Squarespace domain not connecting

DNS records are the short entries at your domain company (GoDaddy, Namecheap and so on) that tell browsers where your website lives. Connecting a domain to Squarespace means adding Squarespace's records there and removing ones that point elsewhere. Squarespace can't change them for you unless you use one of its automatic routes.

How soon to fix it: today if your site or email used to work on this domain and stopped. A brand-new connection just needs time first.

Which is it?

You connected it less than 48 hours ago

Wait. Squarespace says a connection normally takes 24 to 48 hours, sometimes up to 72, and it can't speed that up.

"Record not found" in red, in Squarespace's DNS settings

A record Squarespace needs isn't at your domain company yet, or has a typo. See The records.

A record shown in red that you didn't add

An old or conflicting record. Delete extra A records at your domain company, but keep anything for email.

Visitors see "Domain Not Claimed"

The domain reaches Squarespace but isn't linked to a site. Open the domain in your Domains panel and connect it to your site.

Visitors see an NXDOMAIN error

No A records were found for the domain. Add the four A records below.

Site and email both stopped, on a Squarespace-bought domain

It may be suspended for an unconfirmed email. See Bought on Squarespace.

It connected, but says "Not secure"

The padlock (SSL certificate) comes after the connection. See "Not secure" on Squarespace, Shopify, Wix or GoDaddy.

Check the records

1. In Squarespace, open the Domains panel, click your domain, then View DNS settings. The Current Data column shows what Squarespace can see right now.
2. Log in to your domain company and open its DNS settings for the domain. Compare each record with the table below: the name, the type and the value.
3. Fix or add what's missing, delete A records that point anywhere else (keep email records), and save.
4. Back in Squarespace, click Refresh Records once. Don't keep clicking: each refresh asks a different server, so the results jump about. Then wait up to 48 hours.

The DNS records Squarespace asks for (check your own panel for your code)

Type	Host or name	Value or points to
CNAME	Your unique code, from Squarespace's DNS settings	verify.squarespace.com
CNAME	www	ext-cust.squarespace.com
A	@	198.185.159.144
A	@	198.185.159.145
A	@	198.49.23.144
A	@	198.49.23.145

The usual mistakes, from Squarespace's own troubleshooting list:

• A typo in the verification code. Copy and paste it. If that record is missing or wrong, Squarespace unlinks the domain after 15 days.
• Your domain added twice. If the panel shows ext-cust.squarespace.com.yourdomain.com, your domain company tacked your domain on. Type the value with a period at the end: ext-cust.squarespace.com.
• Old A records left in place. Delete any A record for @ (or a blank host) that isn't one of the four above. Keep records for email.
• Only one A record allowed. Some companies allow just one. Use 198.185.159.144.
• Name servers changed. If you moved your domain's name servers somewhere else, records added at your domain company do nothing. Using Nameserver Connect and still stuck after 48 hours? Squarespace says to reset to your domain company's default name servers and connect with records instead.

Connecting a GoDaddy domain to Squarespace

Squarespace has two routes for GoDaddy domains:

• Nameserver Connect (Squarespace's recommended route, not for .ca, .au or .com.au): in GoDaddy, change the name servers to connect1.squarespacedns.com and connect2.squarespacedns.com, then click Finish in Squarespace.
• DNS Connect (use it if you have custom records, such as for email, or DNSSEC turned on): choose GoDaddy in Squarespace, log in to GoDaddy when asked, and click Connect.

Before either, and when adding records by hand, clear these out at GoDaddy:

• DNSSEC (a security setting) and its DS records: Squarespace says to remove them first.
• An A record whose value says "Parked": that's GoDaddy's holding page. Delete it.
• DNS templates applied to the domain, including Squarespace-branded ones.

Connecting by hand? Pick Other from Squarespace's list, even if it fills in GoDaddy for you, then add the records in the table.

If you bought the domain through Squarespace

• Connect it to your site: in your domains dashboard, click the domain, then Website, Connect existing website, pick the site, Next and Confirm. The domain and site must be in the same account. Most connect straight away; it can take 24 to 48 hours.
• Suspended? Domain rules (from ICANN, which runs the domain system) make every owner confirm their contact email. Unconfirmed after 15 days, the domain is suspended, and the website and any email on it stop. Look for an email from no-reply@squarespace.com titled "[Action Required] Verify your Squarespace domain contact", or click Resend Verification Email on the domain's registration details. Check the email address there first.

Check it worked

• The Domains panel shows a green Connected label.
• Your domain opens your site with and without www, in a private (incognito) window.
• Site health tells you whether the site answers, whether the padlock works, and when your domain is registered until, where the registry publishes it.