Taking over a website from a previous developer

Get four things before you switch: domain access, hosting access, website admin and a full backup. Here is the handover checklist and what to do if they refuse.

A1 Digital · written & reviewed by the team 1 October 2026 5 min read Updated 1 October 2026

Quick answer

To take over a website from a previous developer you need four things: control of the domain, access to the hosting, admin access to the site, and a full backup. Get those before you tell anyone you are leaving, because a handover is far easier while the relationship is still cordial.

4 things

domain, hosting, site admin, backup, in that order of importance

Before you tell them

when to collect access, because goodwill helps

£10-£15/yr

the domain cost, which is why holding it hostage rarely lasts

To take over a website from a previous developer you need four things: control of the domain, hosting access, admin access to the site, and a full backup. Collect them before you announce you are leaving. Not because anyone is likely to behave badly, but because a request made cordially is answered faster than one made during a resignation.

The four things, in priority order

1. The domain

The only truly irreplaceable item. You need either the registrar login or an authorisation code to transfer it elsewhere. Check the current registration with a free WHOIS lookup before asking, so you know whether it is already in your name.

2. Hosting access

The control panel login, or the account details if hosting sits in their name. If the site is on their shared hosting account, plan to move it to your own rather than inheriting a corner of theirs.

3. Website admin login

An administrator account on the site itself, ideally under your own email address rather than one they created.

4. A full backup

Files and database, downloaded and stored by you. Even if everything else goes smoothly, this is your insurance and it costs them ten minutes.

5. The accounts around it

Google Business Profile ownership, Analytics, Search Console, any email hosting, any social accounts they set up. These get forgotten and then cause problems six months later.

Key takeaway

Everything except the domain can be rebuilt. The domain is the one item that carries your customers, your search rankings and your email address, so if you can only sort out one thing before the relationship ends, sort out that.

How to ask without starting a fight

Most handovers are fine. Developers move on, businesses grow out of arrangements, and it is normal.

The wording that works is unremarkable: “Can you send me a list of all the accounts and logins associated with my website, so I have my own records in order?” That is a reasonable request from any business owner and most people answer it without drama.

Then, once you have what you need, give notice properly and give reasonable notice. Being decent about it costs you nothing and the industry is smaller than it looks.

Settle any unpaid invoices first

The most common reason a handover stalls is money owed, not malice. If there is an outstanding bill, pay it or agree terms before asking for access. A developer withholding access over an unpaid invoice is in a stronger position than most people assume, and arguing about it is slower than settling it.

If they will not cooperate

Work through this in order rather than escalating straight away.

Ask in writing, with a deadline. A short, civil email requesting the domain transfer and access, giving a reasonable date. This also creates the record you will need later.

Go to the registrar directly if the domain is the issue. If you can show invoices proving you paid for it, or emails where they describe it as yours, registrars have processes for this. For .uk domains, Nominet operates a dispute resolution service.

Go to the host directly if hosting is the issue and the account is in your name. As the account holder you can prove identity and regain access without the developer.

Rebuild, if you must. With the domain in hand, a new site can be built and pointed at the same address. Search rankings largely survive, because they attach to the domain rather than to the files. It is not the cheapest outcome, and it is a complete escape route.

More detail on that route in my web guy disappeared.

The proprietary platform problem

One situation worth naming. Some agencies build on their own closed system rather than WordPress or a standard platform. You can log in and edit, but the site cannot be exported or moved anywhere.

If that is your situation, the site itself does not transfer. What does transfer is your domain, your content in text form, and your accumulated search value provided you keep the same web address and rebuild the page structure sensibly.

It is worth checking this before you plan a move, because it changes the cost from “migrate a site” to “rebuild a site”, which is a different conversation.

What a new provider should do on day one

If you are handing over to someone else, this is what competent looks like in the first week:

Take their own full backup before touching anything
Move the site to hosting in your name, not theirs
Set your email as the admin address on the site and every account
Check the domain is registered to you and renewed
Confirm the contact form actually delivers, which after a migration is the thing that most often silently breaks
Keep the existing page addresses, or redirect them properly, so rankings survive

If a new provider does not mention redirects when discussing a migration, ask about it. That is the difference between keeping your search visibility and starting from nothing.

How to switch web providers covers the move itself in more detail.

Getting the ownership right this time

Whoever you go to next, set it up so this is never a problem again:

Register the domain in your own name and keep the login. Hold the hosting account yourself. Keep an admin login to your own site. Remain the owner of your Google Business Profile, adding a provider as manager rather than owner.

A good provider sets this up without being asked, because it removes an argument later. One who resists is telling you how they expect the relationship to end.

Our plans work this way by default: you own the domain, the hosting, the site and the content, and you can leave with all of it on thirty days’ notice. £49, £99 and £199 a month, no contract. The pricing page has the scope, or tell us what you are inheriting and we will tell you what to collect before you move.

Frequently asked questions

What do I need from my old web developer?

Domain registrar access or an authorisation code to transfer it, hosting login, website admin login, and a full backup of files and database. Also any Google accounts they set up, including Business Profile and Analytics. Ask for all of it in one written list.

Can a developer refuse to hand over my website?

They can make it awkward, particularly if they registered the domain or host it on their own account. What they usually cannot do is stop you rebuilding elsewhere, provided you control the domain. If unpaid invoices exist, settle them first, because that is the most common reason a handover stalls.

Should I tell them I am leaving before asking for access?

Ask for the access first, framed normally as wanting your own records in order, then give notice. That is not deception, it is sensible sequencing. Handovers are quicker and friendlier when nobody feels they are being replaced mid-conversation.

What if they built the site on their own platform?

Some agencies build on proprietary systems you cannot take with you. In that case the site itself does not transfer and you will need a rebuild, but your domain, content and search rankings can still survive if you keep the same web address and page structure.

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Written by the A1 Digital team

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