How does the Change of Address tool work?

The Change of Address tool, under Settings in the old property, tells Google that an entire site has moved to a new domain. Google then keeps the old-to-new mapping in place for 180 days and migrates results to the new URLs faster than it would from redirects alone.

What you need before using it

• Both the old and the new site added as properties, verified by the same account.
• Site-wide 301 redirects already live, mapping each old URL to its equivalent new URL rather than dumping everything on the new homepage.
• The new site crawlable and indexable: no leftover noindex, no staging robots.txt.

Submit it from the old property, choose the new property from the list, and Google runs a validation check on the redirects before accepting.

What it does not cover

• Not a protocol or www change. Moving http to https on the same domain, or adding www, is handled automatically by Google and does not use this tool.
• Not a partial move. It is for whole-site moves between domains or subdomains, not for moving a section into a subfolder.
• Not a replacement for redirects. The redirects do the work; the tool only speeds up the recognition.
• Not a history transfer. Each property keeps its own performance data. The old property's 16 months stays in the old property and ages out normally.

After you submit

Keep the redirects in place for at least a year. Keep both properties verified so you can watch the old one drain and the new one fill. Expect ranking fluctuation for a few weeks, and submit a sitemap of the new URLs to speed up discovery.

Tip: export the old property's query and page data before the move. Once you are past the 16-month window there is no way to retrieve it, and the pre-move baseline is the only way to judge whether the migration cost you anything.

How AutoPSEO helps

Migration Compare puts the two properties side by side, with a before-and-after traffic chart and query and page tables showing click, impression and position deltas. You can upload a redirect CSV so old and new URLs are paired and followed. Turning on stored history keeps the old property's data long after Google drops it.