Prevent spam submissions on form blocks, newsletter blocks, promotional pop-ups, and product waitlists.

To help reduce spam, use Google reCAPTCHA on form blocks, newsletter blocks, promotional pop-ups, and product waitlists. Google reCAPTCHA is an invisible security feature that helps prevent form submissions by robots.

Squarespace uses reCAPTCHA v3 on most sites. Unlike with previous versions of reCAPTCHA, v3 is invisible, and visitors to your site won’t need to check a box or select images for it to work.

The exception is any form on a cover page. These use reCAPTCHA v2 and require a Google account to enable it.  

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Enable Google reCAPTCHA in forms

Google reCAPTCHA is enabled by default for newsletter blocks and product waitlists. Follow the steps to enable it in form blocks, promotional pop-ups, and newsletter blocks where Google reCAPTCHA was previously disabled.

Note: To ensure you’ve enabled Google reCAPTCHA, preview the page, or access the promotional pop-up panel. Then click in a form field and the Google reCAPTCHA logo should appear in the bottom-right corner of your screen.

Form blocks

To enable reCAPTCHA in form blocks:

1. Click Edit on the page, then click the pencil icon on the form block.
2. Click the Storage tab.
3. Click Google reCAPTCHA.
4. Switch the Enable Google reCAPTCHA toggle on.

Newsletter blocks

Google reCAPTCHA is enabled by default in newsletter blocks. To add Google reCAPTCHA to newsletter blocks where it's been disabled previously:

1. Click Edit on the page, then click the pencil icon on the form block.
2. Click the Storage tab.
3. Click Squarespace. If Squarespace storage isn't connected, click Connect. Google reCAPTCHA isn't supported for newsletter blocks without Squarespace connected for storage.
4. Switch the Enable Google reCAPTCHA toggle on.

Promotional pop-ups

To enable reCAPTCHA in your promotional pop-up:

1. Open the Promotional pop-up panel and click Action.
2. Select Sign up for a newsletter.
3. Click Verification and check Turn on reCAPTCHA.

Product waitlists

Google reCAPTCHA is enabled automatically on product waitlists.

Google reCAPTCHA for cover page forms (version 7.0)

Note: Changing your Google reCAPTCHA v2 settings falls outside the scope of our support. For more help with steps one through eleven in this section, visit Google's documentation.

If your site is on version 7.0 and uses cover pages, you can enable reCAPTCHA v2 for cover page forms. This reCAPTCHA prompts visitors to check a box before submitting, making it difficult for robots to complete the form.

Keep in mind, this is only supported on cover page forms. reCAPTCHA isn't available for newsletter signups on cover pages.

Before you add Google reCAPTCHA to cover page forms, enable it in Developer tools:

1. Open the Developer tools panel. 
2. Click External API Keys and scroll down to Google reCAPTCHA.
3. Click the link to get your Google reCAPTCHA API Keys. The link opens in a new tab.
4. Click v3 Admin Console.
5. Enter a label to help you identify your site. This can be your website URL, or a nickname.
6. Click reCAPTCHA V2. Squarespace doesn't support reCAPTCHA V3 on cover pages.
7. Click "I'm not a robot" Checkbox. The other options aren't supported.
8. Enter your built-in domain and click the + icon. Use the format yoursite.squarespace.com, excluding https:// from the beginning.
9. Enter your custom domain and click the + icon. Repeat this step for any other custom domains connected to your site, excluding https:// from the beginning of each one.
10. Ensure you've added all domains associated with your site. If you don't, an error will appear.

10. Add another Owner, if you need to permit other people to review your site's Google reCAPTCHA analytics.
11. Accept the Google reCAPTCHA terms of service. 
12. Click Submit.
13. Copy your Site Key and Secret Key and paste them somewhere accessible.

Note: API keys are sensitive. Keep these keys secure. Treat them like you would treat any password.

14. Back in the External API Keys panel on Squarespace, paste your API keys.

15. Click Save.

If you change your domain, update reCAPTCHA settings

Google reCAPTCHA with cover page forms only works with the domains you enter during the registration process. If you change your built-in Squarespace domain or connect a new domain to your site, you’ll need to add it to your API Key settings on Google. It can take up to 30 minutes for domain updates to take effect.

1. Open the Developer tools panel.
2. Click External API Keys.
3. Scroll down to Google reCAPTCHA.
4. Click Google reCAPTCHA API Keys.

The link opens the Google reCAPTCHA site in a new tab.

1. Click v3 Admin Console.
2. From the drop-down menu, select the reCAPTCHA you want to update.
3. Click  in the top-right corner.
4. Add your new domain to the Domains list.
5. Click Save.

Troubleshooting reCAPTCHA with cover page forms

Error message: Invalid domain for site key

If you don’t correctly add all your site's domains during Google reCAPTCHA registration, you’ll get an error that says ERROR for site owner: Invalid domain for site key.

To resolve, add all your domains, including your site's built-in domain. Refresh the page with the block. It can take up to 30 minutes for domain updates to take effect.

Error message: Invalid key type

If you choose reCAPTCHA V3 during Google reCAPTCHA registration, you'll get an error that says ERROR for site owner: Invalid key type. Squarespace doesn't support reCAPTCHA V3 on cover pages.

To resolve, create a new reCAPTCHA by clicking the + icon in the top-right corner of your Google reCAPTCHA dashboard and choose reCAPTCHA V2 during creation. Then, add the new keys to the External API Keys panel on Squarespace and click Save.

Error message: Unable to submit form. Please try again later

If you accidentally copy additional text into the Secret Key field in your Squarespace site's settings, you'll get an error when trying to submit the form or newsletter signup that says Unable to submit form. Please try again later.

To resolve this, copy the Secret Key from the reCAPTCHA dashboard, ensuring only the Secret Key text gets copied, then paste it in the Secret Key field of the External API Keys panel in your Squarespace site.

Checking Google reCAPTCHA sends visitors to the bottom of the page

On iOS devices, checking the Google reCAPTCHA box sends visitors to the bottom of the page. This is caused by an issue between iOS and Google, and isn't something we can resolve.