Move to your own domain

If your family already chats at a safechat.family address, you can move to a domain you own. Your rooms — including their history — come along, but a move is more than a rename, so read this page before you start. New to domains entirely? The domain setup guide covers the DNS side.

Why moving means a new server

In Matrix (the protocol Family Chat is built on), the server name is baked into every chat address permanently — @mum:happy-otter.safechat.family can never become @mum:example.com on the same server. So moving to your own domain means we build you a second server on the new name and move your family across to it. The two servers talk to each other to hand your rooms over, and your old server stays available for two weeks after the switch so nothing is lost in the move.

What’s kept, what changes

Kept:

Your rooms and their message history (the new server fetches them across; private rooms need a quick invite from a current member — the wizard walks you through it).
Everyone’s names within the family — only the domain part of addresses changes (@mum:happy-otter.safechat.family → @mum:example.com).
Your storage plan and federation settings.

Changes — plan for these:

Everyone signs in again. New addresses mean new accounts: each member signs in fresh in their chat app, and a parent sets everyone’s chat password again from the Members page (the same way you first onboarded).
Encrypted rooms need a key export. Messages in end-to-end encrypted rooms are locked to each person’s old account. Before the old server retires, each member should export their encryption keys from their old session and import them in the new one — in Element: Settings → Security & Privacy → Export E2E room keys, then Import E2E room keys after signing in with the new address. Without this, old encrypted messages show as “unable to decrypt”.
Room admin rights don’t transfer automatically. Whoever created a room should, while still signed in to their old account, open the room’s settings and promote their new account to Admin. Rooms still work without this, but nobody can change room settings until it’s done.

Step by step

Start the move. In the control panel, open the Domain page , enter your domain, and confirm. We build your new server in the background (a few minutes).
Set up your domain. Follow the domain setup guide — the Domain page shows the exact values to use — then press Verify now.
We move your family across. Once the domain verifies, we recreate every member’s account on the new server and start joining them into your rooms. The new server pulls the room history over. The Domain page shows progress.
Invite the new accounts into private rooms. Most family rooms are invite-only, and invites can only come from someone already in the room. The Domain page lists each new address that still needs one — from your current account, open each room in Element, choose Invite, and add the addresses shown. Then press Check rooms again and we finish the joins.
Check, then switch. When everything is ready, the Domain page asks you to confirm. Before you do: remind everyone about the encryption key export above. Then press Switch. From that moment your family’s addresses are on your domain.
After the switch:
- Set each member’s chat password from the Members page and have everyone sign in with their new address.
- Members import their encryption keys (if you use encrypted rooms).
- Room creators promote their new accounts to room admin from their old session.
The old server retires automatically two weeks after the switch. Until then it keeps running for your family’s old sessions, so stragglers can still export keys or check old messages.

You can cancel the move any time before the switch — your current server is never touched until you confirm.

Coming from another Matrix provider?

If your family already uses your domain on another Matrix host (or a self-hosted server), the domain’s chat addresses belong to that server’s history — moving to Family Chat means a fresh server on the same name once the old one is retired, and old messages can’t be imported. Email [email protected] and we’ll help you plan the switch.

Questions before you start? We’re happy to walk you through it: [email protected] .