How To Change Your Primary Domain
If you are using assistive technology and are unable to read any part of the HostMonster website, or otherwise have difficulties using the HostMonster website, please call 866-573-HOST and our customer service team will assist you.
Skip to main content

HostMonster Web Hosting Help

How To Change Your Primary Domain

If you have a Shared Hosting, VPS Hosting, or Dedicated Hosting account, HostMonster is happy to help you change the primary domain on your account. Please review the following information prior to starting the rename process.



What You Should Know Before Renaming Your Account

  1. The process can take 20 mins to 5 hours, depending on the size of your account.

  2. Usernames, passwords, files and databases will remain unchanged.

  3. Despite this, we recommend that you backup the websites and databases then download them to your computer.

  4. Website files for both domains involved may need to be moved in order for the sites to function after the rename. You will need to move files for the new primary domain into the public_html directory and files for the old main domain in a subfolder of public_html. The old primary domain can be assigned to this subfolder after the rename is complete.

    This will be your responsibility to do, and may cause some site files, scripts or other applications to break, requiring modification to work with the new site location.


  5. The new primary domain will point to the public_html directory itself (the same way the primary domain does currently).

  6. Forwarders on these domains will be deleted.

  7. Any custom DNS changes made to either of these domains will be lost and will need to be redone. Cloudflare will also be deactivated on these domains.

    This will most likely only take a few minutes, but it could take up to a few hours.


  8. This will break the ability to publish a Weebly site on the old and new primary domain (if the customer has ever logged into Weebly).

How to Rename Your Account

When you are ready to have your account renamed, simply contact us by phone or chat. Be sure to include the following information to expedite the request:
  • Primary Domain

  • New Primary Domain

  • Last four characters of cPanel password

  • Confirm that you have read and understand account rename information (e.g.: "I have read and understand the account rename information including: my username will not change and I have backed up my files/databases in case there is any data lost during the rename process.")
  • Newly registered and renewed domain names cannot be canceled for a refund.

Get New Domain and Protect your Brand

Protect your brand by buying a variation of your current domain. See domain availability.

Knowledgebase Article 1,412,427 views bookmark tags: account change domain primary rename


Was this resource helpful?

Did this resolve your issue?


Please add any other comments or suggestions about this content:





Recommended Help Content

How to change the name of your WordPress site without WP Tools
Knowledgebase Article 247,212 views tags: change domain update wordpress

Where do I Change my Mailbox (Size) Quota? How do I Increase or Decrease Mailbox (Storage) Quota?
Knowledgebase Article 428,302 views tags: account change decrease email increase mailbox quota size

How do I make a sub directory (or sub folder) act as the public_html for your main domain?
Knowledgebase Article 1,097,140 views tags: Drupal domain htaccess joomla wordpress

Related Help Content

The WHOIS database shows my personal information for my .us domain names. How do I get privacy for the .us domain?
Knowledgebase Article 310,449 views tags: change domain extension privacy private whois

How do I stop people from being able to use the addon domain as a subdomain of the primary domain?
Knowledgebase Article 420,256 views tags: addon domain htaccess

I do not want to see addon.maindomain.com. How do I do that?
Knowledgebase Article 336,710 views tags: accessible addon directory domain folders hidden htaccess inaccessible primary secondary

Transfer Domain Registration: When a domain registration is transferred to us, we must register the domain name for a minimum of one (1) year. We only accept registrations for the .com, .net, .org, .
Getting Started Article 888,714 views tags: domain hosting nameservers started transfer

This article will explain how to un-assign a domain name from your account.
Knowledgebase Article 414,965 views tags: delete domain domains park parked remove unassign unpark

I received an email that my account was migrating; when I log in, my interface looks different. Why did this change? This article will cover some commonly asked questions about the new experience.
Knowledgebase Article 109,164 views tags: account control interface login migration panel rock ui

You need two things to have a successful website and professional email: a domain registration and a hosting account.
Knowledgebase Article 317,361 views tags: dns domain domains nameservers servers

Maintaining your domain registration and hosting services within the same account allows you to manage both services with only one login password, making it easier for you to stay on top of everything related to your website. This article explains the process to transfer your domain to [% provinfo.n
Knowledgebase Article 1,660,275 views tags: domain faq registration transfer transfers

This site utilizes JavaScript to function correctly. Looks like it's disabled on your browser. Please enable it for your best experience.

For instructions on enabling JavaScript, click here