Upgrade your Squarespace website from 7.0 to 7.1
Do you still have a Squarespace 7.0 website in 2025? If so, it’s about time you seriously considered upgrading to 7.1. All 7.0 websites now include an upgrade option, so there’s really no excuse anymore.
In this blog post, I'll explain why it's a good idea to upgrade and how to best prepare for it.
Why should you upgrade to 7.1?
Squarespace 7.1 isn't new anymore. In fact, version 7.1 was released back in January 2020. Here are a few good reasons to seriously consider upgrading:
7.1 is future-proof —All new features will now be rolled out exclusively in this version.
7.1 is faster —and that's good for your SEO.
7.1 features Fluid Engine —this is the latest editor, which gives you much more control over the design.
In version 7.1, you can customize the mobile version —what was often frustrating in version 7.0 is finally possible.
In short, if you want to keep up with the times, be able to update your site more easily, and think it's important to be found online, then upgrading to 7.1 is a must.
Preparing for the upgrade
The upgrade to 7.1 works in preview mode. Once you activate it, you're in a sort of transitional phase. You can't easily switch back and forth to your 7.0 version to view your settings.
So make sure you do the following before clicking the preview button:
Take screenshots of all the pages (the Chrome extension GoFullPage is handy). That way, you'll remember exactly what each page looked like later on.
Create a duplicate of your 7.0 site. That way, you'll always have a backup on hand. You can do this through your dashboard.
Take screenshots of your font settings: H1, H2, H3, body text.
Write down all the color codes (hex) for the colors you're using.
Take screenshots of the button settings (small/medium/large).
Back up your CSS. (Go to Design > Website Tools > Custom CSS. You can copy and paste the code into Notion or a Google Doc.)
This will help you set up 7.1 more quickly later on, because some things may change during the upgrade.
Note: If your 7.0 website has more than 100 pages, upgrading within Squarespace is unfortunately not possible. You can see if you can reduce the number of pages to fewer than 100. Often, the “Not Linked” section contains old pages that can be removed. Do you use a lot of index pages? If so, each subpage counts as a separate page. You might be able to merge some of your subpages.
What happens in preview mode?
You can find the preview option under Design > Update to version 7.1 in the left-hand menu.
Click the "Get Started " button, and then click the " Preview Site" button in 7.1.
It may take a few minutes for the preview to load. Once it's loaded, a blue bar will appear at the top: you are now in the 7.1 preview.
Your website visitors will still see your old site for now, unless you click the "Publish" button at the top left. That's when your site will actually switch to 7.1. So we're not doing that yet. You can click away the blue bar at the bottom.
You’ll start by working on the settings and design in Preview mode. The source code for Squarespace 7.1 differs from that of 7.0, which means pages may look different. Fonts, colors, and margins may have changed. Index pages are also being phased out in 7.1. These will now be pages built from sections.
Long story short, you'll need to go through each page of your website one by one and fine-tune it. But first, start with the following general settings:
Adjusting General Settings in Preview Mode
Colors
Create a color palette with five colors. Ten color themes will be automatically generated from this palette. You can customize them later.
You can find the color palette here: Site Styles (the paintbrush icon in the top-right corner) > Colors > Customize > Edit Palette)
On the left, you set the lightest color; on the right, the darkest. The middle color is the accent color, often used for buttons.
Fonts
Set the correct fonts for your headings, paragraphs, and buttons, among other things. Your fonts may have changed during the upgrade.
In 7.0, you have four heading tags (H1 through H4) and three paragraph tags (P1 through P3). Your 7.0 body text is similar to P2 in 7.1.
You can find the font settings here: Site Styles (the paintbrush icon in the top-right corner) > Fonts > Customize > Headings/Paragraphs.
After publishing your 7.1 site, be sure to also go through "Miscellaneous" and "Assign Styles" in the Font overview.
Buttons
Go through the button settings. In 7.1, you still have a choice of 3 buttons. Instead of small, medium, and large, they are now called Primary (formerly Medium), Secondary (formerly Large), and Tertiary (formerly Small).
You can find the button settings here: Site Styles (the paintbrush icon in the top-right corner) > Buttons > Customize
Spacing
This upgrade is a good opportunity to reset the margins on the left and right sides of your website. Ideally, you should use these settings:
max width 1440px
spacing 6vw
You can configure this here: Site Styles (the paintbrush icon in the top-right corner) > Miscellaneous > Spacing. This may cause the layout of the blocks on your page to change slightly.
Customize page layouts in preview mode
After setting up the general settings, it's time to go through each page to review its design.
Choosing Between the Classic Editor and the Fluid Engine
Depending on how your 7.0 website was structured, the new 7.1 pages consist of one or more sections.
By default, each section will remain in the Classic Editor (which is also used in 7.0) after the upgrade. You can choose whether to upgrade to the Fluid Engine on a per-section basis. Once upgraded, there is no going back.
In Fluid Engine, some blocks can end up out of place. And the mobile view is often… a mess. So always check it carefully! You can do this by clicking the cell phone icon in the top right corner. In the mobile version, you can easily swap blocks around and make them bigger or smaller.
Publish your 7.1 site
Are you satisfied with how everything looks (roughly)? If so, click "Publish " in the blue bar at the top left.
After that, be sure to check your entire website one more time, because you won't have full access to all the settings until after you publish it.
Don't forget your mobile version and your Custom CSS! Your CSS is disabled in preview mode, so you'll need to re-enable it yourself. Remove any code that is no longer relevant.
Do you still want to go back to 7.0?
Then click " Cancel " in the blue bar instead of "Publish." A pop-up will then open; click " Cancel Update."
Tip: Practice with 7.1 beforehand
Would you like to practice with 7.1 and Fluid Engine first? If so, create a new website in your Squarespace account dashboard. During the two-week trial, you can choose a template and experiment with Fluid Engine. Be sure to check out the Site Styles as well. This will give you an idea of how 7.1 works before you start building your own website.
Frequently Asked Questions
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No. Once you click “Publish,” there’s no going back. However, you can revert to version 7.0 from Preview mode.
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Yes, 7.1 is faster. Not by a huge margin, but enough to have an impact on your SEO.
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Most people use 7.0 or 7.1. Version 7.1 is the current standard and is actively supported. There are also still some Squarespace 5 websites, but they are very old.
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No. Fluid Engine is exclusively for 7.1 sites.
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Yes, anyone with access to the site can see Preview mode.
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No, as long as the preview is active, you'll be working in a temporary 7.1 version. You can only make changes to existing pages.
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No, your changes won't be saved until after you click "Publish."
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Upgrading is not (yet) required at this time—Squarespace will continue to support version 7.0—but you will miss out on new features and improved speed.
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Your CSS will be preserved, but it will be disabled. So you’ll need to re-enable it yourself in the CSS panel. It’s a good idea to go through your code manually anyway, since some selectors have different names. You won’t have access to your CSS panel in Preview mode. You’ll regain access once you’ve published your 7.1 website.
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If your 7.0 website has more than 100 pages, the Upgrade option unfortunately won’t work. You can see if you can reduce the number of pages to fewer than 100. There may be old pages in the “Not Linked” section that can be removed. If that really doesn’t work, you’ll have no choice but to create a new 7.1 website. With this extension, you can easily copy pages from one website to another. That’s the best alternative.
