Audience: This report is useful if you have decided to do-it-yourself, directly transferring your domain name from an existing 1and1.com account to a new registrar. If you are using a web services agency like Walking Dolphins Consultancy the article will be only of interest.
To transfer a domain from 1&1 to a better registrar, you must first log into your normal 1and1 account.
If you have more than one “package” then select the one that contains the domain name you want to move.
You then must go into Manage Domains, select the domain you wish to transfer, select the Info button from the menu bar across the top. The last item in the Info displayed is the Auth Code.
Record it. Click Go Back to Overview.
Reselect the same domain name and this time select the down arrow by the Transfers menu item and choose Lock/Unlock. Select the Unlock radio button. Yes you are sure you want to unlock.
Log out.
Now you must go to a special web site, their “cancel” website at https://cancel.1and1.com. You must log in to this special site just to make sure that 1&1 does not automatically charge you for the domain you wish to transfer and to repeat the Unlock instruction.
Once in this special site, be careful. They have it set up so that it is too easy to accidentally delete an entire account rather than just turn off automatic billing on one domain.
You must first select Cancel from the options menu and then select the package that contains the domain you want to transfer.
At this stage be sure to select “Cancel domains and/or additional items in this package.” If you have a number of domains registered with 1and1 you may have to click next, next, next until you get tot he page that shows the one you want.
DO NOT CANCEL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
What you want to do is to Turn Off Auto-renewal and Unlock.
Yes, you already Unlocked it in the main control panel, but this is how 1&1 does things.
Now you must go to your new Registrar and use their forms for entering the domain name and the Autho Code you recorded when you were in the 1&1 Panel.
You will receive two notices by email from your new registrar: 1 that you must agree to transfer the domain as the owner of the domain at 1&1 and the 2nd you must agree to as the recipient of the domain of your new registrar.
