For .com and similar domains, international rules (ICANN) require the owner’s email address to be confirmed and the owner details to be real. If not, the domain is put on hold: the website and email stop until it’s sorted.
The usual reason: the confirmation email wasn’t clicked
When you register a new .com or similar domain, or change its owner, an email is sent to the owner’s email address asking you to confirm it. If the link isn’t clicked within 15 days, the domain goes on hold. This is by far the most common reason.
- Find the email
Search the owner’s mailbox, including spam and junk, for an email asking you to verify your contact details for the domain.
- Click the link
Click the confirmation link in it. The hold is lifted automatically, usually within a few hours.
Contact us by ticket or chat with the domain name and we’ll send it again. Check that the owner’s email address on the domain is one you can open.
The other reason: the owner details are wrong
If the owner details are made up or incomplete, for example a name that isn’t a real person or company, the domain can be put on hold until they’re fixed.
- Correct the owner details
Open the domain in the client area, then Contact Information › Registrant. Enter the real owner: a named person, or a company with a person’s name as the contact.
- Send ID by ticket
Open a ticket with the domain name and the ID of the person now named as owner (for a company, the trade licence too).
- Confirm the email
If a new confirmation email arrives, click the link in it.
- We lift the hold
Once the details are correct and checked, we lift the hold, usually within a few hours.
A domain on hold doesn’t load and its email stops. If it stays on hold, the domain can be cancelled.