Connecting or Transferring a Domain Purchased Elsewhere to Your Wix Account
In this article
- Connecting a domain to your site
- Transferring a domain to Wix
- Connecting secondary domains to your site
- Connecting subdomains to your site
- FAQs
You can connect your
domain to your Wix site, even if the domain was purchased outside of Wix and remains hosted elsewhere. If you prefer to manage the domain registration and payments at Wix, you can
transfer your domain to Wix.
Learn more about
transferring vs connecting your domain to Wix to find out which is best for you.
Important:
- You must first upgrade your site to connect or transfer a domain.
- You'll need access to your current domain registrar before you connect or transfer a domain. The registrar is the company that hosts your domain. If you don't know who your domain registrar is, you can find out by visiting the Whois Lookup tool and entering your domain name to see your domain details.
Connecting a domain to your site
Connecting your domain to Wix (also known as “domain mapping”) means that the domain management stays with your current domain host, but the URL of your domain connects to your Wix site. When people type your domain's web address (e.g. www.mywebsite.com) they are brought to your Wix site.
There are 2 ways in which you can connect your domain to Wix - via
name servers or via
pointing. The method you use to connect your domain determines where the DNS records of your domain are hosted. DNS (Domain Name System) records tell your domain where to go to load your website.
Name servers vs. pointing:
Learn more about the differences between
connecting your domain by name servers vs. pointing.
Connecting via nameservers (recommended)
With the name server connection method,
Wix hosts your DNS records, while your domain remains registered with its current host. This means you continue to pay for domain registration with your current domain host (not Wix).
Learn how to
connect your domain to the Wix name servers or watch this video tutorial for a walkthrough.
Connecting via pointing
By connecting via the pointing method,
your DNS records are hosted outside of Wix. We do not recommend pointing because we're unable to assist you with issues that may arise in another DNS host's account. However, if your domain has complicated DNS records that you prefer not to reconfigure, pointing may be your best option.
Learn how to
connect your domain via the pointing method, or watch this video tutorial for a walkthrough.
Transferring a domain to Wix
If you’ve already purchased a domain from another provider, you can
transfer the domain from its current registrar to Wix. This allows you manage your domain's registration, payments, contact info, and DNS records at Wix. Before transferring, make sure your domain is
eligible to be transferred.
Tip:
Most yearly Premium and Studio plans offer a 1 year
free domain voucher. You can use the voucher to claim a new domain, or get 1 year of free registration when you transfer your domain to Wix.
Watch this video tutorial for a walkthrough about transferring your domain to Wix.
Connecting secondary domains to your site
Your primary domain is usually the domain name you choose when you first purchase your domain from Wix. You can choose a different domain as your primary domain, but you can only have one primary domain.
Secondary domains redirect to your primary domain. You can easily connect an unlimited number of secondary domains to a single Wix site.
If you're connecting an additional domain that was purchased elsewhere, first
connect the domain in your account. Once connected, set up the domain to redirect to your primary domain.
Learn more about connecting multiple domains to your Wix site, or watch this video tutorial for a walkthrough.
Connecting subdomains to your site
A subdomain is a prefix that appears before your primary or root domain. For example, "shop.mysite.com" is a subdomain of the root domain "mysite.com".
You can connect subdomains in your Wix account. For example, if you own the root domain mystunningwebsite.com, you can connect blog.mystunningwebsite.com to your blog website. Read our
subdomains overview for more information.
Learn how to connect a subdomain to your primary domain, or watch this video tutorial for a walkthrough.
What's next?
Make it easier for people to contact you.
Get a personalized business email for your custom domain through our partnership with Google Workspace.
FAQs
Click below for answers to common questions about connecting vs transferring domains.
How long does it take for my domain connection to become active?
If I connect my domain to Wix via name servers, where are my billing and contact details for my domain hosted?
Can I switch to a different connection method even if I've already started connecting my domain?
