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Transfer your domain registration from Bluehost to Hostinger

A registrar transfer changes which company holds the registration and bills you for it. It moves no files, no email and no DNS records, and the site stays exactly where it is throughout.

Hostinger's flow has one detail worth calling out: during the transfer it asks whether you want to keep your current nameservers or switch to its own. Choosing to keep them is what makes a registrar transfer genuinely invisible, and it is good that the question is asked rather than assumed.

For most gTLDs the transfer fee includes a year's renewal, so the time left on your registration is not lost.

Hands-on time
20 minutes of work
Start to finish
Up to 7 days
Difficulty
Easy
Steps
7

Downtime risk: None, provided you choose to keep your existing nameservers when asked.

Check this first

Are your nameservers still pointing at Bluehost?

Worth knowing before you start, because Hostinger will ask you during the transfer. If your nameservers are ns1/ns2.bluehost.com and you choose to keep them, Bluehost is still answering DNS for you afterwards — from an account you may be planning to cancel. The transfer is safe either way; the trap is cancelling Bluehost later and taking your DNS with it.

The short version — 1 minute to check

  1. 1Run dig NS yourdomain.com +short, or use the lookup on the migration tool.
  2. 2If it returns ns1.bluehost.com and ns2.bluehost.com, Bluehost is still your DNS provider.
  3. 3Keeping them during the transfer is the zero-risk choice, and you can move DNS later as a separate step.
  4. 4Before you cancel Bluehost, move the zone — Hostinger's BIND import makes that straightforward.

Not what you need? If your nameservers already point somewhere else — Cloudflare, or another host — this does not apply and the transfer is genuinely self-contained.

Can I do just this, and nothing else?

Yes — this works on its own

Yes, and this is the task most safely done on its own. It is a billing and ownership change. Your website does not move, your email does not move, and — as long as you take the option to keep your current nameservers — DNS keeps resolving exactly as it did.

What changes

  • Hostinger bills you for the domain instead of Bluehost
  • You manage the domain from hPanel
  • The transfer fee renews the domain for a further year on most gTLDs
  • Renewal pricing becomes Hostinger's

What stays exactly as it is

  • The website stays on whatever server it is on now
  • Email keeps working, untouched
  • Nameservers and DNS records carry across unchanged, if you choose to keep them
  • There is no downtime and visitors notice nothing

Before doing domain registrar on its own: More than 60 days since the domain was registered or last transferred, and no registrant contact change in that window.

Before you start

  • More than 60 days since registration and since any previous transfer
  • No registrant contact change at Bluehost in the last 60 days
  • Access to the registrant email address on the domain
  • A Hostinger account and payment for the transfer

Step-by-step

Each step is labelled with which side you are working on, so you always know whether you should be signed in to Bluehost or Hostinger.

  1. 1On your computer

    Check eligibility before paying for anything

    The 60-day rules are enforced at the registry, so no support conversation gets around them.

    • Confirm more than 60 days since registration and since any previous transfer
    • Check whether the status includes clientTransferProhibited — that is the lock you will remove
    • If you changed the registrant name or email recently, count 60 days from that change
    Check status and dates
    whois example.com | grep -i -E 'creation|transfer|status'
  2. 2At Bluehost

    Unlock the domain at Bluehost

    Domains are locked by default against unauthorised transfers. Unlocking is instant and has no effect on the live site or email.

    • Bluehost portal → Domains → select the domain
    • Toggle Domain Lock off
    • Confirm in WHOIS that the status has moved away from clientTransferProhibited
  3. 3At Bluehost

    Request the EPP code from Bluehost

    Bluehost emails the code to the registrant address rather than showing it on screen, with a deliberate delay.

    • Bluehost portal → Domains → the Move & Access tab → Request Auth Code
    • The code arrives at the registrant email address
    • Allow up to 24 hours
    • It is case- and character-sensitive, so watch for a trailing space when copying
  4. 4At Hostinger

    Start the transfer at Hostinger

    Hostinger takes the domain and payment first, then the code — so have the EPP code in hand before you begin.

    • Open Hostinger's domain transfer page and enter the domain
    • Proceed through payment; for most gTLDs the fee includes a one-year renewal
    • Enter the EPP code when prompted
  5. 5At Hostinger

    Choose to keep your current nameservers

    This is the question that decides whether anything changes for your visitors. Unless you are deliberately moving DNS in the same operation, keep what you have.

    • Keeping the current nameservers means DNS resolution is completely unaffected
    • Switching to Hostinger's here means the zone must already be populated, or the site and email go down when it lands
    • You can always move DNS later as a separate, reversible step
  6. 6Either side

    Confirm and wait

    Both registrars email the registrant address. Approving the release at the Bluehost end is what speeds it up.

    • Hostinger documents up to seven days
    • It completes faster if Bluehost releases promptly and you confirm quickly
    • Some extensions take longer than others
  7. 7At Hostinger

    Check what came across

    Once the domain shows in hPanel, confirm the things that matter.

    • Nameservers still whatever you chose — the site should never have gone down
    • Expiry extended by the year the transfer fee covered
    • Auto-renew switched on, since it does not carry over
    • Contact details correct

What goes wrong

The failures that actually happen on this step, rather than a generic warning to be careful.

  • The nameserver question during transfer is load-bearing

    Can cause downtime

    Hostinger asks whether to keep your current nameservers or use its own. Choosing its own on a domain whose Hostinger zone is empty switches DNS to a blank zone the moment the transfer completes — taking down the site and the email together. It is a one-click way to turn a zero-risk task into an outage. Keep your existing nameservers unless the zone is genuinely ready.

  • Changing contact details can lock the domain for 60 days

    Can cause downtime

    The most avoidable failure in any registrar transfer. Someone updates the registrant email so they can receive the auth code, and that change starts a fresh 60-day transfer lock — turning a one-week job into a two-month wait. If the address on file is readable, leave it alone. Do contact tidying after the transfer, not before.

  • The auth code is character-exact

    Can cause delays

    Auth codes contain punctuation that is easy to mangle, and a trailing space picked up by copy-paste is enough to have it rejected. If the code is refused and you are sure it is right, look for whitespace at either end before assuming the code itself is wrong.

  • Transferring the domain does not move your website

    Can cause downtime

    This is the single biggest misconception about registrar transfers. Afterwards the new registrar bills you for the domain and your website is still sitting on the old host's servers. If you then cancel that hosting, the site goes offline — the domain transfer did nothing to prevent it.

  • Transferring close to expiry

    Can cause delays

    Starting a transfer in the last week or two before expiry risks the domain expiring mid-transfer, which is genuinely painful to unwind. Renew first, then transfer — the remaining time comes with you, so nothing is wasted.

How to check it worked

Do not rely on the site looking fine in your own browser — it caches, and it will tell you what you want to hear.

  • The domain appears in your Hostinger account
  • Public WHOIS lists Hostinger as the sponsoring registrar
  • The expiry date is one year further out than before
  • Nameservers are still whatever they were, and the site is still up
  • Auto-renew is enabled and billing details are correct

If it goes wrong

There is no undo once a transfer completes, and the 60-day lock means you cannot transfer straight back. The safety net is earlier: confirm eligibility and the registrant email before starting.

Questions about this step

How long does a Bluehost to Hostinger transfer take?

Hostinger documents up to seven days, and it can be quicker if Bluehost releases the domain promptly and you confirm without delay. Add up to 24 hours before that for Bluehost to email the EPP code.

Will I lose the time left on my registration?

No. The remaining registration period carries across, and the transfer adds a further year on top — the exception being a domain already at the maximum ten-year registration length.

Will my website go down during the transfer?

Not if you leave the nameservers alone. A registrar transfer preserves the existing delegation, so DNS keeps resolving to the same place throughout and visitors notice nothing.

Why can't I transfer my domain?

In order of likelihood: it has been registered or transferred within the last 60 days; the registrant contact details were changed within the last 60 days; the domain is still locked; the auth code is wrong or expired; or the domain is too close to expiry. WHOIS status codes will usually tell you which.

Where do I find the EPP code if I later want to leave Hostinger?

In the Domains section of hPanel. The code is hidden by default — click the eye icon to reveal it. Worth knowing before you need it, since the ability to leave easily is a reasonable thing to check on the way in.

Reference documentation

Provider interfaces change. When these steps and the official documentation disagree, the documentation wins.

Only if you are doing the full move

Stuck on this step?

Send me the domain and what you have tried. I do Bluehost to Hostinger moves regularly and can tell you what is actually blocking it.

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