How to move your website to ScyHost, step by step

6 October 2026 · ScyHost tim · 8 min read

Moving a website sounds risky, but almost every problem comes from the same cause: the nameservers are changed before everything has been moved and checked. If you follow the order below, the old site keeps working until the new one is ready.

The easiest way: free migration

If you don’t want to do anything yourself, fill in the free migration form. We open a ticket, you send us old-host access or a cPanel backup securely through the ticket, and we move the files, databases and email and check the site on our server. Never send passwords through website forms or by email.

If you’d rather do it yourself, here is how.

1. Order hosting, but leave DNS alone for now

Choose a plan and pick “I already have a domain” at checkout. Once activated, you get access to cPanel. Do not change the nameservers at this point.

2. Make a copy at the old host

If the old host has cPanel: under Files → Backup, download a full account backup or the home directory and databases separately.
If it doesn’t: download the site files (zip or FTP) and export the database, for example via phpMyAdmin → Export.
Write down the list of email addresses on the old domain.

3. Move the files and the database

In cPanel, open File Manager, upload the archive to public_html (or the domain’s folder) and extract it.
In MySQL Databases, create a database and a user and give the user all privileges on the database.
In phpMyAdmin, select the new database and import the exported file (Import).
Put the new database details into the site’s configuration. For WordPress that is wp-config.php (DB_NAME, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD).

4. Check the site before changing DNS

You can open the site on the new server before changing DNS by temporarily adding a line to the hosts file on your computer with your account’s IP address (shown in cPanel) and the domain name. Click through the pages, forms and the admin login. When you’re done, remove the line.

5. Prepare email

In cPanel (Email Accounts), create the same addresses you had. If you want to bring the old mail too, IMAP is the easiest way: add both the old and the new account to your mail app and drag the messages across. If any of this gets stuck, a ticket is the right place.

6. Change the nameservers

Only now, at your domain registrar, enter our nameservers: rea.scyhost.com, zara.scyhost.com, roki.scyhost.com, luna.scyhost.com. The change usually shows within a few hours and at the latest within 48 hours. During that time some visitors still reach the old server, so don’t cancel the old hosting straight away. The guide how to point your domain has the details.

7. SSL and final checks

Once the domain points to us, AutoSSL issues the certificate by itself. Check it with our tool.
Send and receive a test email.
If you changed addresses (for example from http to https), check for mixed content.

8. Only then cancel the old hosting

Wait a few days for the DNS change to spread, make sure no more mail arrives in the old mailbox, download one last copy just in case, and only then cancel the old service.

Stuck halfway? No problem: request a migration and we pick up where you left off.