{"id":12054,"date":"2026-05-26T07:06:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T07:06:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.webystrata.com\/blog\/?p=12054"},"modified":"2026-05-26T07:06:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T07:06:50","slug":"how-to-switch-the-primary-domain-name-with-an-addon-domain-in-cpanel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.webystrata.com\/blog\/how-to-switch-the-primary-domain-name-with-an-addon-domain-in-cpanel\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Switch the Primary Domain Name With an Addon Domain in cPanel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"72\" data-end=\"222\">Sometimes website owners may want to change their primary domain name and make an existing addon domain the new primary domain of the hosting account.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"224\" data-end=\"236\">For example:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"238\" data-end=\"299\">\n<li data-section-id=\"1p6ewcg\" data-start=\"238\" data-end=\"269\">Primary Domain: domain1.com<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"mlaspb\" data-start=\"270\" data-end=\"299\">Addon Domain: domain2.com<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-start=\"301\" data-end=\"317\">You may want to:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"318\" data-end=\"397\">\n<li data-section-id=\"1ulc4wu\" data-start=\"318\" data-end=\"359\">Make domain2.com the new primary domain<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"1i9bi56\" data-start=\"360\" data-end=\"397\">Move domain1.com as an addon domain<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-start=\"399\" data-end=\"457\">This can be done in cPanel by following the methods below.<\/p>\n<h3 data-section-id=\"otx6hy\" data-start=\"788\" data-end=\"830\">Method 1: Change the Primary Domain Name<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"832\" data-end=\"914\">This is the easiest method for switching the primary domain with the addon domain.<\/p>\n<h4 data-section-id=\"1pdkisj\" data-start=\"921\" data-end=\"955\">Step 1: Remove the Addon Domain<\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"957\" data-end=\"986\">Login to your cPanel account.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"988\" data-end=\"993\">Then:<\/p>\n<ol data-start=\"994\" data-end=\"1116\">\n<li data-section-id=\"b72br8\" data-start=\"994\" data-end=\"1039\">Go to the Domains or Addon Domains section<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"1hoej4g\" data-start=\"1040\" data-end=\"1066\">Locate the addon domain<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"9yqh99\" data-start=\"1067\" data-end=\"1116\">Remove domain2.com from the addon domains list<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h4 data-section-id=\"d044h0\" data-start=\"1174\" data-end=\"1214\">Step 2: Request Primary Domain Change<\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"1216\" data-end=\"1316\">After removing the addon domain, you need to change the primary domain name of your hosting account.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1318\" data-end=\"1347\">You can usually do this from:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"1348\" data-end=\"1425\">\n<li data-section-id=\"1415ahy\" data-start=\"1348\" data-end=\"1361\">Client Area<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"h0axnw\" data-start=\"1362\" data-end=\"1381\">Hosting Dashboard<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"1s8kz5s\" data-start=\"1382\" data-end=\"1393\">Help Desk<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"v6tj86\" data-start=\"1394\" data-end=\"1425\">Domain Change Request Section<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-start=\"1427\" data-end=\"1434\">Change:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"1435\" data-end=\"1462\">\n<li data-section-id=\"fdzcs9\" data-start=\"1435\" data-end=\"1462\">domain1.com \u2192 domain2.com<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 data-section-id=\"2ik3tc\" data-start=\"1520\" data-end=\"1576\">Step 3: Add the Old Primary Domain as an Addon Domain<\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"1578\" data-end=\"1613\">Once the primary domain is updated:<\/p>\n<ol data-start=\"1614\" data-end=\"1693\">\n<li data-section-id=\"1legc3b\" data-start=\"1614\" data-end=\"1638\">Login to cPanel again<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"1ifpfw9\" data-start=\"1639\" data-end=\"1655\">Go to Domains<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"19nuta2\" data-start=\"1656\" data-end=\"1693\">Add domain1.com as an addon domain<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3 data-section-id=\"1vykqip\" data-start=\"1752\" data-end=\"1791\">Method 2: Manually Move Website Files<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"1793\" data-end=\"1859\">Another way to switch domains is by manually moving website files.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1861\" data-end=\"1935\">This method is useful if you want more control over the website structure.<\/p>\n<h4 data-section-id=\"wmujyu\" data-start=\"1942\" data-end=\"1986\">Step 1: Backup the Existing Website Files<\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"1988\" data-end=\"2029\">Create a backup of the website files for:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"2030\" data-end=\"2043\">\n<li data-section-id=\"174jxfa\" data-start=\"2030\" data-end=\"2043\">domain1.com<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-start=\"2045\" data-end=\"2082\">The files are usually located inside:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"2083\" data-end=\"2096\">\n<li data-section-id=\"qduamj\" data-start=\"2083\" data-end=\"2096\">public_html<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-start=\"2098\" data-end=\"2106\">You can:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"2107\" data-end=\"2179\">\n<li data-section-id=\"dy7cwg\" data-start=\"2107\" data-end=\"2127\">Download the files<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"wx6vd7\" data-start=\"2128\" data-end=\"2157\">Move them to another folder<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"1cij4f4\" data-start=\"2158\" data-end=\"2179\">Create a ZIP backup<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 data-section-id=\"1m92omz\" data-start=\"2228\" data-end=\"2262\">Step 2: Move Addon Domain Files<\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"2264\" data-end=\"2295\">Locate the addon domain folder.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2297\" data-end=\"2305\">Example:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"2306\" data-end=\"2333\">\n<li data-section-id=\"lso7g9\" data-start=\"2306\" data-end=\"2333\">\/public_html\/domain2.com\/<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-start=\"2335\" data-end=\"2394\">Now move or copy all files from the addon domain folder to:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"2395\" data-end=\"2408\">\n<li data-section-id=\"qduamj\" data-start=\"2395\" data-end=\"2408\">public_html<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-start=\"2410\" data-end=\"2466\">This makes domain2.com use the primary domain directory.<\/p>\n<h4 data-section-id=\"qgtf83\" data-start=\"2518\" data-end=\"2563\">Step 3: Add the Old Domain as Addon Domain<\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"2565\" data-end=\"2588\">After moving the files:<\/p>\n<ol data-start=\"2589\" data-end=\"2675\">\n<li data-section-id=\"1cid9ln\" data-start=\"2589\" data-end=\"2603\">Open cPanel<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"1wuyl2v\" data-start=\"2604\" data-end=\"2637\">Go to Domains or Addon Domains<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"19nuta2\" data-start=\"2638\" data-end=\"2675\">Add domain1.com as an addon domain<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h4 data-section-id=\"18yulen\" data-start=\"2720\" data-end=\"2752\">Step 4: Restore Website Files<\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"2754\" data-end=\"2848\">Upload or restore the backup files for domain1.com into the newly created addon domain folder.<\/p>\n<h5 data-section-id=\"1bujgeb\" data-start=\"2898\" data-end=\"2915\">Important Notes<\/h5>\n<p data-start=\"2917\" data-end=\"3005\">After switching domains, some applications may require additional configuration updates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sometimes website owners may want to change their primary domain name and make an existing addon domain the new primary&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-updates","category-cpanel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webystrata.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webystrata.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webystrata.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webystrata.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webystrata.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12054"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.webystrata.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12057,"href":"https:\/\/www.webystrata.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12054\/revisions\/12057"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webystrata.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webystrata.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webystrata.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webystrata.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}