Transferring an existing domain involves switching the domain name registrar that provides the domain registration service, so after the transfer itself, you will have to manage things like renewal fees or DNS updates through the new registrar company. The transfer procedure is standard with most generic and country-code top-level domain name extensions. Certain country-code extensions are more specific and entail different procedures, but in the general case transferring a domain name entails several necessary steps and one of them is unlocking the domain. The lock is a security feature, which is being embraced by more and more registry organizations. It is a default feature supported by all generic top-level domain names. If a domain is locked, it will not be possible to start a transfer procedure, so no one can even attempt to snatch your domain name. The domain lock can be annulled only through the account where the domain name is registered and all new domain names that support this functionality are locked by default when they are registered.