How to upgrade from Squarespace 7.0 to 7.1 in 2026
Thereβs now an official, FREE, Squarespace-supported 7.0 to 7.1 Update Tool that can migrate your existing Squarespace 7.0 website to the latest version (Squarespace 7.1) without losing any of your data or your SEO!
This guide covers what to consider before you update your site, how to use the tool, and the feature differences between version 7.0 and 7.1.
The new tool doesnβt just move the visible website content, it also migrates all the backend content too, including all your SEO, orders, subscriptions, customer data, members, domains, products, product reviews and so on.
Is it worth upgrading to Squarespace 7.1?
Itβs worth upgrading if you want to use the newer features. They are:
Page Sections are the page building blocks of your website. You will build your site's pages and footers with customisable sections stacked vertically. You can add, delete, and move sections to arrange your content.
Fluid Engine is the latest page editing experience that allows you to place blocks almost anywhere for complete flexibility on Layout Pages.
Auto Layouts can automatically arrange sets of content in columns and rows, carousels, or slideshows.
Site-wide animations allow you to add styling effects to images.
Section Background Images allow you to add images to most page sections, and choose from a handful of image effects to create a visually striking website.
Use superior Commerce features that allow you to choose from several new Product Detail Page (PDP) layouts, add up to 10,000 products (instead of 200 per page!) and nest categories. You can also add Page Sections to Product List Pages (PLPs), making them more flexible than ever.
Digital Products allow you to sell access to gated content like videos, courses and membership sites.
Portfolio Pages are sylised landing pages that link visitors to sub-pages. This is a great way to organize and showcase galleries, projects and portfolios with fewer than 60 sub-pages.
Before you begin
This upgrade tool was released to the public on 15 November 2023. I was using the tool for months before this and I want to share my experience with you. I recommend you read the following information carefully before you use the tool. Spending some time doing your research will save you time and frustration later!
The Update Tool is now has a 150-page limit. This means you may need to reduce the size of your version 7.0 website before you can upgrade it to version 7.1. This is for performance reasons, but it gives you an opportunity to do some serious βspring-cleaningβ before you start the upgrade.
I strongly recommend duplicating your version 7.0 site before making any changes to your site. The duplicated site wonβt include any of your commerce data (sales, subscriptions or customers) and wonβt help you to restore your 7.0 site, but it will provide a helpful visual reference of your original site design. If you create a duplicate site, consider this a visual reference. Donβt upgrade the duplicate site as this will not contain any of your data or analytics, and custom code may not work.
If you need help or advice from an experienced Squarespace Expert, I recommend that you reach out for a chat (charges apply) before you try to convert your site. It is much easier to resolve potential issues before they occur, and talking it over with someone who has used the tool can really help. Iβve already been using it before it was released to the public and have seen most issues.
If your website is using Developer Mode (DM) instead of a consumer template and you are considering an upgrade then I recommend that you go and talk to your original developer. If you donβt know what Developer Mode is, you can ignore this paragraph. However, if your site is in DM, please know that upgrading can be a nightmare because disabling DM will permanently delete all the custom features on your site. There wonβt be a backup unless youβve saved all the individual files.
When you initially preview your website in 7.1, it is likely to look very different. Donβt be scared, this will be temporary! You will need to set time aside to preview the changes and update you site. Depending on the size of your site and your experience of using version 7.1 (which is very different to version 7.0) this may take a significant amount of time. Iβd estimate between 2 days (for an experienced Squarespace 7.1 user) to 14 days for someone new to Squarespace 7.1. The two versions 7.0 and 7.1 are very different. It took several weeks for professional Squarespace designers to get used to version 7.1, so donβt feel daunted. It gets easier and has many excellent features.
During the preview (before you click Publish), public visitors will not see the changes you are making. You can play with the version 7.1 version in preview mode for as long as you like, without affecting your live website. Public visitors can continue to use your website, unaffected by style changes you are making on the backend.
The upgrade is permanent. Once you click Publish, there is no going back! There is a Cancel button that allows you to cancel the upgrade at any time before you click Publish, but clicking this button is final. if you decide that you donβt like version 7.1 or you miss 7.0 features that have been removed, you wonβt be able to go back! Ensure you are 100% happy before you click Publish. Go back and read that again; it is important.
Cover pages and Album pages arenβt supported in version 7.1 and will disappear after the update. If you have used either of these, ensure you have saved backups of the text and audio files on something other than Squarespace.
If you have installed any plugins or extensions, these may not work after you have upgraded to 7.1. Before you upgrade, contact the supplier of each plugin/extension and check whether it will work with your upgraded site.
There are many more differences between version 7.0 features and version 7.1 features, with many older features no longer available or that work in a different way. Carefully review the differences between the two versions in this Squarespace guide before committing to use the new version.
What can you migrate?
Frontend content
Blog posts can be migrated, including images.
Events can be migrated
Standard content pages can be migrated
Text and images
Squarespace 7.1 site headers are more restrictive and have a single row. Brine-family template headers that include top and bottom sections cannot be migrated.
You cannot migrate Album Pages, Cover Pages or Gallery Pages. Ensure you have a manual backup (not a duplicated site) of all the data on these pages before you publish the new site.
Events Pages cannot be displayed as a calendar (they will be converted to a list).
Index Pages cannot be migrated. Squarespace 7.1 does not support index pages so they will be converted into Page Sections. This can cause some changes to the layout and functionality.
Template specific features like Info Pages (Aviator) and Project Pages (York) are not supported.
Backend content
Blog comments will be migrated
Product reviews will be migrated
Physical products will be migrated. The URL slug of individual product detail pages will change. Squarespace 7.1 product URLs will include /p/ within the slug. For example, mysite.com/store/myproduct will change to mysite.com/store/p/myproduct. A redirect will be created automatically to preserve existing links.
Digital products will be migrated.
Subscriptions (including memberships) will be migrated. Subscriptions will continue. This applies to memberships too.
Commerce settings will be migrated. You will not need to manually reconnect your payment processor(s), your shipping and /or pickup options.
Some Squarespace Extensions will be migrated. Other extensions and plugins may need to be reconnected or repurchased.
Uploaded files will be migrated.
Squarespace Email Campaigns will be migrated
Squarespace Scheduling (if connected) will be migrated
Analytics, customer accounts and historical order data will be migrated.
Custom code will need to be re-written as the two versions of Squarespace are different. The tool will copy the Custom CSS but will disable it to avoid compatibility issues. Code must usually be re-written to suit the new site and so we recommend you contact the original author of the code about migrating it.
If you are using any third-party plugins or extensions, check the specifications of each product to see if it can be reused on Squarespace 7.1.
This list is not exhaustive.
How to upgrade to Squarespace 7.1
Step 1 - Prepare for the update
Before you start the update:
Itβs a good idea to duplicate your site before you make any changes. To duplicate a site, it must contain fewer than 150 pages. The duplicated site will be a new Squarespace trial site. It wonβt include any of your commerce data (sales, subscriptions or customers) or analytics data and it wonβt have the same domain. However, it will be useful. If youβre new to 7.1 (itβs very different to the previous version) then I recommend practicing your upgrade on the duplicated site, to allow you to become familiar without affecting your live site. When you are confident and ready to upgrade the live site, make a duplicate as a visual reference of your original site design, for you to look at later. To be clear, it is better to upgrade your original site to 7.1 instead of a duplicate, otherwise your upgraded site will not contain any of your historical data. For details of what doesnβt duplicate, visit Duplicating a site.
Cover pages and Album pages arenβt supported in version 7.1 and will disappear after the update. To keep the content on these pages, ensure you have text and audio files saved locally to your computer.
Step 2 - Start the update process
1. Go to Website > Design > Update to Version 7.1. If this option isnβt shown, you are using a discontinued template or Developer Mode.
If you are using one of the older discontinued templates then I recommend choosing a Brine family template (too many to list but youβll find them listed here). If youβre not using one of these templates, you can swap templates before upgrading, but bear in mind that the new template wonβt have the same features as your old template and this may cause some major style and functional changes to your site. If you donβt know which template you're currently using, take a look at What's my site's version and template?
If your website is using Developer Mode instead of a consumer template, it cannot be upgraded, at least not easily. Youβll first need to disable Developer Mode and then swap to one of the supported templates (mentioned above). Disabling Developer Mode will make all the custom features on your site disappear permanently. If your site is using Developer Mode then it is likely that a developer built your website. I strongly recommend that you speak to the original developer before making any changes to your website.
2. Click GET STARTED and read through the information provided about the update. If your current homepage isn't supported in version 7.1, you'll be asked to select a new homepage.
3. Click PREVIEW SITE IN 7.1. After a few seconds your site will reappear in Preview Mode.
Step 3 - Preview your version 7.0 site in version 7.1
In Preview Mode you can only add content and make style changes to your website. This allows you to design your new 7.1 site without affecting site visitors. All other site functions are disabled until you decide to either publish the site in version 7.1 or cancel the preview and return to your old 7.0 site, losing your changes.
To compare your version 7.1 and version 7.0 sites, click 7.0 site in the top-right corner. This opens your live site in a new window. To cancel the preview and discard your design changes, click CANCEL on the blue banner in the top-left corner.
In Squarespace 7.1, most style changes are made using the Site Styles panel (click the paintbrush in the top-right corner) or by clicking EDIT SECTION whilst editing a Page Section.
Step 4 - Permanently update your site to version 7.1
When you are 100% happy with your site in the 7.1 preview, click PUBLISH in the top-left corner to permanently upgrade to version 7.1. This cannot be undone.
Check your Custom CSS. The tool will have disabled any CSS that you previously used by adding a comment tag to the beginning and end of the CSS (for example, <!-- custom css -->). To use the CSS you will need to remove the tags, but note that most CSS will need to be re-written because this version of Squarespace uses different page structures.
Step 5 - Start using version 7.1
When the upgrade is complete you can try all the features that are exclusive to version 7.1.
Did this help?
This guide was updated in October 2024 and again in July 2026 to take account of the changes that Squarespace made to the tool. They increased the compatibility of the tool to cover most version 7.0 templates but, in doing so, they initially limited the tool to sites with less than 100 pages. They increased this to 150 pages in June 2026.
