Troubleshooting form issues

If you're having trouble with the Form Block or Newsletter Block, use this guide to identify where the problem is occurring and how to fix it.

Tip: A good way to start troubleshooting is to remove the block, add it again, and reconnect your storage service. This refreshes the block and resolves most issues.

What went wrong?

This section outlines the form submission process from start to finish. Review these steps to identify which part isn't working.

Step 1 - Visitors should be able to enter and submit information

If visitors see an error message at this step, see:

Step 2 - The form should send the full submissions to a storage service

If that's not happening, see:

Step 3 - You should receive an email about new form submissions

If the form is connected to an email address and you're not receiving these emails, see:

Not receiving form submission emails

If you're getting spam emails, see:

I'm receiving spam through my forms

If you receive error notifications from Squarespace

You might receive an email or error message about a specific problem. To resolve these issues, see:

Squarespace Email Campaigns isn't receiving new subscribers

In your Email Campaigns Dashboard, you should see new subscribers populate in the mailing list you selected for that form.

If a subscriber doesn't appear, they may not have confirmed their subscription yet.

MailChimp isn't receiving new subscribers

If you're not receiving form submissions or new subscribers when connected to MailChimp, visit Troubleshooting MailChimp issues.

Tip: When testing a Form or Newsletter Block, use an email address that isn't already on your MailChimp list. Email addresses already on the list won't receive another opt-in email.

Google Drive isn't receiving new subscribers

If you're not receiving form submissions when connected to Google Drive, or if the submissions are incomplete, there are a couple of potential causes.

Option 1 - Check the form for special characters

If form field titles include special characters outside of the Latin alphabet (like å ä ö), the letters are omitted in the connected Google Sheet. Instead, you'll see generalized English placeholder names in column headings.

This issue occurs in languages like:

Chinese
Korean
Japanese
Cyrillic
Farsi
Arabic

We recommend avoiding special characters in form field titles whenever possible to avoid any issues.

Note: Forms recognize special characters visitors enter in their submissions. The limitation only applies to form field titles.

Option 2 - Check if column headers in the Google Sheet match form field titles

The column headers in the Google Sheet must match the fields in the form for the connection to work. If you rename a column in your Google Sheet, the form won't recognize the submission from the corresponding field. Instead, you'll see a blank field on the Google Sheet submission.

Error message: "Email address not valid. Email addresses should follow the format user@domain.com"

This message appears to visitors if they enter an email address that doesn't follow the standard format, or is longer than 256 characters, which the character limit for email addresses.

If a visitor reaches out to you about this error, ask them to try again with a valid email address.

Email: "Form submission error"

If you receive an email saying "You have an unsaved Form Block submission," your Form Block or Newsletter Block might be having trouble connecting to Google Drive or MailChimp. This email is a failsafe to ensure that if the connection to Mailchimp or Google Drive fails, the form submission isn’t lost. This email is sent to the email address on file for the site owner.

To resolve the issue, disconnect and reconnect your block from Google Drive or reset its connection with MailChimp.

Fake or invalid emails

This email is also sent when a submitted email appears fake or mistyped. In these instances, the first paragraph of the email will say “(MailChimp list: [email] looks fake or invalid, please enter a real email address.)”

This error is caused by an improperly submitted email address and doesn’t require resetting your MailChimp connection.

Not receiving form submission emails

Sometimes form submissions may filter into a spam or junk folder instead of your inbox. To resolve the issue, ensure that all emails from our default email address arrive in your inbox. Add no-reply@squarespace.info to a whitelist or add a rule or filter to accept all emails from this email address.

Tip: If you use Gmail, learn more in the Gmail Help Center. If you use Outlook, learn more in the Windows Help Center.

Error message: "Error communicating with storage services"

Sometimes when a visitor attempts to submit a form, a "Form not fully sent. Error communicating with X of X storage services" message displays. This can usually be resolved by reconnecting storage options or re-saving the block.

There are a few steps you can take if this is happening.

Disconnect and reconnect the storage options using the steps in Managing form and newsletter storage.
Double-click the Form Block or Newsletter Block while editing a page to open the Edit Form window, and then click Save. This refreshes the block and usually resolves connection issues.
If the above steps don't work, remove the block and re-add it.

Email: "Unknown authorization header"

If the block is connected to a Google Sheet, you may receive an "Unknown authorization header" email from Squarespace. You can fix this by temporarily disconnecting the form from Google Drive and resetting permissions in your Google account.

Note: Disconnecting the Squarespace app from Google Drive will disconnect all Squarespace forms connected to that Google account.

To resolve the issue, follow these steps:

Double-click the Form Block or Newsletter Block on the page or post.
Click the Storage tab.
Click the "x" to disconnect the form from Google Drive.
Log into your Google Drive account.
Click the in the top-right corner and select Settings from the drop-down menu.
Click Manage Apps.
Scroll down to Squarespace, and click Options.
Select Disconnect from Drive from the drop-down menu.
Return to the Form Block on your Squarespace site, and reconnect it to Google Drive from the Storage tab. This reconnects the form to the same Google Sheet that was previously connected.

Error message: "Add storage to this form"

If you try to save a Form Block or Newsletter Block without selecting a storage option, a message will appear asking you to tell us where to submit form submissions.

Selecting a storage option tells the block where to send submissions so you can collect and take action on them. In Form Blocks, choose an email address, MailChimp account, and/or Google Drive. In Newsletter Blocks, choose a MailChimp account and/or Google Drive.

To get started, visit Managing form and newsletter storage.

I'm receiving spam through my forms

There are a few strategies you can use to reduce spam. To learn more, visit Preventing Form Block spam.