Moving a Website to a New Hosting Provider: Checklist for Before, During and After

A hosting move rarely fails because something is difficult; it fails because something is forgotten: an email account nobody listed, a cron job, a DNS record for a mail service, or a database password inside a config file. This checklist splits the move into three stages, before, during and after, so you can tick items off and keep the old hosting running until everything is confirmed on the new one.

Before the move: inventory everything

Log in to the old control panel and write down what exists. This list becomes your reference for the rest of the move.

• Domains, addon domains, subdomains and redirects.
• Databases, their users, and which site or app uses each one.
• Email accounts, forwarders, autoresponders and filters, with the size of each mailbox.
• The full DNS zone: A, CNAME, MX and TXT records, including SPF, DKIM, DMARC and any verification records. Export it or take screenshots.
• Cron jobs, the PHP version, and the PHP extensions and limits the site depends on.
• Custom rules in .htaccess or php.ini, SSL certificates and FTP accounts.
• External services tied to the old server's IP address, such as a payment gateway allow-list or API access.

Also confirm that you can log in to the domain registrar and that the domain is not close to expiry. Moving the hosting and transferring the domain to another registrar are two separate jobs; do them at different times so a problem in one does not get tangled with the other.

Before the move: prepare the new hosting

• Pick a plan with room for the files, databases and mailboxes you counted: compare the shared hosting plans, or a Linux VPS for heavier sites and custom software.
• Set the same PHP version as the old host, or a newer one you have already tested.
• Take a full backup on the old host, download it, and keep it outside both servers.
• Do not cancel the old hosting yet; plan to keep it for at least one to two weeks after the switch.

During the move: copy each part

If both hosts use cPanel, the shortest route is a full account backup from the old host restored on the new server. A full cPanel backup is restored from the server side, so ask the new host's technical support about it. For a manual move, or between different panels, move each part on its own:

After importing a database, create its user on the new host and update the site's configuration file with the new database name, user and password (wp-config.php on WordPress). Keep the same email addresses and folder structure so nothing has to be reconfigured later.

Freeze changes on the old site during this stage: no new posts, products or user registrations, and ideally a short pause on orders. Anything added on the old server after you copied the data will not exist on the new one.

Test before you touch DNS

Preview the site on the new server before anyone else sees it. The most reliable way is to edit the hosts file on your own computer so that the domain points to the new server's IP address for you alone. Browse the main pages, log in to the admin panel, submit a form, and read the server error log. Remove the hosts entry when you have finished.

Switching DNS

Point the domain to the new host either by changing the nameservers at the registrar, or by updating the A record (and the MX records, if email is moving too) in the current DNS zone. The change spreads as cached records expire, which can take from minutes to a day or two depending on the TTL. During that window some visitors reach the old server and others the new one, which is why the content freeze matters. If your site cannot accept that overlap, use the zero-downtime migration technique instead. The domain registration and DNS guide explains nameservers and records in more detail.

After the move: verification checklist

• HTTPS works on every domain and subdomain without browser warnings.
• Contact forms deliver their messages, and the site's emails do not land in spam; update the SPF record if the sending server has changed.
• Mailboxes send and receive on phones and desktop clients with the new server settings.
• Cron jobs run, and scheduled tasks such as newsletters or reports still go out.
• The error log shows no new errors, and no images or files are missing.
• The first backup on the new host has been taken.
• After a week or two with no web or mail traffic reaching the old server, download a final backup from it and cancel it.

If the move also changes the control panel

Moving from cPanel to Plesk or DirectAdmin, or the other way round, adds work: backup formats differ, and import tools rarely carry over every setting. Expect to check email, DNS, cron jobs and PHP settings by hand. The cPanel vs DirectAdmin vs Plesk comparison explains how the panels differ before you commit to one.

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