What happens if you leave B12

If you're thinking about leaving B12, it helps to know exactly what changes and when. Cancelling takes your website offline straight away, so the order you do things in matters: anything you want to keep is easier to collect while your account is still active. Your domain and your business content stay yours either way. The questions below cover what happens to your website, your files, your domain, and your email, what to do before you cancel, and how to come back if you change your mind.

Frequently asked questions

Cancelling and your website

→When does my website go offline?

⇒As soon as your cancellation is processed. Your website does not stay live after you cancel, so plan the timing around that. If you're moving to another provider, have the new website ready first so visitors never hit a dead address.

→What should I do before I cancel?

⇒Work through this list while your account is still active, because some of it isn't available afterwards:
• Download the images, documents, and other files you might need.
• Copy the text from your pages and blog posts into a document.
• Export your contacts from your contact manager.
• Note anything connected to your website, such as integrations, scheduling links, or forms, so you can rebuild them elsewhere.
• Have your new website live, or ready to go live, so you can switch without downtime. Search engines take note of a site that disappears, so a straight swap protects your search performance.

→Is my website still live on the internet if I cancel my subscription?

⇒No. B12 hosts websites for customers with an active subscription. Part of your subscription pays for that hosting each month, so once the subscription ends, the website is unpublished and the address stops serving your pages.

→Can I take my website with me?

⇒Not as a website. B12 sites are built to run on B12's platform, so there's no file or code export that another host could use, and no way to download your pages as a package. What you can take is your material: the images and documents you uploaded, your page and blog text copied by hand, and your contacts. A new provider will rebuild the design, which is normally what happens when moving between website platforms anyway.

→Can I still access my editor once I cancel?

⇒Yes. Your account moves to the Free plan and your website stays in it, unpublished, so you can sign in and look at your content. Editing tools that belong to a paid plan are no longer available, and republishing on the Free plan puts your website back on its .b12sites.com address with B12 ads, not on your custom domain.

Your content and files

→How do I download the files I've uploaded?

⇒No. There's no export or download for the images and files on your website, including anything the AI Agent generated for you in the editor. If there are images you want to keep, save them from your published website before you cancel, while it's still online. Anything you uploaded yourself is best taken from your own copy of the original file.

→What happens to my contacts and form submissions?

⇒Export your contacts from your contact manager before you cancel, and keep the file somewhere safe. Form submissions data will be included in the export. You won't be able to export after you cancel, so be sure to copy them out while your subscription is active.

Your domain

→Do I own my domain?

⇒Yes. Your domain is yours, whether you brought it with you or bought it after signing up. Cancelling B12 doesn't cost you the domain, and you're free to point it at any other website whenever you like.

→Where is my domain registered?

⇒It depends on how you got it. A domain you brought with you stays with the provider you bought it from, such as GoDaddy, Bluehost, or Squarespace. A domain bought through your B12 account was registered with IONOS, B12's registrar partner, and you manage its settings and renewal in the IONOS account created at the time of purchase. In some cases B12 bought a domain on a customer's behalf and it still sits in B12's own registrar account. If you're not sure which applies to you, email hello@b12.io and we'll check.

→How do I move my domain to another provider?

⇒If the domain is in your own registrar account, you start the transfer there, or simply leave it where it is and point its records at your new website. Registrars usually take a few days to complete a transfer, so start it before you need the domain working elsewhere. Legacy customers: If B12 holds the domain for you (rare), see this article for more information. email hello@b12.io and ask for a transfer. We'll unlock the domain and send you its authorization code, which you enter at your new provider to claim it. Registrars usually take a few days to approve a transfer, so start it before you need the domain working elsewhere. We're happy to do this whether you're an active customer, in the middle of cancelling, or already gone.

→Does B12 charge a fee to transfer my domain?

⇒No. There's no B12 fee for connecting, disconnecting, or transferring a domain. Your registrar may charge for the transfer itself or roll a year's renewal into it, which is standard practice across the industry.

→What happens to my domain if I do nothing?

⇒It stays registered in your name and simply stops showing a website, because there's nothing live at the other end. Renewal notices keep coming from whoever holds the registration, and if you let it lapse, the domain becomes available for someone else to buy. If you want to keep the name for later, keep the renewal paid.

Your email

→Can I keep my email address if I cancel?

⇒If you already had a custom email address before joining B12, it keeps working exactly as it does now, because it runs on your own email provider. If you set up email forwarding through B12, that forwarding stops when your subscription ends and messages sent to those addresses will no longer reach you.

→I want to set up email somewhere else. What do I need to change?

⇒Sign up with an email provider and follow their instructions to add their records to your domain at your registrar. If B12's email records are still on the domain, remove them first, because a domain can only receive email at one place.

Coming back later

→How can I reactivate my account?

⇒We're always happy to see a returning face. Reactivating means starting a
new subscription, so you go through the same screen you'd use to choose a
plan:
1. Sign in at b12.io.
2. Click the B12 logo at the top of the left sidebar, then select
   Upgrade plan. You can also go straight to b12.io/dashboard/upgrade.
3. Choose the plan you want and follow the checkout steps to confirm it.
4. Open your website and publish it. Your content is still there, but it
   stays offline until you publish.
5. Connect your custom domain again, if you have one.
If you don't see a plan to choose, or your website was built by B12
Experts, email hello@b12.io or use live chat and we'll restart your
subscription for you.

→Will my website come back the way I left it?

⇒Your site content is still there, and once you're on a paid plan again, your site will be published automatically. If your custom domain is still connected it should start working within 24 hours or sooner.

→Will my custom domain reconnect automatically?

⇒Not neccessarily. If you haven't pointed your domain somewhere, it might still be connected to B12. If your domain is no longer connected, follow these steps to get it connected again.

→Can I come back on the promotional price I had before?

⇒No. Introductory offers apply once per account, so a returning subscription starts at the standard price for the plan you choose.