Transferring an already registered domain name entails changing the domain registrar that handles the domain name registration service, so after the transfer, you’ll have to manage things like renewal fees or DNS record modifications through the new registrar. The transfer process itself is standard with most gTLD and ccTLD extensions. Some country-code extensions are more specific and entail different procedures, but in the general case transferring a domain entails a few basic procedures and one of them is unlocking the domain. The domain lock is a safety feature, which is being embraced by more and more domain registry operators. It is a default feature supported by all generic top-level domain names. If a domain name is locked, it won’t be possible to initiate a transfer procedure, so no one can even attempt to register your domain. The lock can be annulled only through the account where the domain is registered in the first place and all new domain names that support this functionality are locked by default the moment they are registered.