# Convert a cPanel account to an addon domain Source: https://docs.webgee.com/en/hosting/how-do-i-convert-a-cpanel-account-to-an-addon-domain Move a domain from its own cPanel account into an existing account as an addon domain. Applies to reseller accounts. **There is no native tool for this**, and it is outside the support remit — cPanel provides no conversion path, so every step is manual and one of them destroys the source account. Read the whole procedure before starting. If you are not confident, a developer should do it. ## Why it is awkward [#why-it-is-awkward] A cPanel account and an addon domain are structurally different. The account owns its own home directory, databases, email accounts and DNS zone; an addon domain lives inside another account's structure. Nothing maps across automatically — you are rebuilding it in the destination and deleting the original. The destructive part is that the source account must be **terminated** before the domain can be added elsewhere. cPanel will not let the same domain exist in two accounts. ## Before you start [#before-you-start] Take everything you cannot recreate: 1. **A full cPanel backup** of the source account, downloaded and verified. Open the archive and confirm it contains `homedir` and a `mysql` folder — see [Download a backup of your account](/en/backups/how-to-generate-download-a-website-backup). 2. **Email, configured locally.** Add every mailbox to a desktop client — Thunderbird, Outlook, Apple Mail — and let it download completely. **Mailbox contents are the thing most often lost here**, because they are not obviously missing until someone looks for an old message. 3. **A note of the DNS records**, if any are non-default — see [Reset a DNS zone to its defaults](/en/domains-dns/how-do-i-reset-the-dns-zone-to-the-default-for-a-domain). Verify the backup before continuing. After the next step there is no source to go back to. ## The procedure [#the-procedure] 1. **Terminate the source account** — WHM → **Account Functions** → **Terminate Accounts**. 2. **Create the addon domain** in the destination account. 3. **Restore the files** into the addon domain's document root from your backup. 4. **Create the databases and users**, then import the `.sql` dumps — see [Import a large database](/en/databases/how-to-import-a-large-database-into-mysql). 5. **Update the application's configuration** with the new database credentials. `wp-config.php` for WordPress; the names now carry the destination account's prefix. 6. **Recreate the email accounts** under the addon domain. 7. **Upload the mail** from your local client back into the new mailboxes. 8. **Check DNS**, and re-add any custom records. ## Expect downtime [#expect-downtime] The domain is unreachable between termination and restoration — realistically an hour or more, longer for a large account. Do it at a quiet time and tell the client beforehand. ## An easier alternative [#an-easier-alternative] If the aim is consolidating billing rather than merging accounts, consider leaving it as a separate cPanel account. Separate accounts have real advantages: independent resource limits, independent backups, and one site's problem does not affect the other — see [How many sites can one account host](/en/getting-started/how-many-sites-can-i-add-to-an-individual-cpanel-account). ## Related [#related] * [Download a backup of your account](/en/backups/how-to-generate-download-a-website-backup) * [Import a large database](/en/databases/how-to-import-a-large-database-into-mysql)