Guide
The 60-day transfer lock, explained
ICANN blocks a gTLD transfer within 60 days of registration or of a previous transfer, and some registrars add their own lock after an ownership change. What that means for a sale, and the ways around it.
Updated · Tom Reitsma, Triton IT
What is the 60-day lock?
ICANN’s transfer policy blocks a gTLD domain, such as .com, .net, .org, .io or .dev, from being transferred within 60 days of its registration or of a previous transfer. It is a registry-level rule, not something your registrar chose, and support cannot lift it.
Separately, many registrars apply their own 60-day lock after a change of registrant details. That one is a registrar policy rather than an ICANN rule, and it catches sellers out: tidying up the WHOIS contact before listing a domain can lock it for two months.
Why does it exist?
To slow down domain theft. If a stolen domain could be transferred twice in an afternoon it would be untraceable by the time the real owner noticed. The cost of that protection is a two-month wait at exactly the moment a sale is agreed.
How do I know if a domain is locked?
Check the registration date and last transfer date in the public record via RDAP or WHOIS, and check the domain’s status codes at your registrar. If it was registered or transferred inside the last 60 days, assume the lock applies and say so to the buyer before agreeing a date.
What can I do about it?
- Push instead of transfer. If the buyer opens an account at your registrar, the domain moves between accounts in minutes and the lock does not apply. See auth code vs registrar push.
- Agree the date and wait. Put the unlock date in the thread so both sides can see it. With escrow, the delivery window is set by the escrow service, so tell them up front rather than missing a deadline.
- Do not change the registrant details first. If a sale is likely, leave the contact record alone until after the handover.
- Do not re-register to “reset” anything. Letting a domain drop to clear a lock risks losing it entirely.
Does it affect a for-sale page?
No. Delegating a domain’s nameservers to a for-sale page is not a transfer and has nothing to do with the lock. The domain stays in your registrar account, in your name; only the nameserver records change, and they can change back at any time.
Questions
How long is the lock?
Sixty days from registration, and sixty days from a previous transfer. Some registrars additionally lock a domain for sixty days after the registrant details change.
Does the lock apply to .nl, .de or .eu?
No. It is an ICANN rule for gTLDs. Country-code registries such as SIDN, DENIC and EURid set their own transfer rules, though registrars may still add restrictions.
Can I sell a locked domain?
Yes. You can agree the sale and hand it over by registrar push if the buyer opens an account at your registrar, since a push is not a transfer. Otherwise you agree the date and wait the lock out.
Does buying a domain restart the clock?
Yes. After the transfer completes, the domain generally cannot be transferred again for another sixty days.
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