Answers to common questions about changing your site's templates.

This guide covers common questions we hear about switching your site’s template on version 7.0. For step-by-step instructions, visit Switching templates.

It's not possible to change templates on a version 7.1 site. In version 7.0, you switch templates to get access to different features. In version 7.1, all sites have the same features, and there are other ways to make large-scale changes to your site's design or structure.

How do I change my template?

You can switch to a new template by clicking Template in the Design panel, then choosing a new template from the Install new template menu.

For detailed steps and more information, visit the main Switching templates guide.

How much does each template cost?

There’s no extra cost. The ability to try multiple templates is included with your Squarespace site subscription.

If I change my template, can I change back later?

Yes. You can set a previously used template as your live template from the Templates panel. When you switch to a previously-used template, you’ll see all design changes and site styles settings as you last left them.

If you enable Developer Mode, you can't change templates.

Should I switch templates or start a separate trial?

As an alternative to switching templates on your live site, you can create a new trial site, add your content, and tweak your style settings. When you're ready to upgrade, you'll move your domains and Google Workspace subscriptions, reconnect your social accounts, publish your site, and then cancel the original site. For detailed steps, visit Starting over.

Which method you use is a personal choice, but asking yourself these questions can help inform your decision:

Do I have a lot of existing content?

• If you start a new trial, you'll have to recreate all your site's existing content.
• If you switch templates, your content moves to the new template.

Am I concerned about content going live before I'm ready?

• If you start a new trial, none of the changes will go live until you're ready.
• When previewing a template on your existing site, some content changes will go live immediately.

I switched templates - where did my pages go?

Your pages temporarily moved to the Not linked section, a placeholder for pages that aren’t in your navigation menus. When you first open a new template, you’ll see example pages with removable demo content in your navigation menus instead.

To move pages to their original positions, delete the demo pages, then rearrange your own pages. To learn more, visit Switching templates.

Tip: Some types of pages only work with specific templates. Scroll to the end of this guide to learn more about info pages and project pages.

I switched templates and my fonts and colors are different.

Your site’s styling changed with your new template’s default settings. Default fonts, colors, padding, and other style elements are specific to each template. All of our fonts are available in every template, so if you love your original font, you can select it again in site styles.

To change your font and other elements in your new template, see Making style changes.

I switched templates - why did my custom CSS disappear?

Just like style changes made via site styles, all custom CSS is specific to each template. When you install a new template, the CSS Editor will be blank. If you switch back to the previous template, the CSS you added to it will still be there.

I switched templates - what happened to my footer or sidebar?

Footers and sidebars are unique to each template. Depending on the template you choose, your footer or sidebar will disappear or revert with new content. However, if you switch back to a previously installed template, you’ll see the footer or sidebar content as you left it.

Keep in mind that some templates keep sidebars hidden by default.

I switched templates - where did my page header go?

Some templates support per-page headers or intro areas.

Per-page headers are unique to each template. When you switch templates, your per-page header will disappear or revert with new content. However, when you switch back to a previously installed template where you customized a per-page header, you’ll see the design as you last left it.

Why do visitors see a different template than I see?

If your site looks different to visitors than it does to you, or if it looks different when you log out, it likely means that you’re previewing a template but haven’t set it as your live template.

If you want visitors to see what you’re seeing, click Set as live template in the bottom-right corner when you're logged into your site. To keep the template that visitors see, click Cancel preview instead.

Why don’t other contributors see the template I’m previewing?

If you preview a template, other contributors won't see this preview automatically when they log in.

For site owners and contributors with Admin permissions:

• When you install a new template, it appears in the Template panel for all contributors.
• If another contributor previews the same template you're previewing, they'll see any template-specific changes you've saved, and you'll see any that they've saved. For example, if you preview Brine and change the background color in site styles, when they preview Brine they'll see the new background color.

When you publish a template, all contributors will see it when they log in.

Can I combine different template pages and styles?

No. You can’t mix and match different template layouts. For example, you can’t add an index page from one template and then use a different template’s gallery page.

However, there are other ways to achieve the design you want. For example, if you don’t like your template’s gallery page, you can use gallery blocks on a layout page instead. To learn more, visit Image galleries on Squarespace.

Can I install the same template more than once?

You can only install one version of each template within the Template panel. If you delete a template, you can reinstall it.

Can I prepare my new template before visitors can see it?

Yes, this step is built into the template switching process. When you switch templates, you’ll first preview it before it's set as your live template.

This way, you can complete your new design before publishing it. If you don’t like your new design, you can cancel it, and no changes will be seen on your live site.

If I switch to a new template and then switch back, will my site go back to the way it was?

Partially. Most content changes you've made since switching templates will stay as-is, but changes to your site’s design and layout will go back to they way they were.

To learn more, visit Switching templates.

What will happen to my index Page if I switch templates?

It depends. Every template with an index page has its own design and behavior, and some templates don’t have an index page.

Use this table to review how your index page will change when you switch templates:

Your original template...	You switched to a template that...	Result
has an index page	doesn't have an index page	The index page converts to a dropdown.
has an index page	has an index page	The index page’s design changes. Each template’s index supports different types of pages. Any sub-pages from the old template that aren’t supported by the new template will still appear in your index in the Pages panel, but won’t appear on your published site. Use a layout page to display the content from these unsupported sub-pages in the new template.
has an index page	doesn’t have an index page, and then you made another switch to a different template that has an index page	Since the original index page converted to a dropdown upon the first switch, it remains a dropdown even if the new template has an index page.
has an index page	doesn’t have an index page (where the index page converts to a dropdown), and then you made another switch to the original template where you created the index	The dropdown reverts to an index page with the design as you last left it in the original template. This will only happen if you didn’t uninstall your original template.

Does each template have its own site styles options?

Yes. Each template has its own styling options. For more on using site styles, see Making style changes.

Will switching templates affect my site’s SEO?

All Squarespace templates support our built-in features for SEO.

Templates have different code bases, and may have different amounts of JavaScript, heading tag formats, and page loading times. While this can impact SEO, the most important thing for SEO is the site's content. If you see a dip in site ranking after changing templates, ensure you've optimized your site.

Does the info page carry over to a new template?

The info page is unique to the Aviator family. If you switch to a different template, the info page won’t display. If you switch back to Aviator, your info page will appear as you last left it.

If you like the look of the info page, you can create a similar page on any template by adding a cover page with the card layout.

Does the project page carry over to a new template?

The project page is unique to the York family. If you switch to a different template, a project page will convert to a gallery page in the new template.

If you switch back to one of these templates, you can create new project pages and gallery pages and move images into them to recreate your original format.

Should I click "Start with" or "Preview"?

When you're ready to install a template on your site, click Start with this template. Clicking Preview displays the template demo site.

I see a "We couldn't find the page you were looking for" message

This happens when your previewed template doesn't have a homepage. Open the Pages panel and set a homepage to resolve this issue.

I want a template that's not available for my language

Currently, only these templates support non-English languages:

• Julia, Kent, and Om in the Montauk template family
• Charlotte, Naomi, and Pacific in the Pacific template family
• All Bedford family templates
• All Brine family templates
• All York family templates

To switch to a template outside one of these, change your site language to English, which will let you access the full template store. This will also change your site's built-in text that visitors see, like dates, form field labels, and navigation controls.