DNS, so your mail carries on as it is. You only need to move it if you want to.
Will my price go up after the first year?
No. Our hosting and domain prices include VAT and are the same at renewal. There’s no contract, and a 60-day money-back guarantee.
More about moving your website, domain and email
Switch your website
Free website migration on every hosting plan. We copy your site and email while the old one stays live.
Read more → Domain transferTransfer a domain to WebHostGB
Move a .co.uk, .uk, .com, .org or .net to us, step by step.
Read more →Business email
Business email hosting in the UK from £2.99 a month inc. VAT: real mailboxes on your own domain, on Manchester servers. Works on your phone, in Outlook and Apple Mail.
Read more →Move from GoDaddy to UK hosting
Web hosting from £2.99 a month, the same price when it renews. We copy your site, databases and email while GoDaddy keeps running, and you switch when you’re happy.
No contract · 60-day money-back guarantee · Servers in Manchester