Add a DNS record at Squarespace

To add a DNS record at Squarespace, open your domain, click DNS, then DNS Settings, scroll to Custom Records, and click Add record. Squarespace says it can take 24 to 48 hours for the change to your records to update.

Checked against Squarespace’s help pages on November 12, 2026.

Before you start at Squarespace

You need the record from the company that runs the tool you are connecting, such as a newsletter, a booking tool or a client portal. It gives you a type (CNAME, TXT or A), a name, and a value.

Squarespace says that to edit DNS settings in Squarespace, your domain needs to be registered through Squarespace or connected through Nameserver Connect. If it is not, Squarespace says to edit your domain’s DNS settings in your account with your provider instead. To find out who that is, type your domain into Surmado’s free domain records lookup, or see the Learn guide Who has my domain.

New to this? The Learn guide Add a record to your domain explains the idea in plain language. For what Surmado does and does not handle, see Your domain and Surmado Sites.

Steps to add a record at Squarespace

1. Open your “domains dashboard” and click the domain name. If you have several Squarespace domains, you manage their records separately.
2. Click DNS, then click DNS Settings.
3. Scroll down to Custom Records.
4. Click Add record.
5. Enter your current password. If you have two-factor authentication on, reauthenticate with it and click Continue.
6. In the Type dropdown menu, select the record type.
7. Fill in the fields below.
8. Click Save.

The Squarespace fields: Type, Name, and Data, Text or IP Address

Squarespace labels the first two fields Type and Name. The third field changes with the record type:

• CNAME: Data. Enter the URL you are pointing to.
• TXT: Text. Enter the TXT record value, which Squarespace describes as a combination of letters, numbers and symbols.
• A: IP Address. Enter the IP address you are pointing to.

Squarespace also shows a Priority field. It says you can only change Priority on MX and SRV records, and that Priority is optional.

Squarespace says all custom records have a 4-hour TTL by default.

The Name rule at Squarespace

Squarespace adds your domain to the Name field for you. If the tool company gives you portal.yourbusiness.com, enter portal. If it gives you your domain with nothing in front, such as yourbusiness.com, enter @.

More from Squarespace:

• You can’t add a CNAME with @ in the Name field.
• Replace the gray placeholder values in the Name and Data fields. Squarespace says the record won’t save if you don’t.
• Remove any period at the end of the value. Squarespace says its system can’t save records formatted that way.
• If you see “This name record is already in use,” another record already uses that Name. Squarespace’s example: a CNAME and a TXT record can’t both use www.

Check your new Squarespace record

After you click Save, review your records under Custom Records in DNS Settings. To see whether the change has reached the wider internet, Squarespace’s page on update times names Whatsmydns.net as a way to check your domain’s progress. The Learn guide Did my record work? also walks through it.

To look the record up, type it into Surmado’s free DNS record checker. It says whether the record is saved and whether the rest of the internet can see it yet.

How long a Squarespace DNS change takes

Squarespace says: “it can take 24 to 48 hours for the change to your records to update.” On its page about update times, Squarespace says a connected domain normally takes anywhere between 24 to 48 hours to start working properly, and in some cases up to 72 hours. It also says the timing is not something Squarespace can control or expedite.

What is particular to Squarespace

Default records. Squarespace says its default records point your domain to your Squarespace site. It says they are added automatically when you register a domain with Squarespace, connect a domain via Nameserver Connect, or transfer a domain into Squarespace. Squarespace also says that removing them disconnects your domain from your site.

Conflicts. Squarespace says a new record can interfere with another record or a forwarding rule already on your domain. If it does, Squarespace shows an error message. One option it offers is Replace record, which adds your new record and deletes the conflicting one. Another is Cancel, which keeps the records currently in place. Replace record deletes a line already on your domain. If you are not sure, click Cancel and ask the company that gave you the record which line to change.

Custom nameservers. Squarespace says that if your domain uses custom nameservers instead of the Squarespace defaults, records you add in Squarespace’s DNS settings won’t apply to your domain.

Support scope. Squarespace says its support can help with showing you where to add records. It says it can’t provide technical advice about DNS records or how they work with other services, and suggests contacting the service you are trying to connect.

Questions about your Surmado site

For anything about your Surmado site, or a domain Surmado got for you, see Your domain and Surmado Sites. Scout is the best place to start, and you can always contact us.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where do I add a DNS record in Squarespace?

Open your domain, click DNS, click DNS Settings, scroll to Custom Records, and click Add record.

What do I put in the Name field at Squarespace?

The name without your domain. For portal.yourbusiness.com, enter portal. For your domain with nothing in front, enter @. You can’t use @ for a CNAME.

Why won’t my Squarespace DNS record save?

Squarespace lists several causes: gray placeholder values still in Name and Data, a period at the end of the value, a Name already in use by another record, a conflict with an existing record, or custom nameservers on the domain.

How long does a Squarespace DNS change take?

Squarespace says it can take 24 to 48 hours.

My domain isn’t registered at Squarespace. Do I edit records there?

Squarespace says to edit your DNS settings with your provider instead, unless your domain is connected through Nameserver Connect.

Sources

• Edit your domain’s DNS records, Squarespace
• DNS records for web hosting, Squarespace
• Adding TXT records, Squarespace
• Troubleshooting issues with DNS records, Squarespace
• DNS record conflicts, Squarespace
• Why domain updates take up to 48 hours, Squarespace

Checked against Squarespace’s help pages on November 12, 2026.