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When transferring a domain name between registrars, the gaining registrar sends an authorization email to the domain's administrative contact. If you are not receiving this email, there are several common reasons and fixes.
The email goes to the WHOIS admin contact, not your hosting email
The transfer authorization email is sent to the administrative email address listed in the domain's WHOIS record. This is often a different address than the one you use for daily email. Check your WHOIS record to see where it is being sent, and update it at your current registrar if needed.
01. Where the Authorization Email Is Sent
ICANN requires that domain transfer approvals go to the registrant or administrative contact email listed in the domain's WHOIS record. This address was set when you first registered the domain and may not be the email you use today.
Common situations:
- Old email address - You registered the domain years ago with an email you no longer use or check
- Registrar's masked address - If you have domain privacy (WHOIS protection), the WHOIS email may be a forwarding address managed by your registrar's privacy service
- Typo in the record - The original registration had a misspelled email address
02. Check Your WHOIS Contact Email
Use our WHOIS lookup tool or any WHOIS service to look up your domain. Find the "Registrant Email" or "Admin Email" field. That is where the transfer approval email is being sent.
If the email address is wrong or outdated:
- Log into your current registrar (wherever the domain is currently registered)
- Update the administrative contact email to an address you can access
- Wait for the change to propagate (usually immediate to a few hours)
- Request the transfer again
Some registrars impose a 60-day transfer lock when you change the registrant contact information (per ICANN policy). If possible, update only the email address rather than the registrant name or organization to avoid triggering this lock.
03. Check Spam and Junk Folders
Transfer authorization emails sometimes get caught by spam filters, especially if they come from an unfamiliar registrar domain. Check your spam/junk folder for emails from your gaining registrar. Also check any email filters you may have set up that could be auto-deleting or redirecting messages.
04. Request It Be Sent to a Different Address
Some registrars allow you to resend the transfer authorization email or specify an alternate email address. Check with the registrar that is initiating the transfer (the one you are moving the domain TO) and ask them to resend the approval email.
If you are transferring to Ultra Web Hosting, open a support ticket and let us know the domain name. We can check the transfer status on our end and resend the authorization if needed.
05. Domain Privacy and WHOIS Masking
If you have domain privacy (WHOIS protection) enabled, your real email is replaced with a proxy address managed by the privacy service. Transfer authorization emails are sent to this proxy address, which should forward them to your real email.
If the forwarding is not working:
- Temporarily disable privacy protection at your current registrar, which exposes your real email in WHOIS
- Initiate the transfer while privacy is off
- Approve the transfer when the email arrives
- Re-enable privacy at the new registrar after the transfer completes
For a complete guide on moving your domain, see How to Transfer Your Domain to Ultra Web Hosting.
Need Help With a Domain Transfer?
If you are stuck on a domain transfer, our team can check the status and help resolve any issues.
Open a Support TicketQuick Recap
- Authorization email goes to the WHOIS admin contact - Not necessarily your daily email
- Check WHOIS to see which email address is listed
- Update the email at your current registrar if it is outdated
- Check spam folders - Transfer emails often get caught
- Disable domain privacy temporarily if the proxy forwarding is not working
Resolving domain transfer issues · Last updated March 2026 · Browse all General articles
