How to Get Your Website Back From an Old Developer

Work out what you actually need back

A website is not one thing. To be fully in control you need four pieces:

1. The domain name (yourbusiness.co.uk), held at a registrar.
2. The hosting: the server where the site lives, and its control panel.
3. The site itself: files and database. For WordPress, that is the wp-content folder and a MySQL database.
4. The admin login to WordPress, Shopify, Wix or whatever the site is built on.

Email often depends on the same domain and DNS, so recovering the domain carefully matters even if you plan to rebuild the website.

Step 1: gather what you already know

• Look up the domain on Nominet's WHOIS (for .uk) or lookup.icann.org (for .com and others). Note the registrant, registrar and expiry date.
• Find old invoices from the developer. They often show what hosting and domain charges you were paying for.
• Check your email for any logins, welcome emails from hosting companies or WordPress password resets.
• Find out where the site is hosted using a lookup tool that shows the IP address and hosting provider.
• Try the admin login page (for WordPress, /wp-admin) with any details you have, and use "Lost your password" if the reset email goes to an address you control.

Step 2: ask the developer, in writing

Most developers will hand things over when asked clearly and politely. Send an email asking for:

• The domain to be transferred into your business's name, with the transfer code (EPP/auth code) or, for .uk, the IPS tag changed to your new registrar.
• A full backup of the website files and database, or access to the hosting account if it is in your name.
• An administrator login to the CMS.
• Any licence keys for premium themes or plugins you paid for.

Give a reasonable deadline, such as 14 days, and offer to pay any genuine outstanding invoices. Keep a copy of everything. If your contract says you own the design and content, quote that clause.

Step 3: if they do not reply

• Domain: if your business is the registrant but the developer holds the registrar account, contact the registrar directly with proof of identity. Registrars have processes for registrants who have lost access. If the developer is the registrant, it is harder, and Nominet's Dispute Resolution Service or legal advice may be needed.
• Hosting: if the hosting account is in your name or you paid the host directly, the host can verify you and reset access.
• The site: if you can log into WordPress as an administrator, we can take a complete copy using a migration plugin, even without hosting access. If you cannot, a copy of the public pages can be made, but you lose the admin side.
• Domain expiring: watch the expiry date closely. If it lapses, see our guide on what to do when a domain expires.

Copyright in a custom design or code may belong to the developer unless your contract assigns it to you. If there is a dispute over ownership, take legal advice before copying anything.

Step 4: once you have access

1. Take a full backup immediately and store it somewhere you control.
2. Change every password and remove the developer's admin accounts, FTP users and API keys.
3. Move the domain into an account in your business's name, with auto-renew on.
4. Update the CMS, plugins and themes, which are often years out of date on abandoned sites. Check the PHP version.
5. Decide whether to keep the current host or move to one you control, such as dijitul hosting.

When to call dijitul support

We do this regularly for UK businesses whose web designer has retired, gone quiet or closed down. We work out who holds what, contact registrars and hosts with you, take a complete copy of the site, move it to an account you own, then update and secure it. Recovery is £45 an hour + VAT. After that, our plans from £25 a month + VAT keep it updated, backed up and monitored. See abandoned website support and website migration support.

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