Developer Disappeared? How to Get Your Site and Code Back

If your developer has disappeared, do not start by chasing them. Start by finding out what is already in your name. The domain, the hosting account, the code repository and the app store accounts are separate things, and each one has its own recovery route. If an account is registered to you or your company, the provider can usually give you access back with proof of identity. If it is in the developer's name, you need their cooperation, the administrator of their bankrupt company, or a lawyer. At We Do Dev Work a senior developer can start the same day for $85 per hour, with no minimum and no intake.

This is for owners whose freelancer stopped answering, whose agency went bankrupt, or whose developer left without a handover. If the site is also down, read what an emergency developer costs first.

The first 15 minutes: what you can do yourself

Most top results stop at "check WHOIS and call your host". That is the right start; here is the full list. Write down what you find: it becomes the handover document you never got.

1. Look up the domain. Use a WHOIS or RDAP lookup for your domain. Note the registrar, the expiry date and, if visible, the registrant. If the expiry date is close, renewing it is your first priority.
2. Search your inbox and bank statements. Look for invoices from registrars, hosting companies, Apple, Google Play, GitHub, Stripe or your payment provider, email providers and plugin vendors. Whoever invoices you usually holds the account in your name.
3. Try every login you have. CMS admin, hosting control panel, registrar, app store, analytics. Use "forgot password" only if the reset goes to your own address.
4. If the site is live, take a backup now. If you can reach the hosting panel, download a full backup (files and database) and store it off the server. If you only have CMS access, use its export or backup function.
5. Send one dated, written request. Email the developer, and use a second channel if you have one. List what you need: the AuthInfo code or domain transfer, repository transfer, admin access, and app store transfers, with a clear deadline. Keep it polite: it may become evidence.
6. Do not change DNS or delete anything yet. If you do not know which records run the website and the email, a well-meant change can take both offline.

Inventory: what you own and where it lives

Every digital product is a set of accounts. This is the checklist a takeover developer goes through with you.

How to get each one back

The domain

For generic domains such as .com, ICANN's Transfer Policy requires the registrar to give the registered name holder the AuthInfo code, and to do so within five calendar days of the request if it offers no self-service tool. That right belongs to the registrant, so it helps only if that is you. If the registrar does not deliver, ICANN tells registrants to file a complaint with ICANN Contractual Compliance, with evidence that you are the registrant. The same guidance says the accredited registrar is responsible for services delivered through its resellers, and many developers buy domains through a reseller.

Country domains follow their registry's rules. Two examples: for .be you can request the transfer code directly from DNS Belgium, and it is emailed to the holder's address. For .co.th, THNIC requires supporting documents to change the holder and does not arbitrate disputes; it acts on a court order or a written agreement between the parties. If the developer registered the domain in their own name, you need their signature, their administrator's, or a court.

Hosting

If the hosting account is yours, recovery is routine: the host verifies your identity and resets access. If the developer resold hosting to you, ask the hosting company anyway. Krystal, a UK host, publishes a procedure for customers who lost contact with their reseller: download a full backup first, document your attempts to reach the reseller, then contact the host, which may move you to your own account.

The code

If the code is on GitHub, the owner can transfer the repository to your account or organisation. Issues, history, webhooks and secrets move with it, and the recipient must accept.

If they never answer, what you can recover depends on the technology:

• WordPress and most PHP sites: the files on the server are the source code. A file and database backup from the host is a complete copy.
• JavaScript front ends, compiled backends and mobile apps: the server holds the built output, not the source. You can keep it running, but changing it means rebuilding parts of it.
• The database: your business data; on most hosting you can export it yourself.

App store accounts

Both stores need the current owner to act. On Apple, the Account Holder of the developer account starts the app transfer and the receiving Account Holder accepts; the app keeps its reviews and ratings. On Google Play, the original account submits the transfer request and both accounts must be active. If the app was published under the developer's own account and they will not cooperate, your fallback is a new listing under your own account, which means users have to install a new app.

Who owns the code? The legal side

This is general information, not legal advice. Ownership depends first on your contract, so find it, together with the quote and invoices. Without a clear clause, the default depends on the country:

• United States: the Copyright Office's Circular 30 explains that commissioned work is "made for hire" only in nine listed categories and only with a signed written agreement. Software from a freelancer usually does not fit those categories, so you need a written assignment.
• Thailand: under section 10 of the Copyright Act B.E. 2537, the hirer owns copyright in commissioned work unless agreed otherwise. Under section 9, work by employees stays with the author unless agreed otherwise in writing.
• Germany: copyright itself cannot be transferred; a freelancer grants you usage rights, so the scope written in the contract matters.

Even without full ownership you normally have a right to use what you paid for; a lawyer can tell you how far it goes.

If the agency went bankrupt

Accounts and assets held by a bankrupt company are managed by the person the court appoints. Contact them early, in writing, with your list. In Thailand that is the official receiver, and in a 2023 case creditors had to file claims within two months of the order's publication. In the Netherlands and Belgium it is the curator (search the Dutch insolvency register or RegSol in Belgium), in France the mandataire judiciaire or liquidateur, and in Germany the Insolvenzverwalter. In Germany a court ordered an insolvency administrator to hand customer data back to the client of a bankrupt service provider (OLG Düsseldorf, 2012); the article stresses it was one case.

What a takeover developer does in the first days

We describe our full approach in how we rescue a software project. For a disappeared developer, the first days usually look like this:

1. Secure. Change every password we can reach, remove the old developer's users, SSH keys and API keys, and switch on two-factor authentication.
2. Back up. A full copy of files and database, stored outside the server, and a test that it restores.
3. Audit. Does the repository match what is live? Can we build and deploy it? Are dependencies outdated? Are passwords in the code? A free EngineeringScore scan gives a quick outside view of security, performance and SEO.
4. Document. An access list in your name, how to deploy, and the known risks, ranked.
5. Advise. Keep and fix, or rebuild. We explain the cost; you decide.

How to decide: do it yourself or call a developer?

• Everything is in your name and the site runs: recover the logins, change passwords, and hire someone for maintenance when you need changes.
• The site runs but you have no server or code access: call a developer this week. Nobody is patching it.
• The site is down, or the domain expires soon: call today.
• Key accounts are in the developer's name: start the written request and talk to a lawyer; meanwhile a developer can secure and copy everything you can reach.

What to have ready

• Your domain name(s) and the WHOIS result
• Every login that still works, and the email addresses linked to each account
• The contract, quotes and invoices from the old developer
• Your company registration documents (registrars and hosts ask for them)

Our prices

Subscriptions run at least three months, then three months' notice. We sign an NDA if you need one, we work in your repository, and you own the code. See all options on our pricing page.

How to make sure it never happens again

• Every account in your company's name, with a company email address, and the developer added as a user. That covers registrar, hosting, repository, app stores, payments and analytics.
• Code in your repository, pushed regularly, not only on the developer's laptop.
• Ownership in the contract: an explicit assignment or licence of the code, and a handover clause for passwords and documentation. Our outsourcing checklist lists the contract points.
• Short documentation: an access list and deployment steps, kept up to date.
• A maintenance contract with a team, not one person. When someone is ill or leaves, someone else knows your setup. See what website maintenance costs.

Get someone on it today

If your developer has gone quiet and you are not sure what you still control, ask for emergency help. A senior developer goes through the inventory with you, secures what you can reach, and tells you in plain language what is recoverable. You pay for the hours used, from $85 an hour.