Remove a Domain

Removing a domain from your store disconnects it, so your storefront no longer loads at that address. The domain itself stays registered with the provider where you bought it, which means you keep ownership and can point it somewhere else or reconnect it later. This article explains what removing a domain does, what to check first, and where the action is done.

You manage this on the Domains page in Settings.

What removing a domain does

Because you keep the domain at your provider, this is not a permanent loss. You can connect the domain again, or point it somewhere else, whenever you want.

Before you begin

• Your role includes Domain settings.
• If the domain you are removing is the one customers currently use, connect or choose another domain as your primary first, so your storefront still has an address customers can reach. See Set Your Primary Domain.
• You accept that anyone who typed or bookmarked that address will no longer reach your store through it.
• Open Settings > Domains in the admin sidebar and find the domain you want to remove.

Remove a domain

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1. Open the Domains page, where every address pointing at your store is listed.

   A store that has added nothing of its own shows only its Tanqory subdomain, as in the capture. That one came with the store and is not yours to remove, so there is nothing here to delete until you have added a domain.

2. Find the domain and open its options. Only domains you have added appear alongside the subdomain.

3. Remove it and confirm. Two things happen, and it is worth being clear which is which.

   What changes	What does not
   The domain comes off your Domains list	The domain stays registered with your provider
   Your store stops loading at that address	Your ownership of it is untouched

4. Decide what the domain does now. It is still yours, so it is still doing something, even if that something is nothing.

   • Leave it, and anyone typing that address reaches an error rather than your store.
   • Point it somewhere else through your provider's DNS settings.
   • Connect it to the store again later, which starts from the same place as any other domain you own.

Instead of removing

If you might still get visitors on a domain but do not want it to be the main address, you do not have to remove it. You can keep it connected and set your main domain as the primary, so the store still has one clear address while the other domain stays in place. See Set Your Primary Domain.

Common mistakes

• Removing the domain customers still use without setting another as primary first, which leaves your storefront without the address people expect.
• Assuming removal deletes the domain, when it only disconnects it; the domain stays registered with your provider.
• Leaving old links in place, so ads, emails, and social profiles still point at an address that no longer reaches your store.

What to do before you remove one

Removing is quick and the consequences are not, so two things are worth settling first.

Move the traffic before you cut the address. If the domain you are removing is the one customers currently reach you on, set another domain as primary first and let it take over. Doing it the other way round leaves your store without a working address in between. Set Your Primary Domain covers the switch.

Know what keeps pointing at it. A domain is not only your storefront address. It may be carrying your order emails, links in past newsletters, printed packaging, and the profile links on your social accounts. None of those update themselves, and they keep sending people to an address that no longer answers. DNS Records for Your Domain covers what else the domain is doing besides serving the store.

Next steps

• Set Your Primary Domain
• Connect Existing Domain
• Domains

Related articles

• Buy a Domain
• Changing Your Store's Web Address
• Domain Types