Use domain forwarding to send your visitors to another site or page.

You can set up domain forwarding to redirect your Squarespace domain to another URL. For example, if you own yourdomain.com, you can use domain forwarding to direct traffic to adifferentdomain.net. This is a good option for directing people to a site that's not hosted by Squarespace, or to a specific page on any site.

This guide explains path forwarding and the different steps for forwarding to an active domain, page, or subdomain.

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Do I need to forward my domain?

Forwarding your domain is an advanced step that you might not need. Usually, you can use a different process to change where a domain or URL slug points. For example, to use your domain with a Squarespace site, we recommend moving or connecting the domain.

To compare a variety of domain options, visit Choosing the right option for moving your domain.

Before you begin

• This guide explains how to forward an active domain registered to Squarespace. Steps to forward a domain or subdomain registered with a third party depend on your connection method:
  • DNS Connect: Follow your third-party provider’s documentation. 
  • Nameserver Connect: Follow these steps.
• To redirect an inactive site or page to one that’s active, visit URL mappings.
• It's not possible to forward a Squarespace site's built-in domain.
• It can take up to 72 hours for domain forwarding to update.
• To redirect a domain to Big Cartel, SiteGround, SmugMug, Systeme.io, or Zoho, follow our specific steps for pointing the domain instead of the steps in this guide.

Domain forwarding destinations

When domain forwarding is enabled, visitors to your domain are automatically redirected to one of three destinations, a root domain, a subdomain, or a specific page on a site.

Type of destination	Description	Example URL
Root domain	The part of your URL that comes after the "www," and includes the top-level domain (TLD), like ".com.	yourdomain.com
Subdomain	An extension of the root domain that sends visitors to a site.	blog.yoursite.com
Specific page	A page on a site, including the slug.	mysite.com/shop

Forward to a non-Squarespace site

You can forward a root domain or subdomain to a site outside of Squarespace. This is a good option if you’re merging multiple websites into one and want to direct the traffic from all of your domains to one destination.

To forward a domain to a non-Squarespace site:

1. Open your domains dashboard.
2. Click the domain you're editing.
3. Click Website.
4. Scroll down to Domain Forwarding Rules, and click Add rule.
5. In the Forward from field, enter @ (for your root domain) or the subdomain you want to forward.
6. In the Forward to field, enter the full URL of the domain you’d like to forward to.
7. Under Advanced settings, select if this move will be a Temporary Redirect (302) or a Permanent Redirect (301). To learn more, visit 301 vs. 302 redirects.
8. Under Forwarding Over SSL, it's recommended to keep SSL On selected. If you keep SSL on, ensure that your domain is using Squarespace default preset DNS records.
9. Under Path Forwarding, you can choose how you want to maintain your domain's URL paths. Select one of the following options:
   • Maintain paths to maintain the URL paths from your original domain
   • Remove paths to have all URLs forward to the new address 
10. Click Save.

Forward a subdomain

Forwarding a subdomain is helpful to extend part of your brand, like a store or blog, onto a second site. A subdomain is an extension of an existing root domain. This means you'll add a forwarding rule to the site or account connected to the root domain. For example, to forward the subdomain blog.mysite.com, log into the site or account associated with mysite.com, the root domain.

To forward a subdomain:

1. Open your domains dashboard.
2. Click the domain you're editing.
3. Click Website.
4. Scroll down to Domain Forwarding Rules, and click Add rule.
5. In the Forward from field, enter the name of the subdomain to forward, such as blog.
6. In the Forward to field, enter the full URL of the domain or page, including the specific page slug, you’d like to forward to. For example, to forward the subdomain blog.exampledomain.net to yourdomain.com's blog page, enter the full URL for the blog page including the slug, www.yourdomain.com/blog.
7. Under Advanced Options, select if this move will be a Temporary Redirect (302) or a Permanent Redirect (301). To learn more, visit 301 vs. 302 redirects.
8. Under Forwarding Over SSL, it's recommended to keep SSL On selected. 
9. Under Path Forwarding, you can choose how you want to maintain your domain's URL paths. Select one of the following options:
   • Maintain paths to maintain the URL paths from your original domain
   • Remove paths to have all URLs forward to the new address 
10. Click Save.

Forward to a specific page

You can forward either a root domain or a subdomain to a specific page. The page can be on a site where the domain is currently connected or a site where the domain isn't currently connected.

To forward to a specific page:

1. Open the domains dashboard.
2. Click the domain you're editing.
3. Click Website.
4. Scroll down to Domain Forwarding Rules, and click Add rule.
5. In the Forward from field, enter @ (for your root domain) or the name of the subdomain to forward, such as blog.
6. In the Forward to field, enter the full page URL, including the specific page slug. For example, to forward exampledomain.net/blog to yourdomain.com/blog, enter the full URL for the page including the slug, www.yourdomain.com/blog.
7. Under Advanced Options, select if this move will be a Temporary Redirect (302) or a Permanent Redirect (301). To learn more, visit 301 vs. 302 redirects.
8. Under Forwarding Over SSL, it's recommended to keep SSL On selected. 
9. Under Path Forwarding, you can choose how you want to maintain your domain's URL paths. Select one of the following options:
   • Maintain paths to maintain the URL paths from your original domain
   • Remove paths to have all URLs forward to the new address
10. Click Save.

Note: If you’re forwarding a page or URL slug, keep the same capitalization as your URLs. For example your page slugs are all lowercase, like /myshop, then your redirects should also be lowercase.

Forward a domain while using custom nameservers

To set up domain forwarding on a domain using custom nameservers, you'll first need to add some records to your domain to point it to Squarespace.

To forward the domain:

1. Open your domains dashboard.
2. Click your domain name.
3. Click Website, then scroll down to the Domain forwarding section.
4. You'll see an Action required banner stating you must update your DNS records at your DNS provider for domain forwarding to work.

5. Click Review instructions to view the CNAME and A records you'll be adding to your domain.
6. In a new tab, log into the account you have with your nameserver provider.
7. In that tab, find where to manage your domain's DNS settings. Depending on your provider, the settings for managing your domain's DNS records may be called DNS, Advanced DNS Records, Manage Domains, or something similar.
8. Remove any existing A or AAAA records that have @ as their host name. 
9. Add the DNS records you viewed in Step 5. You'll add a CNAME record for each subdomain on which you've set up a forwarding rule, along with one A record. If you need help adding DNS records, contact your nameserver provider using our suggested language, below.

Request help from your nameserver provider

For help adding DNS records on a domain that uses custom nameservers, we recommend contacting your nameserver provider. They're more familiar with how their service works and can look into your domain setup directly.

For help adding new records, take a screenshot of the required records you reviewed in Step 5 in the sections above, and ask your nameserver provider for help directly with a message like this:

I'd like to add the following records to the DNS settings of my domain, [enter your domain here]. Can you help me with this process? Here are the records I need to add: [Insert screenshot here]

Path forwarding

Path forwarding redirects your domain and all of its URL slugs to the new domain simultaneously without having to individually create domain forwards for each page, if the slugs also exist on the new domain. 

For example, to forward all of your content from yourcurrentdomain.com to theupdateddomain.com, path forwarding redirects everything after the .com, like yourcurrentdomain.com/blog, to theupdateddomain.com/blog.

When to use path forwarding

You can use path forwarding when the domain you’re forwarding to has the same URL structure as the current domain. For example, if the domain you're forwarding has a blog page with a slug such as /blog/new-post and the site you're forwarding to uses the same URL structure for slugs, you can use path forwarding.

If the site you're forwarding to uses a different structure, such as /blog/date/new-post, path forwarding won't work.

Select path forwarding when setting up a forwarding rule

When creating a forwarding rule for a subdomain, specific page, or to a non-squarespace site, you can review your options in the Path forwarding section:

• Maintain paths to keep the URL paths from your original domain forward as they are
• Remove paths to have all URLs forward to the new address without the original paths

Remove domain forwarding

To remove domain forwarding:

1. Open the domains dashboard.
2. Click the domain you're editing.
3. Click Website.
4. Scroll down to Domain Forwarding section, then click the red trash can next to the Forward domain field.

Nameserver Connect domains

You can forward third-party domains connected to Squarespace via Nameserver Connect using a preset:

1. Open your domains dashboard.
2. Click the domain you're editing, then click Website Settings.
3. Scroll down to DNS Settings and click Edit.
4. Click Add Preset, then select Forward Domain.
5. Enter the URL you want to forward your domain to, then click Add.

To remove the domain forwarding rule, hover over it in your DNS settings panel and click the trash can icon.

Troubleshooting

Why isn’t my domain forwarding?

There are a few reasons why a domain isn't forwarding right away:

• Because of the way browsers hold onto information, it may take some time for your domain to forward properly. To change the information your browser is holding onto, check your forwarded domain using a private browsing window or clear your browser’s cache.
• If a URL in the Forward to field has changed, contains a typo or includes “http://“ or “https://“, an error message displays. Double-check the URL in the Forward to field for any typos or errors and follow the steps above to forward the domain.

Error message: Unable to connect

This message appears if you’re trying to forward a Squarespace-managed domain that’s pointing to a non-Squarespace site. Log into your account with your web host to disconnect your domain from your non-Squarespace site, and then follow our domain forwarding steps.

Tip: For help logging into your web host’s account, contact your web host.

Error message: Unable to save this domain forwarding rule. There was a problem with saving your changes.

This message appears if we detect any conflicting third-party subdomain A, AAAA, ALIAS, or CNAME records in your DNS settings. To resolve this, delete the conflicting records from your DNS settings and try again:

1. Open your domains dashboard.
2. Click the domain name, and click Edit DNS.
3. In the DNS Settings window, click the red trash can next to the conflicting A, AAAA, ALIAS or CNAME records. Conflicting records will use the same subdomain or root domain as the forwarding rule you're trying to create.
4. Click Save.
5. Create the forwarding rule again.

Can I edit the DNS records of my forwarded Squarespace domain?

It’s not possible to edit the DNS records of a Squarespace domain that's actively forwarding. As a workaround, follow these steps:

1. Temporarily remove domain forwarding from the Squarespace domain.
2. Open the domain’s DNS settings panel to edit the DNS records.
3. Save the changes, and re-add domain forwarding to your domain.

Can I forward the “www” version of my domain to my non-Squarespace site?

Yes. If your Squarespace default records are in place, the "www" version of your domain automatically forwards to the same location as your root domain. If you follow the steps above to forward your domain to a non-Squarespace site, the "www" version of your domain will forward to the same site.