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How to Leave Squarespace: Export What You Can, Move the Site, Keep Your Domain

Published Updated 19 min readEject Team

Squarespace's site export is a WordPress XML file, not HTML. Export products, forms, contacts, and images, copy DNS by hand, point the domain, then cancel before renewal.

Steps and policies verified on October 21, 2026 from Squarespace Help. Links are at the bottom.

How do I export a Squarespace website and leave?

It depends on the site. Squarespace does not export the site as HTML. The site export is an .xml file, and Squarespace says that file can only be in a WordPress format. A simple portfolio or brochure site still has to be rebuilt from the live pages, hosted somewhere else, and pointed at with your domain before you cancel. You can take layout pages and one blog in that file, a products CSV, form-submission CSVs, contacts, Email Campaigns mailing lists, and images one at a time. DNS is not in the export. You copy the records from the DNS panel. If the site sells through Squarespace, has member areas, takes bookings, or runs a large blog, staying on Squarespace is the better choice.

Leaving Squarespace is an order-of-operations problem. Export every list Squarespace will give you, copy the live pages, put the new site on a host you control, point the domain, and only then cancel the website subscription. Do it before the payment date. Unless you pay by SEPA, Squarespace emails a reminder 15 days before an annual subscription renews. Monthly subscriptions renew with no reminder email.

This guide is for simple sites: portfolios, landing pages, and small-business brochure sites of about 10 pages. What a Squarespace plan costs is on Squarespace renewal cost. Putting the files on Cloudflare Pages, and the Cloudflare side of a registrar transfer, are on Move a Squarespace site to Cloudflare. Yearly prices for other builders, and which ones let you keep the site, are in Squarespace alternatives. This page does not repeat those prices or those host steps. Read your own billing page before you cancel.

What you can export, and what you cannot

Squarespace is plain about the site file. From Export your site content: "You can export certain content from your Squarespace site into an .xml file. Many features rely on our platform's JavaScript and CSS, so some content doesn't export." The same article says the file "can only be in a WordPress format," and you click the WordPress icon even if you are not moving to WordPress. Import to and export from your site lists three exports: site content to an .xml file, products to a .csv, and contacts to a .csv. DNS is not on that list.

What Wix, Webflow, and Framer export, next to this, is in Can you export your website?.

WhatLeaves with you?What Squarespace actually allows
The site, as HTMLNoThe export is an .xml file, and it can only be in a WordPress format.
Layout pages and one blogPartialLayout pages, text blocks, image blocks, and gallery pages export. One blog exports, with its posts and up to 1000 comments per post. A second blog does not.
Album, cover, index, info, calendar, portfolio, and store pagesNoThese page types do not export. Page-specific headers, footers, and sidebars do not either.
Dropdown, audio, product, and video blocksNoDrafts, style settings, and custom CSS do not export. Embed and Instagram blocks export text with minimum structure.
ProductsCSV, not the storeUp to 10,000 physical and service products. The file skips featured images, variant images, alt text, reviews, and additional product information.
Form submissionsCSV from each formOne row per submission, all fields. Uploaded files are not included. With no required email, each submission is kept for 30 days.
ContactsYes, as CSVAll contacts, or a selection. Notes and saved addresses are left out, except a customer's last used address on a physical product order.
Email Campaigns mailing listsYes, as CSVLists & Segments downloads a .zip of three CSVs: subscribed, unsubscribed, and cleaned.
Form Submitters segmentNoThat segment cannot be exported. Form answers are not in the contacts file.
Images and uploaded videosImages, one at a timeNo bulk download from the Asset library. Uploaded videos cannot be downloaded.
Linked filesOne at a timeRight-click the public link. You cannot download every file at once.
DNS recordsNo zone fileCopy them from DNS settings, or screenshot them. The export list does not include DNS.

Step 1: Export the site content XML

Do this while the site is still public. Squarespace will not export a trial site, and the site availability has to be Public.

  1. Open the Import & export content panel.
  2. Click Export, then the WordPress icon. The file is WordPress XML even if WordPress is not the destination.
  3. If the site has more than one blog page, pick a primary blog. Only that blog exports, including its posts and up to 1000 comments per post.
  4. Wait for the export, then click Download. Clear throws the file away.

Save the XML somewhere that is not the Squarespace account. You cannot use it to import the site into another Squarespace site. Squarespace says that import can cause broken image links.

The XML is not a full backup of the design. Album, cover, index, info, calendar, portfolio, and store pages do not export. Page-specific headers, footers, and sidebars do not. Dropdowns, audio blocks, product blocks, and video blocks do not. Drafts, style settings, and custom CSS do not. Gallery pages do, including York project pages on version 7.0. Text from embed blocks and Instagram blocks exports with minimum structure. Some linked PDFs can be inside the XML and still fail to import into WordPress.

If you later import that file into self-hosted WordPress with the WordPress Importer, Squarespace says the images might not come along. WordPress can keep reference links, and those links stop working after you cancel Squarespace. Download the images yourself in step 3. An expired site may need the subscription reactivated before an export will run, and Squarespace says the content may already be deleted. Export before you let the site expire.

Step 2: Export products, form submissions, contacts, and mailing lists

Products. Open Products & Services → Products → Export all for physical and service products. To export some of them, select the checkboxes and click Export. The cap is 10,000 products. The CSV does not include additional product information, customer reviews, featured images, product image alt text, or variant images (Export products to a .csv). A product CSV is a catalog. It does not include the product images, and it is not the storefront.

Form submissions. Edit the page, click the form block, open the pencil icon, and in the Content tab click Export Submissions. The CSV has every field, one submission per row. Uploaded files are not in the CSV. Squarespace says you can click the direct links in that field to download the files (Form blocks). Do this for every form. A form with a required email address keeps submissions until you delete the contact or the submission. A form with no required email address keeps each submission for 30 days. Export those before the 30 days run out.

The Form Submitters segment cannot be exported. Those people can appear in the main contacts export, and form answers are not in that file (Organizing contacts with lists and segments).

Contacts. Open the Contacts panel. For everyone, click the three-dot icon, then Export all contacts, then Confirm. For some people, select them, use the three-dot icon under the filters, then Export contacts. Notes and saved addresses are not in the CSV, except a customer's last used address on a physical product order (The Contacts panel).

Email Campaigns audiences. Those audiences are mailing lists. Open Lists & Segments, click the three-dot icon on the list, then Export. Squarespace downloads a .zip with three CSVs: subscribed users, unsubscribed users, and cleaned users (Build mailing lists).

Step 3: Download images and files

Squarespace does not offer a bulk download of the Asset library. Open Assets, hover the image, click the three dots, then File Details. When the preview loads, right-click it and save it. One image at a time. Uploaded videos cannot be downloaded. Unsplash images in the library can be downloaded and reused (Add and reuse images with the Asset library).

Linked files are the same idea. Open the public page, right-click the file link, and choose Save link as or Download linked file. You cannot download every file at once (Upload, rename, and delete files on your site).

Use these files on the new site. A screenshot of a page is not the original image.

Step 4: Copy DNS records by hand

There is no Squarespace zone-file download. The import and export guide lists site content, products, and contacts. DNS help shows records in the panel so you can edit them, and the transfer guide tells you to record them yourself.

Open the domains dashboard, click the domain, then DNS. Copy type, name, priority, TTL, and data for every record you rely on, especially MX, TXT (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and CNAMEs. A screenshot of the whole DNS settings page is what Squarespace recommends before a transfer: "To keep your current DNS settings, record them prior to starting the transfer. Most domain hosts can't keep your settings in place during a transfer." (Transferring a domain away from Squarespace).

That panel is for a domain registered at Squarespace, or connected with Nameserver Connect. If a third-party domain is connected with DNS Connect, Squarespace says the DNS settings are stored with that other provider. Copy them there.

A change you make in Squarespace DNS can take 24 to 48 hours (Edit your domain's DNS records). You cannot edit DNS, nameservers, or DNSSEC while a transfer is pending, so take the screenshot before you request an auth code.

Step 5: Rebuild the live pages

The XML is a content file, not the site. Rebuild while Squarespace is still public:

  1. List every URL. Home, about, services, contact, and each blog post that you want to keep. Note forms and embeds.
  2. Copy the words from the live pages, and use the original images from step 3.
  3. Rebuild the pages as files: HTML, CSS, and images. You can do that yourself, ask ChatGPT or any free AI chatbot to draft the pages from your text and screenshots, or have someone copy the live site for you.
  4. Replace the form. The Squarespace form does not come with the copy. Point the new form at a form handler and send yourself a test. You already have the old submissions from step 2.
  5. Write down the old paths for redirects. The new path does not have to match the old one. A 301 tells Google, and anyone with an old link, that the page moved.

For a simple site of about 10 pages, Eject copies the live pages into files you own. The move is $99 once. You host the files on free static hosting on your own account. The Squarespace site stays live until you switch the domain. Stores, member areas, scheduling, and a large blog are outside that move. Not sure the site is simple enough? Run the free check.

Upload, file limits, and the _redirects file for Cloudflare Pages are on Move a Squarespace site to Cloudflare. Read every new URL on the preview address before you point the domain.

Step 6: Point the domain, then transfer it only if you want to

Point the domain at the new host before you transfer the registration, and before you cancel Squarespace. Leave the plan paid until the new site answers on your domain. If something is wrong, point DNS back.

A domain lock does not block that. Squarespace says that if your Squarespace domain is locked and you want to use it with a non-Squarespace website, you can point the domain at the new site and transfer later, after the lock ends (Domain locks). The nameserver and CNAME steps for Cloudflare Pages are on the Cloudflare guide. Put the MX and other records from your screenshot on the DNS host that will serve the domain before email has to flow there.

Transferring the registration is optional. Pointing DNS does not transfer the domain. A transfer does not move the site, and it does not cancel the website subscription. If the transfer is part of leaving, Squarespace says to cancel the website after the domain has moved. You can also leave the registration at Squarespace, because canceling the website does not cancel the domain. A free domain offer does not carry over to the new provider.

What a Squarespace domain costs after the free year is in Domain renewal cost.

If you do transfer, from Transferring a domain away from Squarespace:

  1. Open the domains dashboard, click the domain, and switch Domain Lock off. If the toggle does not appear, continue to the transfer code. If Squarespace says it can't unlock the domain, a lock you cannot remove is still running. Turning off the default lock does not remove a registration lock, a transfer lock, or a contact-update lock.
  2. Remove DNSSEC in advanced settings before you start. You cannot turn DNSSEC on or off during a pending transfer.
  3. Click Request transfer code. Squarespace asks for your password or two-factor authentication again.
  4. The auth code (Squarespace also calls it an EPP code, transfer key, or authorization code) goes to the registrant contact from no-reply@squarespace.com. The subject is "Auth code for [yourdomain.com]". Squarespace says it should arrive within 24 hours. Check spam. If you request the code more than once, only the newest code works.
  5. Give that code to the new registrar. The new registrar will not accept the domain without it. The transfer can take up to 15 days.

The 60-day locks, from Domain locks. Squarespace follows the ICANN Transfer Policy for generic top-level domains:

  • New registration. A 60-day lock, unless the domain is a country-code ending that does not require it.
  • Transfer into Squarespace. A 60-day lock, with the same country-code exception.
  • Registrant contact change. Squarespace Domains LLC, Squarespace Domains II LLC, and Key-Systems can apply a 60-day contact update lock. That lock cannot be turned off. Tucows locks the domain for 10 days if you change the contact email.
  • Country-code domains you can transfer without waiting 60 days: .co.uk, .org.uk, .uk, .au, .com.au, .de, .eu, .fr, .it, .jp, .nl, .nz, .co.nz, .pl, and .pw.

While you wait, point the domain. Do not change the registrant email just to "clean up" the contact record. That can start a new lock.

Squarespace says you do not need to turn off Whois privacy to transfer, though some registrars still use an older flow that asks for it. If the registrar of record is Squarespace Domains LLC or Squarespace Domains II LLC, an email from customercare@squarespace.com with the subject "New domain transfer request" gives you up to 5 days to reject the transfer. If you do nothing, Squarespace accepts it after that grace period. After the transfer, add your mail records again at the new DNS host. Google Workspace stays in the Squarespace dashboard until you cancel that subscription on its own.

Step 7: Stop the Squarespace subscription after the new site is live

Cancel the website plan only after the domain is serving the new site, and before Squarespace charges the next term.

Find the date first. Open Billing → Subscriptions → Website (or Store, depending on the plan). The Payment due date is the next renewal (Manage automatic subscription renewals). The domain has its own date, under Billing → Subscriptions → Domains, or on the domain's Renews on line if billing is separate.

Then, from Cancel your website subscription:

  1. Open Billing for the site.
  2. Under Subscriptions, click the plan.
  3. Click Cancel subscription.
  4. Inside the refund window on an annual plan, choose Retain Access to keep the site until the billing cycle ends, or Get Refund Immediately to take it offline now. Outside that window, the site stays online until the billing cycle ends.
  5. Pick a reason, review any other subscriptions, and confirm Cancel subscription.

The click path for Wix, Webflow, and Framer, and what each one does to the site and the domain, is in How to cancel a website subscription.

The refund window is 14 days from purchase, and only for an annual plan. Squarespace does not refund monthly plans, renewal payments, or an annual plan canceled after those 14 days. "Cancel before the renewal date to avoid being charged." If you cancel an annual plan within 14 days and the plan included a free domain, the cost of the domain is deducted from the refund (Website refund policy). Wait until day 15 if you want to keep the term you already paid for. Get Refund Immediately takes the Squarespace site offline the same day, so use it only after the domain already shows the new site.

After the website subscription ends, a "Website expired" message appears when someone visits the old site from your domains. That is why the domain has to point at the new host first. Canceling stops the website payments and keeps the data so you can reactivate later. It does not delete the site. Deleting permanently removes content, and Squarespace only allows that after the site is already expired or canceled. A legacy plan cannot be reactivated as the same plan.

Canceling the website does not cancel the other bills. These stay active and keep billing:

  • Domains. You can keep the registration, manage DNS, or transfer it.
  • Google Workspace. Professional email stays billed in the dashboard until you cancel it.
  • Acuity Scheduling. The scheduling subscription stays active, and clients can still book on the scheduling page.
  • Email Campaigns. The dashboard stays available so you can still export mailing lists. Automated campaigns stop sending when the site goes offline.

A Digital Products plan pauses member sites for 30 days, and members lose access unless you move to a current plan. Search engines stop indexing the old Squarespace site. Squarespace says it can take several weeks for the old pages to drop, and that the new site is indexed once it is live.

A timeline that works

Count back from the payment due date on the website subscription, not from a guess. On a monthly plan there is no reminder email, so pick the date from Billing and work backward from that.

WhenDo this
As soon as you decideExport the XML, products, every form, contacts, and mailing lists. Download images and linked files. Screenshot DNS.
Before the 15-day annual reminder, or this month on a monthly planRebuild the pages. Test the new form. Write down the old URLs.
Before the payment dateNew site is on its preview URL. Point the domain. Confirm the real domain, including mail records.
After the new site is live, still before the paymentBilling → Subscriptions → Cancel subscription. Inside the first 14 days, wait until day 15 if you want to keep the term you paid for.
End of the billing cycleThe old Squarespace site shows Website expired. Visitors on your domain already see the new site.
Later, only if you wantTransfer the registration after any 60-day lock. Re-add MX records at the new DNS host.

When you should stay on Squarespace

  • You sell through Squarespace. Store pages and product blocks do not export. The product CSV leaves out the images, and a file host does not run checkout.
  • Members log in, or you sell Digital Products. A static copy does not replace member areas. Those areas pause when the website plan ends.
  • Customers book through Acuity Scheduling. Canceling the website leaves that subscription running, and a simple file host does not replace it.
  • The blog is large, or you have more than one blog. Only one blog page exports, and the design does not. Copying a long archive is a different project.
  • You edit in Squarespace every week and you want that editor.

None of that is a failure. Squarespace is good at the products it bundles. This guide is for the site that has not changed in months and is about to renew.

Keep editing after you leave

The usual worry is who changes the site after Squarespace is gone. The files are yours. You can ask ChatGPT, or any free AI chatbot, to change your hours or add a testimonial, then review the result and publish it. You do not need the Squarespace editor for a page of text and pictures.

Eject does the copy for a simple site: about 10 pages, $99 once, into files you own. You put them on free static hosting on your own account. The old site stays live until you switch the domain. It is not for a store, member areas, scheduling, or a large blog.

Check the site: free check. Have the move done: move a Squarespace site. See what the plan costs: Squarespace renewal cost. Host on Cloudflare: Squarespace to Cloudflare.

FAQ

Can I export a Squarespace website? Part of it. Squarespace exports certain content to an .xml file in WordPress format. Layout pages, text blocks, image blocks, gallery pages (including York project pages on version 7.0), and one blog page export. That blog export includes the posts and up to 1000 comments per post. Album, cover, index, info, calendar, portfolio, and store pages do not export, and neither do page-specific headers, footers, and sidebars, a second blog, dropdowns, audio blocks, product blocks, video blocks, drafts, style settings, or custom CSS. The site has to be published and set to Public. You can't export from a trial site.

Can you export a Squarespace site to HTML? No. Squarespace says the exported file can only be in a WordPress format. Click the WordPress icon even if you are not moving to WordPress. There is no HTML export of the site. Leaving a simple site means rebuilding or copying the live pages.

How do I export Squarespace products and form submissions? Products: open Products & Services, click Products, then Export all, or select products and click Export. The limit is 10,000 physical and service products. The CSV does not include additional product information, customer reviews, featured images, product image alt text, or variant images. Form submissions: edit the form block, open the Content tab, and click Export Submissions. The CSV has one submission per row and every form field. Uploaded files are not in the CSV. A form with no required email address stores each submission for 30 days. The Form Submitters segment cannot be exported, and form data is not included in a contacts export.

Does Squarespace export DNS records or a zone file? No. Squarespace's import and export guide lists site content as an .xml file, products as a .csv, and contacts as a .csv. It does not list a DNS or zone-file download. Open the domains dashboard, click the domain, then DNS, and copy every record. The transfer guide says to screenshot your DNS settings before a transfer, because most hosts do not keep them. If the domain is connected by DNS Connect, the records are stored with the other provider. A record change can take 24 to 48 hours.

How do I export Squarespace contacts and Email Campaigns lists? Open the Contacts panel, click the three-dot icon, then Export all contacts, and click Confirm. You can export a selection the same way. Notes and saved addresses are not in the CSV, except a customer's last used address on a physical product order. Email Campaigns audiences are mailing lists. Open Lists & Segments, click the three-dot icon on the list, then Export. Squarespace's mailing-list guide says that download is a .zip with three .csv files: subscribed users, unsubscribed users, and cleaned users. After the website goes offline, the Email Campaigns panel stays available so you can still export lists, and automated campaigns stop sending.

How do I stop paying Squarespace? Cancel the website subscription only after your domain serves the new site, and before the next payment date. Open Billing, then Subscriptions, then the plan, then Cancel subscription. Annual plans get a reminder email 15 days before renewal, unless you pay by SEPA. Monthly plans renew with no reminder email. You can request a full refund for an annual plan canceled within 14 days of purchase. There is no refund for a renewal payment, a monthly plan, or an annual plan after those 14 days. Outside that window the site stays online until the billing cycle ends. Canceling the website does not cancel the domain, Google Workspace, Acuity Scheduling, or Email Campaigns. Those stay active and keep billing until you cancel each one.

Sources (checked October 21, 2026)

Squarespace is a trademark of its owner. Eject is not affiliated with Squarespace.

Where to go next

The automated move is a $99 one-time fee for a simple site of about 10 pages. Custom work has no public price. See renewal watch or contact us.

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