What Happens When Your Squarespace Domain Expires?

A domain is the name people type. The site is the pages behind it. Squarespace can host one, both, or neither, and the two expire on different schedules. Most surprises come from mixing them up.

If the domain expires but the site plan is active

Visitors who type your name see an error page or a parking page. The site still exists on Squarespace; it is reachable at its built-in yoursite.squarespace.com address, and you can reconnect the domain once it is renewed. Email on that domain stops working too, which is usually how people notice.

After the registrar's grace period (it varies by registrar and by domain ending; check yours), the name can be registered by someone else. Domain-squatting services watch for this, and getting a name back can be expensive or impossible.

If the site plan expires but the domain is fine

The pages go offline. The domain still points at Squarespace, which shows a "site expired" page. Squarespace keeps the site's content for a while so you can reactivate, but there is no public copy of the pages during that time. See What happens to your site if you cancel Squarespace.

If both expire

The name goes to whoever registers it, and the pages are gone from the public internet. A competitor or a squatter owning your old name, with none of your content behind it, is the worst case.

Three checks that take five minutes

1. Where is the domain registered, and is auto-renew on? In Squarespace, look under Domains. For a domain bought elsewhere, log in to that registrar. Make sure the card on file has not expired.
2. Who gets the renewal emails? If the site was set up by a designer or a former employee, the notices may be going to an inbox nobody reads. Change the contact email.
3. Do you have a copy of the site? Renewals fail quietly. If the site ever goes dark, a copy of every public page means you can put it back anywhere. The free backup on the homepage shows you what a copy looks like; the $79 a year plan keeps a fresh one every month.

Q: Will Squarespace warn me before my domain expires?

Squarespace sends renewal notices to the account email. They do no good if that address is out of date or belongs to someone who no longer works with you.

Q: Can I get my domain back after it expires?

Often, during the grace period, sometimes with a fee. After the name is released and someone else registers it, usually not.