Bluehost Web Hosting Help

How To Activate Newly Registered Domain - New Domain Name Inactive

After registering a domain with Bluehost or any other registrar, it typically takes a short amount of time for the domain to show up. This is because it's a new registration. That is different than an update to a domain, such as changing the name servers, which can take up to 72 hours to propagate.

Contact Information
Name Servers
Domain Not Listed

Contact Information

If you recently purchased a domain, the most common cause for the domain to not become active is that the contact information is incomplete. This may mean there was no name, email address, physical address, etc. You will have to log in to your control panel and check in your Domain Manager to see if the information is correct.

Log in to your Bluehost cPanel account.
Go to the Domain Manager by clicking on the Domain link at the top of the account.
Once you are in the Domain Manager, check to see if the domain is listed. If it is, put a check mark in its box and the right side will populate with tabs.
Go to the Contact tab on the right and update the information there. (Don't forget to include the Admin, Registrant, and Billing sections. You can put a check mark in each box and update them all at once).

Name Servers

Another cause why your domain is not active may be that the name servers don't point properly to us or where you want it hosted.

Log in to your Bluehost cPanel account.
Go to the Domain Manager by clicking on the Domain link at the top of the account.
If the domain is not registered through us, you will only have three tabs: Main, Name Servers, and Transfer Options. Click Name Servers.
This tab will give you further information about your name servers and presents our name servers. This way you can configure your domain at the company it's registered through. This will allow it to be hosted here. Remember to allow up to 72 hours for propagation for any name server changes.

Domain Not Listed

If the domain is not listed in your Domain Manager, there are a few further steps to consider.

Did you complete all the steps for assigning your domain?
If you purchased the domain, did the purchase complete? Do you have an invoice in your history? (Go to Account up at the top of your cPanel. Then click on Payments. This shows you a list of all the completed purchases. See if it's listed there).
If you see that it was purchased but it's not listed, there may be a delay in the processing of the purchase or registration. Please wait 30 minutes and check back. If the domain is not on your list and you've checked through the other possibilities listed, you will need to contact support so they can further investigate.

If this is the main domain on your Bluehost account, you may check your website using the temporary URL as indicated in the "Welcome to Bluehost" email you received upon sign-up.

If this is not the main domain on your Bluehost account, you may use the temporary URL in combination with the directory which the new domain has been assigned to.

Note: If you have not already assigned the domain, please Click Here for further instructions.

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