How to Create a Squarespace Duplicate Website
Big redesigns and risky experiments both share the same fear: breaking a site your business depends on. A proper Squarespace duplicate gives you a safe place to work, and knowing exactly how to create one saves you from testing changes directly on your live site.
Table of contents
Why duplicate a Squarespace website?
Duplicate individual pages
Use Squarespace's export feature
Clone a site manually
Best practices when creating a duplicate
When a duplicate isn't the right tool
FAQ
1. Why duplicate a Squarespace website?
Sometimes you need to make big changes to your site but don't want to risk breaking the live version. A duplicate site lets you test a new design safely before publishing, experiment with different layouts or templates, clone your website for a new project or client, and keep a backup copy in case something goes wrong mid-edit.
2. Duplicate individual pages
Squarespace lets you duplicate pages within the same site. Go to Pages in your dashboard, hover over the page you want to copy, and click the settings gear icon, then Duplicate Page. This is useful when you only need to copy a layout or design pattern rather than the entire site.
3. Use Squarespace's export feature
You can export your site content, including pages, blog posts, and galleries, into a file and re-import it into a new Squarespace site. Go to Settings, then Advanced, then Import/Export, export your content, then create a new Squarespace site and import the file.
Not everything transfers perfectly. Some features, like store products or custom CSS, may need to be re-added manually after the import completes.
4. Clone a site manually
If you're starting a new project but want the same design as an existing site, create a new trial site, rebuild it using the same template, fonts, styles, and layouts, and copy over content, images, and settings by hand.
This takes more time but ensures you have a clean, fresh copy without old data or leftover errors. If you're duplicating a site to test a full redesign, our Rebuild service can handle that redesign and migration properly from the start, rather than working around whatever the old build left behind.
5. Best practices when creating a duplicate
Document custom settings like CSS, colors, and fonts so you can easily reapply them later. Check every link and navigation item after duplicating to make sure everything still works. Update SEO settings, including titles, descriptions, and slugs, to avoid duplicate content issues between the two sites. And keep the duplicate private until it's actually ready to go live.
6. When a duplicate isn't the right tool
If your goal is a full redesign rather than a quick test, cloning your existing site can actually slow you down. You end up rebuilding around old structural decisions instead of starting from a clean strategy. In that case, it's often faster and cleaner to design the new version from scratch on a trial site, using your old site only as a content reference, rather than duplicating it page by page and untangling it later.
The bottom line
Squarespace has no one-click duplication button, but you can get the same result three ways — duplicating individual pages, exporting and importing content into a new site, or manually rebuilding on a fresh trial. Whichever method you choose, keep the duplicate private and document your custom CSS and fonts so nothing gets lost in the copy. A duplicate is a safety net, not a shortcut: it protects your live site while you experiment, and it works best when you're clear upfront about whether you're testing a small tweak or planning a ground-up redesign.
FAQ
Can I duplicate my entire Squarespace website in one click?
No, Squarespace doesn't offer full-site duplication — you'll need to duplicate individual pages, use the export/import feature, or manually rebuild the site on a new trial account.
What's the easiest way to copy just a few pages in Squarespace?
Use the built-in page duplication feature within the same site — it's the fastest option when you only need to clone specific pages rather than the whole site.
Will my custom CSS carry over when I duplicate a Squarespace site?
Not automatically in every method, which is why it's important to document your custom CSS and fonts separately before duplicating, so you can reapply them if they don't transfer.
Should I make my duplicate site public or private?
Keep it private (password-protected or unindexed) while you're testing — a public duplicate risks duplicate content issues and confusing visitors who land on the wrong version.
When should I duplicate a site instead of just editing the live one?
Duplicate when you're testing a significant redesign or risky change; for small tweaks, editing the live site directly with quick before/after checks is usually simpler.
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