How to get out of WIX when your domain, email and DNS are being held hostage

Starting a business means making choices that are fast, simple and affordable. At that stage, Wix often feels like the perfect ally. In just a few clicks, you buy a domain, put together an attractive website, connect an email address and publish your first pages. The “wow” effect is real: you finally have an online presence and everything works, without technical complexity.

But after a few months or a few years, the story is often very different. You realize that this simplicity has a downside. The site becomes hard to evolve, the tools are limited, performance is disappointing, and every advanced feature requires yet another subscription. That’s when you discover Wix’s grip: a closed ecosystem, hard to leave, where every element is tied to the next.

This guide was designed precisely to help you break free. It explains, step by step, how to prepare a smooth transition. In short, it gives you a clear roadmap to regain control over your online presence and your digital growth.

#1 Creating the accounts

Account creation
⏳ Effort: < 1h
🕒 Timeframe: immediate

We’ll start by creating the accounts needed to transfer the domain and DNS and, ideally, by setting up a monitoring system (optional, but strongly recommended).

DNS manager

I chose Cloudflare.com because I’ve been using it for several years and, in addition to DNS management, the service offers performance and security benefits.

So we begin by creating an account so we’re ready to copy the DNS records that we’ll retrieve from Wix later.

During the initial configuration, when you add your domain, Cloudflare will “scan” it to pull the DNS entries it sees in Wix. It’s a good starting point that avoids having to recreate everything, but you still need to make sure that no records are missing.

Cloudflare will also show you the name servers (NS) to use later in step #5, which will look like:


Domain (registrar)

In my case, I chose a Canadian provider I’ve been using for a few years: Rebel.com. I’ll create an account there to make it easier to transfer the domain name when the time comes.

It’s not possible to use Cloudflare directly as the domain registrar in this context, otherwise you end up in a sort of “catch-22” situation:

- In Wix, it’s not possible to change the name servers (NS).
- To transfer the domain to Cloudflare, the NS must already point to Cloudflare.


Monitoring system (optional)

Optional, but I like to know at all times what’s happening with the site. It lets you confidently state that the site has always been available, and above all, react quickly if there’s a problem.

Personally, I created an account with updown.io and set up monitoring for the site to be transferred.

#2 Transfer the email

Transfer emails from WIX
⏳ Effort: ~1h
🕒 Timeframe: 1–2 days

For me, the most critical element for the business is email. So I start with this step to make sure everything goes smoothly.

Google Workspace admin access

First, I confirm that we have access to the Google admin console with one of the accounts, because once the domain is freed from Wix, we have 7 days to add a credit card to the Google Workspace account. To do that, you must have access to:

Google Admin console > Billing > Payment accounts

Then, to proceed with the transfer, you have to go through Wix support.

Open a ticket with Wix

Here is the text I used in my case for the ticket: 

Hello!
I would like to transfer my Google Workspace subscription currently managed by Wix directly to Google for the domain [domain.com].
Could you start the process to transfer the Google Workspace subscription to Google (transfer of billing and account management) for this domain?
I have access to the Google admin console (admin.google.com).

Support asked me for a callback number. I provided my number and, 5 minutes later, I received a call from Wix.

With the support representative, I was asked to log in to Wix, go to Billing and disable the automatic renewal for Google Workspace.

Then, they told me that the support team would start the process and that they would confirm once it was done.

The next day, we received an email confirming that the transfer was complete.

We then went back to Google Admin console > Billing > Payment accounts to add a credit card.

That’s it, email is now free from Wix!

#3 Prepare to transfer the DNS

Prepare the DNS transfer
⏳ Effort: ~ 1h
🕒 Timeframe: immediate

Before leaving Wix, you need to make sure that all your DNS settings are correctly copied into Cloudflare. DNS is essential: it’s what tells the internet where to find your website, where to deliver your email and where to route your various services. A mistake in DNS can make a site unavailable or prevent email from being received.

Step 1 – Copy the DNS records from Wix

The first step is to copy all the DNS records that are in Wix so they can be added to Cloudflare.

  1. In Wix, go to Settings > Domains.
  2. Click on the […] next to the domain and select “Manage DNS records”.
  3. Copy all visible records.

Essentially, for each entry you need to copy:

(The NS records should not be copied.)

Those are the current name servers, and they will be replaced by Cloudflare’s at the time of transfer.

Step 2 – Add the records in Cloudflare

Next, log in to Cloudflare to add them.

  1. Select your domain in Cloudflare.
  2. Go to DNS > Records.

If Cloudflare automatically detected some entries, you don’t necessarily need to verify each one in detail. I suggest you simply check that nothing is missing.

To add a missing record, click on “Add record” and enter the information you copied from Wix.

It’s important to double-check everything, because DNS is what routes requests to the right services. A single mistake in one of these records can lead to:

#4 Transfer the domain

Transfer the domain
⏳ Effort: < 1h
🕒 Timeframe: ~7 days

Getting the EPP code


  1. Log in to Wix.
  2. Go to Settings > Domains.
  3. Click on the […] next to the domain you want to free and choose “Transfer your domain away from Wix”.

A “scary” message will pop up and, let’s be honest, it really is scary! It tells you that:


Then click on “Transfer domain” to get the EPP code (the authorization code for the transfer). Once you have the EPP code, you can go to your new registrar (Rebel, in my case) to start the transfer.

Start the transfer


  1. In Rebel’s admin, go to Transfer Manager > Add New Transfer.
  2. Enter the domain name and follow the instructions.

It’s normal to be asked to pay, even if your domain name wasn’t “due”. The transfer itself is free, but you are required to add one additional year to the domain registration.

This administrative process is what usually takes around 7 days.

#5 Transfer the NS records

Transfer the NS records from Wix
⏳ Effort: ~0.25h
🕒 Timeframe: < 1 day

Once the domain has been transferred, you’ll receive a confirmation email. You can then change the name servers (NS) to point to Cloudflare.

Log in to your registrar (Rebel, in this example) to modify the domain’s NS:

In Rebel: Go to Domain Manager > [domain name] > DNS Change (for example):


To Cloudflare’s name servers (NS) (identified in step #1):


Once the change has been made, you just need to wait for DNS propagation. Officially, it can take up to 24 hours, but in most cases the change takes effect within 1 to 2 hours.

Congratulations!

Your domain, email and DNS are finally free from Wix.
Congratulations, you are free from Wix!
Jean-Francois Labelle

Jean-Francois Labelle
COO, Co-Founder
Helps the team solve technical challenges
and ensures the quality of deliverables.


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