Migration guide
Moving from GoDaddy to Bluehost
Moving to Bluehost means up to four separate jobs, and they are independent of one another. Transferring the registrar changes who bills you for the domain. Changing nameservers changes who answers DNS. Rebuilding the DNS records is what keeps email alive. Moving files is the only part that touches the website itself.
Going this direction has one asymmetry worth knowing about up front: GoDaddy will export your DNS zone as a file, but Bluehost has no matching zone-file import. Records get recreated by hand at the Bluehost end, so the export is a checklist rather than something you upload.
The registrar transfer is also shaped differently from the reverse trip. GoDaddy shows you the authorization code on screen rather than emailing it, and Bluehost wants payment before it will accept that code.
Steps checked against both control panels on August 8, 2026. Provider interfaces change — if a menu has moved, the official docs linked in each section are the authority.
Just need one thing?
Every guide below is written to be followed on its own. Pick the one thing you actually need — there is no requirement to move everything.
Move website files and database from GoDaddy to Bluehost
Yes. You can put a working copy of the site on Bluehost and change nothing else — the domain stays at GoDaddy, email keeps flowing, and visitors carry on reaching the GoDaddy copy.
1–3 hours of hands-on workModerate
Rebuild your DNS records at Bluehost
Yes, and usually in its smallest form — a single A record edit. If all you want is the website served from Bluehost, you do not need to move the zone, change nameservers, or transfer anything.
45–90 minutesModerate
Point your domain from GoDaddy nameservers to Bluehost
Technically yes, but this is the one task that is never really "just" one task. It hands the entire zone to Bluehost in a single move, so every record has to already exist there.
10 minutes to changeEasy
Transfer your domain registration from GoDaddy to Bluehost
Yes, and this is the task most safely done entirely on its own. A registrar transfer is a billing and ownership change.
20 minutes of workEasy
Moving all of it? Do it in this order
Only relevant if you are moving everything. Done together, this sequence is the one that never leaves the site pointing at an empty account.
- 1
Move website files and database from GoDaddy to Bluehost
Get a working copy running on Bluehost first, tested on a temporary URL. Nothing is public yet, so nothing can break.
1–3 hours of hands-on workModerateSame dayFull steps → - 2
Rebuild your DNS records at Bluehost
Rebuild the zone at Bluehost while GoDaddy is still serving the live one. Records sitting unused at Bluehost affect nothing.
45–90 minutesModerateRecords apply within an hour of becoming authoritativeFull steps → - 3
Point your domain from GoDaddy nameservers to Bluehost
The actual cutover. The moment the delegation changes, Bluehost's zone goes live — safe only because you built it in the previous step.
10 minutes to changeEasy24–48 hours to propagate fullyFull steps → - 4
Transfer your domain registration from GoDaddy to Bluehost
Last, or independently. It runs 5–7 days on its own timetable and has a hard 60-day eligibility rule you cannot work around.
20 minutes of workEasyUp to 7 daysFull steps →
What each step involves
Move website files and database from GoDaddy to Bluehost
This is the only task that moves the website itself. Everything else moves pointers and paperwork.
Downtime risk: None while you work — the live site stays on GoDaddy until DNS changes. Risk arrives at cutover if the copy was never tested.
Read the 9-step guide →Rebuild your DNS records at Bluehost
DNS records are the individual instructions: this hostname points at that server, mail for this domain goes to that provider, this text string proves you own the domain. They live in whichever zone is currently authoritative.
Downtime risk: None while GoDaddy is still authoritative. Missing records only bite at the moment nameservers change.
Read the 6-step guide →Point your domain from GoDaddy nameservers to Bluehost
Nameservers decide which company gets asked for your DNS records. Changing them hands over the whole zone in one move — website, email, subdomains and verification records all switch to the new provider's answers at the same moment.
Downtime risk: High if the target zone is not ready. This is the moment the switch actually flips for the public.
Read the 6-step guide →Transfer your domain registration from GoDaddy to Bluehost
A registrar transfer changes which company holds the registration and bills you for it. It does not move your website, your files, your email or your DNS records. Your site stays exactly where it is throughout.
Downtime risk: None if nameservers are left alone. The transfer preserves your existing DNS delegation.
Read the 7-step guide →Where you will be working
GoDaddy
The largest registrar; sells cPanel Web Hosting and Managed Hosting for WordPress separately.
Sign in to GoDaddy→Bluehost
Shared and WordPress hosting with its own account portal; cPanel sits behind it on most plans.
ns1.bluehost.com · ns2.bluehost.com
Sign in to Bluehost→GoDaddy to Bluehost: common questions
Do I have to transfer my domain to Bluehost to use Bluehost hosting?
No. A domain registered at GoDaddy can point at Bluehost hosting indefinitely — change the nameservers, or just the A record. Keeping the registrar and the host at different companies is a perfectly normal setup, and it means a billing problem at one cannot take down both.
Does Bluehost migrate the site for me?
Bluehost sells a Pro Migration service, and plans have at times included a free migration. It covers files and the database — not your DNS records, not your email, and not the registrar transfer. Those are the parts that cause outages, so read the scope before assuming it is handled.
What happens to my GoDaddy email?
It does not come with you. GoDaddy email is a separate product from GoDaddy hosting, and Bluehost cannot import those mailboxes. If you use it, either keep paying for it — in which case its MX records must be recreated in the Bluehost zone — or move to a new provider and download the old mail over IMAP first.
How long does the whole move take?
An evening of work plus a week of waiting. Files and database are 1–3 hours for a small site. DNS records take longer here than in the other direction because there is no import, so budget an hour. Nameservers propagate in 24–48 hours. The registrar transfer runs up to seven days and blocks nothing else.
Should I cancel GoDaddy straight away?
Keep it for at least two weeks after cutover. It is your rollback, it holds your last known-good backup, and its DNS zone is the reference you will want if something turns out to be missing at Bluehost.
Want this GoDaddy to Bluehost move done for you?
I do these end to end — files, database, DNS records, nameserver cutover and the registrar transfer — with the old host kept as a rollback until it has settled.