You can register a domain name (for example, yourgroovydomain.com) to use instead of your site’s default address (such as yourgroovysite.wordpress.com). In this guide, you will learn how to register a new domain name on WordPress.com.
Register a new domain name through your site’s dashboard. If you don’t already have an account, visit WordPress.com and sign up.
To register a new domain name for your site, follow these steps:
- Visit your site’s dashboard.
- Navigate to Upgrades → Domains (or Hosting → Domains if using WP Admin).
- Click the “Add a domain” button and select “Search for a domain”.
- Type the domain name you want to register in the search field. You can search by keywords to see suggested domain names or choose different extensions like
.com,.blog,.org,.net, or.tv. See available domain extensions and pricing for a full list of extensions and prices.
- Click the “Add to cart” button next to the domain name you want to register.
- On the next screen, you can choose to add Professional Email or Google Workspace to your domain name, or click the Skip button in the top-right corner (you can still add an email address later).
- On the checkout screen, select how many years you want to register the domain name (up to ten years) from the renewal duration dropdown.
- Add your contact information if prompted. Make sure your contact information is correct and you can access the email address — you will need to verify your email address after registration.
- Complete the checkout process. If your plan includes a free domain name credit and you haven’t used it yet, you won’t be charged for the first year. Learn more about free domain names with plans.
After you register a domain name, complete these steps:
If the email address on your WordPress.com account matches the domain name contact email, verification happens automatically.
Otherwise, you will receive an email from domains-help@wordpress.com with a link to verify your domain name’s contact information. This is required by ICANN, the organization that regulates domain name registrations.
Check your inbox for the verification email and click the “Verify Now” button. It may take up to 30 minutes for the verification to complete.
Learn more about how to verify your domain contact information.
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Warning: If you don’t verify your email address, your domain name will be suspended and your website will go offline.
Your new domain name should start working almost immediately, but it may take 24–72 hours to become fully active. This waiting period is called propagation time. During this time, your domain name may not load consistently because servers worldwide need time to update.
To check your domain name’s status, go to Domains and look under the Status column. When the status says Active, your domain name is fully operational.
If your domain name doesn’t become active after 72 hours, see troubleshooting domain names.
If you have a paid plan, you can set your domain name as your site’s primary address. The primary address is what visitors see in their browser’s address bar. All other domain names (including your .wordpress.com address) will redirect to the primary address.
To set your primary address, go to Upgrades → Domains (or Hosting → Domains if using WP Admin). Select your domain name from the dropdown menu at the top, then click the “Set as primary” button.
Learn more in the guide to setting the primary site address.
After registering your domain name, you can manage it from Upgrades → Domains (or Hosting → Domains if using WP Admin). From here, you can update contact information, configure DNS settings, renew your registration, and more.
Learn more about everything you can do with your new domain name.
Privacy protection is enabled by default on all registered domain names. This prevents your contact information from being publicly visible in WHOIS databases. Learn more about domain name registrations and privacy.
ICANN requires valid contact information for all domain name registrations. You may receive emails about optional data sharing, but you don’t need to consent to optional data sharing to register a domain name. Learn more about data processing and privacy requirements.
