Getting your website back when the person who ran it has gone

The person who set up your website has moved on, retired or stopped answering. The site still runs, but nobody left knows the logins. Recovery goes most smoothly in a set order.

1. Find out who the domain is registered to

Look the name up with ICANN's lookup tool. ICANN says the "Registrar" field shows you who your registrar is. The registrar is the company to contact.

The holder of the name is called the registrant. Under ICANN's transfer policy for generic names such as .com, only the holder, or the administrative contact listed with the name, can approve a move to another registrar.

So the name may be registered to your organisation, or to the person who has left. If it is theirs, they need to agree the change. For a .com, ICANN says a change of registrant starts with the current registrar, which then asks the holder to confirm, typically by email. For .uk names, Nominet tells registrars they can update the registrant's ownership details directly.

2. List every account the site depends on

Write down the registrar, the hosting company, the site editor and the email service. The NCSC's small-organisations guide puts the website, and any separate hosting account, on its list of important accounts to secure.

3. Ask for the logins and a copy of the files

A short, polite letter or email is a good start. Name the website and the domain. Ask for the domain to be moved into your organisation's name, for admin access to each account, and for a copy of the site's files and content.

Keep that copy safe, since the NCSC lists a website with the data a business should back up. Once you are in, change every login. The NCSC prefers passkeys, and otherwise a fresh, strong password for each account with 2-step verification switched on.

4. If the person cannot be reached

Contact the registrar, explain the position and ask what evidence it needs.

If a company holds the domain, look up that company's status on the Companies House register.

Personal data the site holds

Enquiries, members' details and mailing lists are personal data, and someone is responsible for them. The Information Commission (which took over from the ICO on 30 September 2026) calls that person or body the controller.

Some clubs and voluntary groups have no separate legal identity of their own. For those, the Information Commission says to review the document which sets up and governs the management of that organisation. That document should show who manages the organisation and is likely to act as the controller.

Useful links