Pointing a Bluehost domain at your new site

Two settings change, both in your Bluehost portal. Everything else about the domain stays exactly as it is.

This is the guide we send our own clients when we move a site for them, published here in case it is useful to anyone else. The steps are the same whoever does the work — if you are doing this yourself, ignore the parts about replying to our email. The warning below applies either way.

Please wait until we tell you we are ready. Before you change anything we copy your existing settings — your email, your calendars, anything else already using this domain — onto our side. If the change is made before that is done, your email stops arriving. We will email you when it is safe to go ahead.

Changing your nameservers

  1. Sign in to the Bluehost Portal and click Domains in the left menu.
  2. If you have more than one domain, click the one you want.
  3. Click Nameservers in the top menu.
  4. Click Change Nameservers.
  5. Enter the two nameserver addresses you were given and click Save.

Bluehost ask for 24 to 48 hours for the change to be seen everywhere.

If you would like us to look after the domain entirely

This part is optional, and it can only happen after the step above — the domain has to be pointing at us before its registration can move. It is two jobs at Bluehost: unlocking the domain, and getting us the code that authorizes the move.

Unlock the domain

  1. In the Bluehost Portal, open the domain.
  2. Find the domain lock setting and switch it off. Bluehost lock domains by default.

Get the authorization code and send it to us

  1. With the domain open, click the Move & Access tab.
  2. Click Request Auth Code.
  3. The code is emailed to the registrant address, and Bluehost say it can take up to 24 hours.
  4. Send the code to whoever is handling the transfer — if that is us, reply to our email and paste it in. Copy it rather than retyping, and check there is no stray space at either end. The code is case-sensitive.

It may be called an auth code, an EPP code or a transfer code — they all mean the same thing. It is usually only valid for a few days, so send it to us when you have it rather than saving it for later.

A domain cannot be transferred in the first 60 days after it was registered, or within 60 days of a previous transfer. That is an ICANN rule and nobody can waive it.

Last checked against Bluehost's own documentation on 14 August 2026 (sources: 1 · 2 · 3). If anything on your screen does not match what is written here, tell us and we will fix this page.