Guide

Taking over a website from someone who left

Facts checked Oct 8, 2026

Taking over a website from someone who left? Get your own log-in to every account behind it, starting with the domain name, then remove theirs.

In short: a website is like a rented shop: the address on the sign (the domain), the building (the hosting), the keys (the log-ins) and the mailbox (email). Taking over means getting every lease and key in your organization's name, not borrowing the last person's.

What's behind a website

The domain name
Your address (yourwebsite.org), rented from a domain company (a registrar) and renewed every year or few years. Lose it and the website and email stop together.
The hosting
Where the website lives: your website company, or a separate web host.
The website's log-in
Where you change pages, events and pictures.
Email
Your email provider, and which addresses the other accounts send their warnings and resets to.
The extras
Anything the site uses: video recordings, a calendar, forms, a newsletter, online payments.
The paperwork
The contract with your website company, what's paid for, and when it renews.

Not sure who runs which part? Who hosts this website? names the web host, the domain company and the renewal date.

The checklist, in order

  1. Keep their work mailbox for now. Ask whoever runs your email not to delete it yet. The accounts may send their password resets and renewal warnings there.
  2. The domain first. Find the domain company and the renewal date. Get the account into your organization's name, with an email address you read, turn on auto-renew and check the card. Domain name expired? has the details.
  3. Your own log-in everywhere. Have each account add you as an administrator under your own name. Don't keep using the last person's log-in.
  4. Move 2-step codes to your phone. If codes still go to their phone, set it up on yours and save new backup codes. Turn on two-factor authentication (2FA) shows how.
  5. Change the account emails from their address to a shared one your organization keeps, such as web@ your domain, so the next handover is easier.
  6. Call the website company. Add yourself as the contact and the billing contact. Note the account number, the support phone number or address, and any support PIN.
  7. Read the contract. What's paid for, when it renews, what it costs, and who owns the content and design. What to ask before hiring a web designer lists the questions that matter.
  8. Ask about backups. Who makes them, how often, when the last one was, and how to restore one.
  9. Find the files. Original documents, photos and meeting recordings may be in their personal storage. Move them into an account your organization owns.
  10. Remove their access. Once you're in everywhere, remove their accounts, and change any password they knew that you can't remove, such as a shared log-in.
  11. Write it down. One page listing every account, who to call and each renewal date, kept where two people can reach it, such as a shared password manager.

Can't find an account, or can't get in?

  • With your organization's permission, search their old mailbox for "invoice", "renewal", "welcome" and "password".
  • Look at your card and bank statements for website, domain and email charges.
  • Ask the website company. They'll want proof you speak for the organization, such as an invoice or the account number.
  • Locked out of one log-in? I can't log in to my website goes through it step by step.

Handing over a website before you leave

Leaving the job? Handing over before you go saves your successor a lot of chasing. Before your last day:

  1. List every account from What's behind a website, with who to call and each renewal date.
  2. Add your successor as an administrator on each one. Don't hand over your own password.
  3. Move the account emails from your address to a shared one your organization keeps.
  4. Move 2-step codes to their phone, or to a shared one, and give them the new backup codes.
  5. Move your files (documents, photos, recordings) out of your personal storage.
  6. Watch them log in to each account before you remove yourself.
  7. Tell whoever runs your email to keep your mailbox until everything has moved.

Send this to your website company

Not sure what to say? Copy this into an email, add your website's address, and send it.

Hi,

I've taken over looking after [your website address] from [their name], who has left [your organization].

Could you:
1. add me as the account contact and billing contact (my email is [your email])
2. give me my own administrator log-in
3. tell me what our contract covers, when it renews and what it costs
4. tell me when our last backup was and how to restore one
5. remove [their name]'s access once I'm set up

Tell me what you need to confirm I'm with [your organization].

Thanks

What PageKiwi can help with

  • Who hosts this website? names the web host, the domain company, the renewal date and who runs your email.
  • Site health shows when your domain name and padlock certificate run out.
  • Site Watch checks your site every night and emails you when something changes, so warnings don't go to someone who's left.

PageKiwi Tips

Plain-English website tips by email, coming soon. Unsubscribe in one click.

  • The two dates that take a website offline, and how to never miss them
  • A three-minute accessibility check anyone can do
  • How to spot a fake "your domain is expiring" email

We email you a link to confirm first. Never sold or shared. What we keep · Past tips

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