.dk moves to registrar management: what changes before 30 June 2028

If you hold a .dk domain that is managed directly by Punktum dk, you have until 30 June 2028 to choose a registrar. From 1 July 2026, every new .dk domain is registrar-managed from the start. Registrant management ends on 1 July 2028.

Nothing breaks tomorrow. But a deadline that is two years away is exactly the kind that gets forgotten, so this post is a checklist.

The drawer in the kitchen

Everybody has a drawer where the important papers go. The deadline for the insurance, the letter from the tax office, the warranty for the dishwasher. Everything in the drawer is fine, until the day it is not.

A .dk domain managed directly with the registry can end up in that drawer. It works, it renews, and you hear from it once a year. The change from Punktum dk moves it out of the drawer and into the hands of a registrar, and you are the one who has to choose.

What Punktum dk has announced

These are the facts, taken from Punktum dk's own pages. Please check them there before you act, because they are the authority.

• 1 July 2026. New .dk domains can only be registered with registrar management.
• 1 July 2026 onward. .dk domains are registered and renewed one year at a time.
• 30 June 2028. Registrant management ends. Holders whose domains are still managed directly by Punktum dk must have chosen a registrar by then.
• The domain stays yours. You keep the domain. You only choose who manages it.
• No fee for the move. Punktum dk does not charge to move a domain to registrar management.
• No automatic move. Punktum dk will not move you to a registrar by itself, and it cannot recommend one registrar over another.
• About half have already moved. Punktum dk said on 1 July that around every other registrant had already chosen registrar management.

Punktum dk's stated reasons are one contact and one invoice instead of two, and a stronger focus on the security of the .dk zone.

A checklist

1. Find out whether your domain is registrant-managed. Log in to Punktum dk's self-service and check. If a registrar already manages it, you can stop here.

2. List the domains. If you hold several, make a list with their expiry dates. The posts on domain transfer checklists and portfolio management show how to keep such a list.

3. Decide what you need from a registrar. I would not pick on price alone. Think about these: - The renewal price, which now comes around every year because you can only renew one year at a time - Whether you get proper control of DNS, including DNSSEC if you use it - Whether there is an API, if you automate - How easy it is to leave again - Whether you can reach a person when something goes wrong

4. Get the authorization code. In Punktum dk's self-service you generate an authorization code, called an AuthID, that the new registrar needs.

5. Start the move at the registrar you chose. Give the registrar the code and follow its steps.

6. Check DNS and DNSSEC afterwards. Confirm that the nameservers are the ones you expect, that your website and email still work, and that DNSSEC is still valid if you use it.

7. Update your records. Write down the registrar, the renewal date and who is responsible. The post on what happens when a domain expires explains why that date matters.

Do it early

There is no reward for waiting until May 2028. A transfer that goes wrong in the last week has no time left to be fixed. Do one domain now, see how it goes, and move the rest.

A note about this post

I am not going to tell you which registrar to pick. Punktum dk does not do that either, and I think it is right. Choose the one that fits how you work.

Sources

• Punktum dk, How to switch your .dk domain to registrar management
• Punktum dk, Punktum dk changes administration model
• Punktum dk, Today our new administration model comes into effect

If you have a .dk domain and a question I have not covered, tell me in the chat on the website.

/Thomas