How to export a Squarespace site, and what it leaves out

Squarespace's built-in export produces one WordPress-format .xml file containing your layout pages, a single blog (all its posts, up to 1,000 comments each), text and image blocks, and version 7.0 gallery pages. Store, events and portfolio pages, audio and video blocks, drafts, style settings and custom CSS stay behind, and there is no HTML export. Products, orders, contacts, form submissions and members each have their own CSV export, so run all of them before you cancel.

What the Squarespace export is, and what it is not

Squarespace's help article Export your site content describes a single format: "The exported file can only be in a WordPress format." You click the WordPress icon even if you are moving somewhere else. The same article explains why the file is partial: "Many features rely on our platform's JavaScript and CSS, so some content doesn't export."

Three consequences:

• There is no HTML or ZIP export. To get HTML files, you save the published pages (route 3 below).
• Your design does not come with it. Style settings and custom CSS are on the "doesn't export" list.
• It is not a backup you can restore into Squarespace. Squarespace says you can't export content from one Squarespace site and import it into another. Products and contacts can move between Squarespace sites as CSV files.

The export also needs a live site: published, with availability set to Public. Trial sites can't export.

What the export includes, and how to get the rest

As of October 2026, from Squarespace's import and export overview and the articles linked in each section below:

Content	In the .xml export?	How to get it
Layout pages, text blocks, image blocks	Yes	.xml export
One blog page with its posts and up to 1,000 comments per post	Yes	.xml export (you pick the blog)
Additional blog pages	No	Move posts into one blog first, or export once per blog
Embed and Instagram blocks	Text only, "minimum structure"	Re-add embeds by hand
Gallery pages, including York project pages (7.0)	Yes	.xml export
Gallery sections (7.1)	Not on Squarespace's list	Check the file; save images separately
Album, cover, index, info, portfolio and calendar (events) pages	No	Rebuild, or capture the public pages
Store pages and product blocks	No	Products CSV (up to 10,000 physical and service products)
Orders	No	Orders CSV, or auto-export to Google Drive or Zapier
Audio blocks, video blocks, uploaded videos	No	No bulk download; keep your original files
Image files	Image blocks export, but files can stay on Squarespace's servers	WordPress.com import, the Asset library, or the script below
Linked PDFs	In the file, but won't import to WordPress	Download each from the live site
Page-specific headers, footers and sidebars; dropdowns; drafts	No	Copy by hand
Style settings and custom CSS	No	Copy CSS from the Custom CSS panel
Contacts, mailing lists and segments	No	Contacts CSV; lists and segments export separately
Form submissions	No	Export Submissions on each form block
Members, donations	No	CSV downloads in Lists & Segments and Donations
Acuity Scheduling appointments and clients	No	Export inside Acuity

How to run the Squarespace export

1. Publish the site and set its availability to Public. If the site has expired, Squarespace says reactivating the subscription may let you export, but a long-expired site's content may already be deleted.
2. If you have more than one blog page, deal with the extras first (see the FAQ below).
3. Open the Import & export content panel and click Export.
4. Click the WordPress icon.
5. If there is more than one blog page, choose the primary blog from the dropdown, then click Export. Only that blog exports.
6. Wait for processing. Squarespace says this can take a few minutes on larger sites.
7. Click Download to save the .xml file. Clear erases the export.

Also paste anything in the Custom CSS and Code Injection panels into a text file. Neither is in the export, and any scripts or tags you added there will need re-adding on the new site.

Save the image files yourself

Squarespace says it's "not possible to export images or uploaded videos from your site in bulk." You can download images one at a time from the Asset library. Squarespace's image URL article says its image URLs begin with images.squarespace-cdn.com, static.squarespace.com or static1.squarespace.com. If your .xml file points at those hosts (open it in a text editor and search for "squarespace"), you can list every referenced file and download them in one pass while the site is still live:

# list each Squarespace-hosted file the export references (use your file's name)
grep -oE "https?://(images\.squarespace-cdn\.com|static1?\.squarespace\.com)[^\"'<>) ]*" export.xml | sort -u > images.txt

# download them; --input-file reads one URL per line
wget -x --input-file=images.txt

The second command uses wget's --input-file option, and -x keeps each file under its original host and path, so you can match it to the URL in your posts. One image can appear at several sizes, so expect some duplicates. Uploaded videos can't be downloaded this way; Squarespace tells you to keep your own backups, so find the originals before you cancel.

Export the data the .xml file leaves out

Products

In Products & Services, click Products, then Export all (or select products and click Export). The product CSV holds up to 10,000 products and uses Squarespace's import format plus a column for pages. It leaves out additional product information, customer reviews, featured images, product image alt text and variant images. Check the destination's CSV format before importing. Squarespace describes Export all as covering physical and service products, so save digital product files yourself, and download gift cards from the gift cards panel.

Orders

In Products & Services, click Orders, then Export data → Download CSV, and choose statuses, a date range and all or one product. Per Squarespace's order export article, only orders for active, visible products export; hidden products and products on disabled store pages are excluded. As of October 2026, Core, Plus and Advanced plans (and some legacy plans) can also auto-export orders to Google Drive.

Contacts and mailing lists

In the Contacts panel, use Export all contacts. Notes and saved addresses aren't in that CSV, except a customer's last used address on a physical product order. Mailing lists and segments export from the Lists & Segments panel, but the Form Submitters segment can't be exported, so get form data from the forms themselves.

Form submissions

Each form block exports its own CSV: open the page, click Edit, click the block's pencil icon, then Export Submissions in the Content tab. Uploaded files aren't in the CSV, though the rows link to them. If a form has no required email field, the block keeps each submission for only 30 days, so export those first.

Members, donations and bookings

• Members: in Lists & Segments, open a pricing plan (or Members for every plan) and click the download arrow.
• Donations: in the Contributions panel, click Export Data → Download .csv, or auto-export to Google Drive.
• Appointments: the Scheduling block runs on Acuity Scheduling. In Acuity, export appointments under Reports → Import/Export and clients under Clients → Import/export.

Canceling the website does not cancel everything. Squarespace says domains, Google Workspace, Acuity Scheduling and Email Campaigns stay active and keep billing after the site goes offline, so cancel each one you no longer need.

Route 1: import the file into WordPress

WordPress.com

Per WordPress.com's Squarespace import guide (last reviewed August 12, 2026): go to Tools → Import, choose the Squarespace importer, upload the file, map authors, and click Start Import. Squarespace recommends this route because WordPress.com copies your images to its own servers; check the Media Library afterward anyway. Keep the Squarespace site public until the import is done.

To keep blog URLs, WordPress.com suggests a custom permalink of /blog/%postname%, which needs a Personal, Premium, Business or Commerce plan (as of October 2026). Products move separately: the Squarespace product CSV imports into WooCommerce.

One discrepancy: WordPress.com's guide says the file contains "audio files, and embedded video." Squarespace's own list says audio and video blocks don't export. Plan around Squarespace's list.

Self-hosted WordPress

WordPress.org's importing content documentation covers the generic importer: Tools → Import, install and run the WordPress importer, choose the file, map authors, and tick "Download and import file attachments." Even so, Squarespace warns that with the WordPress Importer plugin "your images might not migrate": WordPress can keep links to Squarespace's copies, and those stop working after you cancel. After importing, search your posts for squarespace and re-upload anything still pointing there, using the files from the script above.

Route 2: rebuild on another platform

Squarespace's export documentation covers only WordPress as a destination. Elsewhere, treat the .xml as a text archive and, as Squarespace suggests for failed imports, copy text and images straight from the live site. Products and contacts travel as CSV files; check each destination's column format first. The design is rebuilt by hand.

Route 3: save the public pages as static HTML

Squarespace has no HTML export, so "Squarespace to HTML" means saving the published pages. A capture keeps the rendered layout and images, including the design the .xml file drops. Fonts licensed through Squarespace may not be usable outside it, so plan replacement fonts, and check whether your copy still loads images or scripts from Squarespace before you cancel. It cannot keep anything that runs on Squarespace's servers:

• Store and checkout need a commerce service.
• Scheduling needs a booking tool. Acuity says its scheduler can be embedded on almost any website.
• Forms need a form service, because Squarespace handles where submissions are stored and sent.
• Member areas, logins and paywalls need a membership service. A copied page does not enforce access.
• Later edits aren't picked up. A capture is a snapshot, so capture again after changes.

FNJ's Squarespace to HTML converter captures the public pages from the site's URL; you download the files, push them to GitHub, or deploy to your own Cloudflare Pages or Vercel account (FNJ does not host sites). Some hosts block automated capture, and FNJ reports that rather than exporting a broken site. The Squarespace to HTML export guide covers checking galleries, navigation and replacement services.

A crawler such as wget can mirror a site too. By default it won't visit hosts other than the one you name, and Squarespace serves images from CDN hosts.

Move your Squarespace domain

A Squarespace-registered domain doesn't expire when you cancel the website; it keeps auto-renewing. (Free legacy domains registered before March 5, 2015 are the exception: at cancellation you choose whether to let them expire or pay to renew.) You can keep it at Squarespace and point it at your new host, or transfer it away. A domain bought elsewhere should be disconnected from the Squarespace site before you cancel.

To transfer a Squarespace domain:

1. Screenshot your DNS records. Most providers can't keep them during a transfer.
2. Remove DNSSEC if you added it.
3. In the domains dashboard, open the domain and switch the Domain Lock toggle off.
4. Click Request transfer code and confirm with your password or 2FA. The code goes to the registrant's email within 24 hours.
5. Give the code to the new provider. The transfer can take up to 15 days.

A domain registered or transferred in within the last 60 days may be locked; point it at the new site meanwhile. Squarespace's free-domain offer doesn't carry over. If Google Workspace uses the domain, set its MX records at the new provider. Transferring the domain doesn't cancel the website, so do that separately.

Keep your URLs and rankings

Write down every public URL before you switch and plan a 301 redirect for any that change, including posts you move between blog pages, which Squarespace gives new URLs. Our redirect map guide covers building and testing the list.

A safe order: export the .xml, CSVs, images and CSS; build and check the new site; set up redirects; move the domain; cancel Squarespace last.

If all you need is the public site as static files, FNJ covers that one step. Your store, bookings, forms and members still need the exports above and their own services.

Frequently asked questions

Can you export a Squarespace website as HTML?

No. Squarespace's only site export is a WordPress-format .xml file. To get HTML, you capture the published pages with a converter or crawler. The capture keeps the look of the public pages, but store checkout, scheduling, forms and member areas need separate services.

Does the Squarespace export include images?

Image blocks and gallery pages are in the export, but how the images arrive depends on the importer. Squarespace says WordPress.com copies them, while a self-hosted WordPress import may keep links to Squarespace that stop working after you cancel. There is no bulk image download; the Asset library offers one image at a time.

Can I export more than one blog from Squarespace?

Each export includes one blog page. You can move posts from other blog pages into the one you export (their URLs change, so set up redirects), or you can try clearing the export and selecting a different primary blog.

How do I move a Squarespace store to WordPress?

Store pages and product blocks aren't in the .xml file. Export products as a CSV (up to 10,000) and import it into WooCommerce, then add featured images, variant images, alt text, additional information and reviews by hand, since the CSV leaves them out. Export orders separately for your records.

What happens to my domain if I cancel Squarespace?

A domain registered through Squarespace stays yours and keeps auto-renewing after you cancel the website, except a free legacy domain, where you choose at cancellation whether to let it expire or pay to renew. You can point it at a new host, transfer it to another registrar (up to 15 days), or turn off auto-renew to let it lapse.