How do I shut down my website without losing my email?

In what order should I switch things off?

1. Back it up. Save a full site backup, plus form entries, store orders and customers, and any documents only on the website. List what else uses the domain: email, newsletters, forms, booking or payment tools, and any logins sent to that email. See backups and restoring.
2. Keep DNS and email records working. Keep the domain renewed and leave its DNS and mail records in place while anyone uses an address on it. If you’re retiring email, tell contacts your new address, set auto-replies and export the mail you need first. See removing an email account and what happens if a domain expires.
3. Put up a notice page or redirect. Use a one-page “we’ve closed” notice, or redirect the site to the new business. If the business is moving to a new domain, Google’s site move guide explains why permanent redirects keep links working.
4. Then end hosting. Cancel hosting and paid add-ons, such as plugin licenses and form or booking services, only after steps 1 to 3 are done.
   • Expected result: the site shows your notice or redirect, email keeps working (or is cleanly retired), and you hold a backup.

The short version

• Order: back it up, keep DNS and email records working, put up a notice page or redirect, then end hosting.
• Only closing for a while? Don’t take the site down. Pause it instead.

What if we’re only closing for a while?

Leave the site up. Google’s guide to pausing a business online recommends keeping the site live and limiting what it does: turn off the cart, add a banner, and update your hours. It advises against taking the whole site down for more than a day or two, because pages can drop out of Google. Update your Google Business Profile hours too.

Why does this matter?

The most common surprise we see when a site is shut down is email stopping with it. That happens when the domain or its DNS records go with the hosting. Records, receipts and logins tied to that email can be lost.

What are the common mistakes and edge cases?

• Letting the domain lapse. Someone else can register it and receive mail sent to your old addresses.
• Deleting DNS records with the hosting. Your mail records live in the same DNS zone. See what DNS is.
• Forgetting paid add-ons. Plugin licenses, form services and booking tools may keep billing.
• Removing pages from Google with the Removals tool. It only hides pages for a while, as Google’s Removals report help explains. A notice page or redirect is the lasting fix.

What if this didn’t work?

If email stopped after the site went down, check the domain hasn’t expired and that its mail records are still there. Then call whoever manages your DNS. See who owns my domain, and who do I call?.

How does E-3 handle this?

Tell us what’s changing and when: call 814-399-4655 or email support@e3help.me. A person at E-3 saves a full backup, keeps your domain’s DNS and email records in place, puts up the notice page or redirect you choose, and only then turns off the hosting. Domains we manage are registered to you, so you keep the domain whatever you decide about the website. Replies usually come within one business day.

Related questions

• Is my website backed up, and can you restore it?
• What happens if my domain name expires?
• Can you point another domain at my website?
• How do I remove an email account for someone who left?