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My web designer disappeared. What do I do now?

Your web designer stopped answering and you don't have the logins. Here's how to get your domain, website and Google listing back into your name, step by step.

Kyle Stringham · · 4 min read

You text. You email. Nothing. The person who built your website has gone quiet, and you just realized you don't have a single login.

First: breathe. In most cases your website is still running right now, and almost everything can be recovered. The goal isn't to panic. It's to get the keys back into your name, calmly and in the right order.

Here's exactly how.

Don't let anything expire

The real danger isn't the silence. It's a renewal date nobody is watching. If your domain expires, your website and any email on that domain can stop working, and in the worst case someone else can register it.

  • Check that your website still loads.
  • Search your email and card statements for anything from a domain or hosting company (GoDaddy, Squarespace, Wix, Bluehost, Namecheap, Google, Cloudflare and so on). Those receipts often show who controls what, and when it renews.

Know the four keys you need

A website isn't one thing. It's four, and each one can be in a different place:

  1. Your domain (yourbusiness.com): the address. The most important key.
  2. Your hosting: where the website actually lives.
  3. The website itself: the login to edit it, or the files.
  4. Your Google Business Profile: how you show up on Google Maps and search.

If your business email ends in your domain (you@yourbusiness.com), that rides on key #1.

  1. Your domainyourbusiness.com, the address. The most important key.Get this one back first
  2. Your hostingWhere the website actually lives.
  3. The website itselfThe login to edit it, or the files.
  4. Your Google Business ProfileHow you show up on Maps and search.
Each key can be in a different place. Get the domain back first; everything else can be rebuilt and pointed at it.

Find out who controls your domain

Go to ICANN Lookup, type in your domain, and look for Registrar Information. That's the company your domain is registered with.

Then:

  • If you can log in to that company, great. Turn on auto-renew today.
  • If you can't, contact that registrar's support. Tell them you're the business owner and ask what they need to verify you. If the domain is registered in your name or your business's name, they can usually help you regain access.
  • If the domain was registered in the designer's name, the registrar will typically need the designer's cooperation, or you'll need to follow their formal dispute process. Ask them exactly what it requires.

One thing to know: if the domain was registered or transferred recently, there may be a temporary lock on moving it to a different company. Your registrar can tell you the date it ends.

Get your Google Business Profile back

This one has a clear path. Google lets you request access to a profile someone else manages:

  1. Go to business.google.com/add.
  2. Enter your business name and address and pick your business from the list.
  3. When it says someone else may manage the profile, choose Request access and fill out the form.

Google emails the current owner, who has 3 days to respond. If they don't, you may be able to claim the profile yourself from the link in your confirmation email. Service-area businesses (no storefront) go through Google's support form instead. Details: Google's help page.

Find where the website lives

Your hosting may be the same company as your domain, or a different one. Your receipts are the fastest clue. If you find the host but the account is in the designer's name, the host usually can't hand it over without them.

That's okay. Once you control your domain, you can always rebuild the website somewhere new and point your domain at it. The domain is what matters most. The website can be replaced.

Send one last message, in writing

Even if they've gone quiet, send one clear, friendly email. It gives them an easy way to help, and it gives you a record. Something like:

Polite works better than angry, and it keeps your options open.

Once you're back in, lock it down

  • Domain registered in your name, with your email, and auto-renew on.
  • Two-factor login on your domain, hosting and Google accounts.
  • One document with every login, kept somewhere safe.
  • Anyone who helps you in the future gets added as a user, never as the owner.

What not to do

  • Don't let the domain lapse while you sort it out.
  • Don't pay someone who cold-emails you promising to "recover your site." Go to your registrar and Google directly.
  • Don't panic-buy a similar domain. Recover the real one first.