Transferring an already registered domain name entails switching the domain name registrar that handles the domain name registration service, so after the transfer, you’ll have to manage things like renewal payments or DNS modifications through the new registrar company. The transfer procedure itself is standard with most universal and country-specific TLD extensions. Certain country-code extensions are more specific and entail different procedures, but in the general case transferring a domain involves several basic steps and one of them is unlocking the domain name. The lock is a security feature, which is being adopted by more and more domain registry operators. It is a default feature supported by all generic TLDs. If a domain name is locked, it won’t be possible to initiate a transfer procedure, so no one can even try to snatch your domain name. The domain lock can be removed only through the account where the domain name is registered in the first place and all new domains that support this functionality are locked by default the moment they are registered.