My Web Designer Won't Hand Over the Site or Passwords: What Can I Do?

If your web designer won't hand over the site or the passwords, first work out what is registered in whose name, then send a written, dated request with a complete list. If the domain is registered to you, you can regain control of it by applying to the registrar with your documents, even if the designer doesn't answer. With the domain in your hands, even the worst case means rebuilding the site elsewhere and pointing your address to it. The genuinely hard case is when the domain is registered in the designer's name.

This article isn't legal advice; if the dispute grows, talk to a lawyer. In practice, though, most cases are resolved with a written request that knows exactly what it wants, and a few weeks of patience.

Establish the situation first

Before talking to anyone, get clear on what you have and what you don't.

The domain. Look up your domain on a Whois site. The 'Registrar' line shows which company the domain is with, and the registrant details (if not hidden) show whose name it's in. For .tr domains the registrant is usually hidden; you can ask the registrar by phone.

Hosting. Which server is the site on? Who receives the invoice?

Google accounts. Who owns Search Console, Analytics and the Google Business Profile? If they aren't in your account, your statistics history and your Maps reviews are also in someone else's control.

Payments. Do you still owe the designer anything? A payment dispute is the most common reason for not handing over. If there's a balance, discussing it first cuts weeks off the process.

The contract. Is there a written contract, or at least a quote exchange? What was to be delivered may be written there.

What legally belongs to you?

It helps to split the picture into three parts.

Content you supplied is yours. Copy, your own photos, your logo, product information, customer data. You need no other grounds to ask for these.

The domain belongs to whoever it's registered to. If it's registered to you or your company, the account being held by someone else doesn't change ownership.

The design and code are more complicated. In Türkiye, an original design or piece of software can count as a work under the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works, and economic rights must be transferred in writing. So if the contract doesn't say the code and design were transferred to you, the designer may claim rights over them. If a ready-made theme was used, the theme itself is under its maker's licence anyway. At this point a lawyer's opinion tells you exactly what you can claim.

The written request: what to ask for, and how

Instead of saying 'could you send the passwords' on the phone, make a written request with a complete list. The clearer the list, the fewer the excuses:

• Access to the domain panel, or a transfer code to move the domain into your account
• Access to the hosting account, or transfer of the account to you
• An administrator user on the site's admin panel
• A full backup of the site files and database
• Passwords for the email accounts
• Your account added as owner in Search Console, Analytics and the Business Profile

Send the request by email, give a reasonable deadline (for example 7 business days) and, if you owe money, propose a payment plan in the same message. If there's no reply, the second step is a formal notice through a notary. It shows the other side you're serious and leaves an official record if you need it later.

If the domain is in your name: go to the registrar

If you're the domain's legal owner but the account is with the designer, contact the support team of the company where the domain is registered. Prove you're the owner with your ID, company documents and, if needed, your tax certificate, and ask for the domain to be moved to your account or for the transfer code to be given to you. It takes from a few days to a few weeks depending on the company.

Once the domain is under your control you can breathe: you can change DNS to point the site wherever you like and move your email to a new service. We cover the transfer steps in how to transfer a domain. If it's close to expiring, secure the renewal first; my domain expired covers that emergency.

If the domain is in the designer's name

This is the hardest scenario. Legally the domain is theirs; you were only using it. Options:

• Offer to buy the domain or have it transferred. Most designers respond well to a reasonable offer.
• If the domain contains your registered trademark and is being held in bad faith, use a domain dispute mechanism. This needs a legal assessment.
• Carry on with a new domain. You lose the old address's Google history and links, but you stop depending on someone else's goodwill.

Plan B: rebuilding the site

Sometimes the fastest fix is to stop waiting and start again. If the domain is yours, the loss is limited:

• Copy your text and images from the current site. If the site is down, archives like the Wayback Machine (web.archive.org) may hold copies of old pages.
• List the old page URLs. A site:yourdomain.com search on Google or the page list in Search Console will do. Redirecting these URLs with 301s to matching pages on the new site protects your rankings; details in how to protect SEO when moving a site.
• Set up the Google accounts again in your own name. Verifying Search Console for the whole domain via DNS gives you control independent of the old owners.

A corporate site usually gets back on its feet within a few weeks if the content is ready. Our corporate website package has a delivery time of 7 to 10 business days; in rebuilds, gathering the old content takes the most time.

Making sure it doesn't happen again

• Open the domain, hosting and Google accounts in your name from the start, and add the agency as a manager. Details: who should own the domain, hosting and code.
• Make sure the contract states what will be handed over and that economic rights to the code and design are transferred: what a website contract must include.
• Check every access on handover day: 20 things to check at handover.

We give our own clients the same advice: accounts in the client's name, access handed over in writing at delivery. If you're stuck depending on a designer right now, write to us; let's first work out together what can be recovered.