How to Back Up Your Squarespace Site (2026 Guide)

Why You Should Back Up Your Squarespace Website

Most Squarespace site owners assume the platform handles backups automatically. Squarespace does maintain some version history through its page editor, but this is not a true full-site backup - it will not protect you from accidentally deleting a page, losing your template customizations in a redesign, or needing to migrate your content to another platform in the future.

There are several situations where having a Squarespace backup becomes critical. If you are doing a major redesign and want to preserve the current version of your site, you need a backup first. If you are switching platforms, you will need an export of your content. If a team member accidentally deletes pages or blog posts, having a local copy means the difference between a five-minute restore and a total rewrite. And if you ever need to review your site's previous state for legal, compliance, or brand consistency reasons, a backup is the only reliable reference.

The bottom line: Squarespace backup is your responsibility, and the tools to do it are built right into your account. There is no reason not to use them.

How to Export Your Squarespace Site Content (XML Export)

The most comprehensive export option Squarespace offers is the XML content export. This is the primary method for backing up your blog posts, pages, and basic site content in a format that can be imported into other platforms - including WordPress.

Step-by-Step: Squarespace XML Export

To export your Squarespace site content, log in to your Squarespace account and go to your site's Settings panel. From there, navigate to Advanced, then click Import / Export Content. On the export screen, click Export and choose WordPress as the export format - this generates an XML file containing your blog posts, pages, and basic content structure.

Once the export is complete, download the XML file and save it somewhere safe - a cloud storage folder, an external drive, or both. This file contains the text content of your blog posts, page titles, tags, and categories. It does not include your images, template settings, or commerce data, so those require separate steps covered below.

It is worth noting that the XML export covers only certain content types. Blog posts export reliably. Static pages export in a limited form. Portfolio, events, and products may not export in full, so do not rely solely on the XML export as your only backup method for sites with diverse content types.

How to Back Up Your Squarespace Design and Template Settings

Your Squarespace design settings - fonts, colors, spacing, and template customizations - are not included in the XML export. If you ever need to recreate your current design, or you want a reference point before a major redesign, you need to capture these separately.

Screenshot Your Style Editor Settings

The simplest approach is to take detailed screenshots of your Style Editor (Design > Style Editor) capturing all your font choices, color palette, spacing settings, and any layout-specific options your template uses. Work through every section methodically and save the screenshots in a clearly labeled folder.

This is especially important if you have spent significant time perfecting your Squarespace design. Our guide to Squarespace design tips covers the style decisions worth documenting in detail - including font pairings, color ratios, and layout principles that are easy to forget when you are starting fresh.

Save Your Custom CSS

If you have added any custom CSS to your Squarespace site, this absolutely needs to be backed up separately. Go to Design > Custom CSS and copy your entire code block into a plain text file. Save it with a filename that includes your site name and the date - for example, mysite-custom-css-2026-03.txt.

Custom CSS is one of the most time-consuming parts of a Squarespace site to rebuild from scratch. If you want to understand what your CSS is doing and why, our full guide on how to add custom CSS to Squarespace walks through the most common customizations and how to manage them safely. Back this up every time you make changes.

How to Download Your Squarespace Images and Media

Images are not included in the XML export, and Squarespace does not offer a bulk image download from the admin panel. This means backing up your media library requires a manual approach - but it is worth the effort, especially for sites with original photography or brand assets.

Manually Download Your Image Library

For smaller sites, the most reliable method is to go through your Squarespace Media Library and download images individually or in small batches. Navigate to the Media page in your site's admin panel, select images, and use your browser's right-click save option or download button.

For larger sites with hundreds of images, you can use a browser extension or website downloader tool to crawl your live Squarespace site and download all image files from the pages. Tools like HTTrack or browser-based site downloaders can help automate this. Whatever method you use, organize your downloaded images by page or section to make them easier to restore if needed.

Keep Original Source Files

If you have original high-resolution photos, graphics, or brand assets that were uploaded to Squarespace, your first and best backup strategy is to keep the originals on your local machine or in a cloud folder. Never treat Squarespace as your primary storage for original assets. Upload copies, keep originals.

How to Back Up Squarespace Commerce Data

For Squarespace stores, backing up your product catalog and order history is critical. Commerce data - products, inventory, customer orders, and coupon codes - is not included in the standard XML export and must be exported separately through the Commerce panel.

Export Your Product Catalog

Go to Commerce > Inventory in your Squarespace dashboard. From here you can export your product catalog as a CSV file that includes product names, descriptions, prices, SKUs, and inventory counts. This CSV is the most portable format for your product data and can be imported into most other e-commerce platforms if you ever need to migrate.

Export Your Order History

Navigate to Commerce > Orders and use the export option to download your full order history as a CSV. This gives you a permanent local record of all transactions, which is important for accounting, tax purposes, and customer service. Export this regularly - at least monthly - not just as a one-off backup.

Export Customer Email List

Your customer email list is one of the most valuable assets associated with your Squarespace store. Go to Commerce > Customers and export your subscriber list as a CSV. Store this file securely. If you ever migrate away from Squarespace, having your customer list means you can continue the relationship on a new platform without starting from zero.

How to Back Up Your Squarespace Blog Posts

Blog posts are included in the XML export covered above, but there are a few additional steps worth taking to ensure your blog content is fully protected.

First, verify that the XML export actually captured all of your posts by opening the file and checking post counts. Large blogs with hundreds of posts occasionally experience incomplete exports. If you notice missing posts, run the export again or manually copy the content of high-value posts into a separate document.

Second, note that the XML export captures post text but not embedded images. For important blog posts that rely heavily on images to communicate their value, take screenshots of the final rendered post as a visual reference alongside the XML backup.

Third, if your Squarespace SEO relies on specific URL slugs and internal linking, document your site's URL structure separately. A spreadsheet listing your most important post URLs, titles, and target keywords is an invaluable reference during any redesign or migration. For a deeper look at how to build your site's SEO foundation, see our Squarespace SEO guide.

How to Save Your Squarespace Page Structure

The XML export captures some page content, but it does not capture the visual layout, section order, or block-level structure of your Squarespace pages. If you have built complex pages using the Squarespace page editor - with multiple sections, columns, custom spacing, and embedded content - those structural decisions are not preserved in any export file.

The most reliable method for backing up your page structure is a combination of screenshots and written documentation. Work through each page of your site and screenshot the full-page layout. For complex pages, also document the section types, block types, and any settings that are not visible in a screenshot.

If your site has extensive design customizations, our guide to how to customize your Squarespace website covers the customization layers that are most important to document before a redesign - from page sections down to individual block settings.

Creating a Complete Squarespace Backup: Full Checklist

A complete Squarespace site backup covers six areas. Work through each one and confirm it is saved before you consider your backup complete.

1. XML Content Export - Go to Settings > Advanced > Import / Export Content and export as WordPress XML. Save the downloaded file with a date stamp.

2. Custom CSS - Go to Design > Custom CSS, copy all code, and save it as a plain text file. Date-stamp the filename.

3. Style Editor Screenshots - Work through every section of Design > Style Editor and capture screenshots of your fonts, colors, and layout settings.

4. Media/Images - Download your key images from the Media Library and verify your original source files are stored locally or in cloud storage.

5. Commerce Data (if applicable) - Export product catalog, order history, and customer list as CSV files from the Commerce panel.

6. Page Structure Documentation - Screenshot each key page in full and document any complex layouts that would be time-consuming to recreate.

Once all six are complete, store everything in a clearly labeled folder - something like Squarespace-Backup-YYYY-MM - in your cloud storage and on a local drive. Set a reminder to refresh your backup whenever you make significant changes to the site.

What Squarespace Does Not Back Up For You

It helps to be clear about what falls outside Squarespace's built-in version control. Squarespace does maintain a 30-day page revision history for individual pages, which you can access through the page editor. This allows you to roll back recent changes to a specific page - but it is not a full-site backup, and it expires after 30 days.

Squarespace does not provide automatic scheduled backups that you can restore in full. It does not maintain a downloadable snapshot of your entire site - including design, content, images, and settings - in a single archive. And it does not send you backup confirmation emails or alerts. The responsibility is entirely yours.

Understanding these limitations is not a criticism of Squarespace - it is simply the nature of hosted website builders. Squarespace handles hosting, security, and uptime reliably. But content and design preservation between versions is up to the site owner.

Back Up Your Squarespace Site Before It Is Too Late

The time to back up your Squarespace website is not after something goes wrong - it is right now, before anything does. A complete Squarespace backup takes less than an hour the first time and becomes a quick routine from there. Export your content, save your CSS, document your design, download your images, and export your commerce data. Store it all somewhere safe and set a reminder to repeat it regularly.

Your Squarespace site represents real investment - time, creativity, money, and the trust of your audience. None of that should live in only one place. A backup is not paranoia. It is professionalism.

If you are ready to build or rebuild your Squarespace site with confidence, start from a strong foundation and know that your work is protected every step of the way.