Removing an Addon Domain from your Hosting Account

With Namecheap hosting plans (except EasyWP), you can host multiple domain names simultaneously. This means you can host additional websites and email accounts without purchasing a new hosting plan. An addon domain is the name for this feature.

Requirements for Addon Domains

To add a new domain name to your hosting account, there are two basic steps you need to complete:

1. Change the nameservers of your domain name to the Namecheap ones.
2. Add your domain name to the server your account is hosted on.

Here are the requirements for addon domains:

1. The domain name must be pointed to Namecheap Web-hosting nameservers.
   If you prefer to use PremiumDNS or third-party nameservers, you'll need to proceed with the validation process described in the "Domain name control validation" section.
2. The domain name should not already be present in the same hosting account as an addon or as the main domain name.
   

To change the nameservers of domains registered with Namecheap, follow this guide. If the domain is third-party, change the nameservers on your Registrar's side.

For instructions on adding an addon domain, follow the steps below:

If your domain name is registered with a third-party Registrar, contact their customer support and ask to change the nameservers to the ones mentioned above.

NOTE: The existing DNS records set up for your domain on the side of the Namecheap account or any other third-party DNS provider will not be transferred to cPanel automatically after the nameservers change to Web-hosting DNS. It means that it can cause your website/email service to go down. Make sure to copy the existing DNS records to cPanel manually to keep your services online.

NOTE: Once the nameservers are changed, your website most likely will not be available. In most cases, the propagation period can take up to 24 hours (in rare cases more, since the caching time varies between ISPs). Unfortunately, this process cannot be influenced or sped up because of its automatic nature.

Step 2 – Add a new domain as an Addon Domain

Assuming that your domain name is already pointed to our hosting nameservers, you can add it to your hosting account as an addon domain using the following steps:

1. Log into your cPanel account. You can also use cPanel Shortcuts for quick access.
2. In the Domains section, navigate to the Domains menu:




3. Click on the Create A New Domain button:




4. Enter the domain name to add in the Domain text box:




5. Click on the Submit button:

NOTE: The Subdomain field will be automatically filled in.

If your domain name was not previously pointed to our Web-hosting nameservers, you will receive an error message while adding the addon:



In some cases, it may be impossible to point your domain name to our Web-hosting nameservers. Here are a few reasons why:

• Certain domain name types require a DNS zone file to be created on the hosting provider side in advance.
• You want to create a website first and connect the domain name with it later.
• You want to keep the domain name pointed to third-party nameservers.

If you face any of these cases, follow the validation process described in the next section.

Domain name control validation

If you cannot change the nameservers of your domain name, you need to complete the domain name validation process:

This process involves one of three validation options: DNS-based validation, HTTP-based validation, or HTML-based validation:

• DNS-based validation requires creating a TXT record in the DNS zone of your domain on the DNS provider side.
• HTTP-based validation requires creating a TXT file in the root folder folder of the domain name in question on the side of your current hosting provider and adding the provided content to this file.
• HTML-based validation requires adding the provided code to the head section of the main website page on your current hosting provider's side.

NOTE: The provided validation code is only valid for one day.

Once the required validation record is created, try creating an addon domain again. If you have any issues with validation, contact our Hosting Support department through Live Chat or email us to support@namecheaphosting.com.

After successful validation, you can upload content for your new domain name to the corresponding document root. For information on how to upload your website, see this guide.

If you wish to create an email account for your newly-added domain name, please refer to this guide.

Removing an Addon Domain from your Hosting Account

To remove an addon domain from your hosting account, follow these steps:

1. Log into your cPanel account.
2. Navigate to the Domains menu and click on the Manage button next to the domain name you wish to remove:
   
   



3. Click on the Remove Domain button:
   
   
   

NOTE:: Even after you remove the addon domain, the document root and content associated with it will remain in the File Manager menu. If you want to delete these files, you will need to do it manually by removing the corresponding folder from File Manager.


4. To confirm that you wish to remove this domain, click on Yes, remove this domain:
   
   
   
   And that's it!
   
   
   If you need further assistance or have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact our HelpDesk