Squarespace
Squarespace robots.txt blocking pages: fix it
Undo the site-wide crawler block, or identify a built-in Squarespace exclusion that the platform does not let you edit.
Squarespace does not offer a general robots.txt editor, but "Block Search engine crawlers" adds a sitewide Disallow and the platform also maintains built-in exclusions. Test the live file, turn off that crawler setting when it caused the block, then retest. If the rule is built in, stop looking for an editor.
Why Squarespace does this
Squarespace has no robots.txt editor. Its documentation says every Squarespace site uses the same file and users cannot access or edit it. The exception you can control is Settings > Crawlers > "Block Search engine crawlers", which adds "Disallow: /" for the whole site. Squarespace also blocks built-in paths such as /search and some filtered or duplicate URLs. Disallow stops crawling, but Google can still index the URL without its content.
Check it right now
Before changing anything, confirm what a crawler actually sees. The check is free, takes one URL and needs no account.
How to fix it
- Run the robots.txt tester on the affected URL and note whether the match is the site-wide "Disallow: /" or a narrower Squarespace rule.
- For a site-wide block, open the "Settings" panel, click "Crawlers", and uncheck "Block Search engine crawlers."
- Run the tester again and confirm the site-wide rule is gone.
- If the matching rule is one of Squarespace's built-in exclusions, stop looking for an editor. Squarespace says users cannot edit its robots.txt file.
- Do not treat the block as proof that the URL is absent from Google. If removal is the goal, use Squarespace's page-level search visibility control on a crawlable page instead.
Why it happens again
The global checkbox can return during a rebuild, while built-in exclusions remain outside user control. Record which kind matched before changing anything, because only the site-wide switch has a Squarespace repair path.
stillindexed re-checks the URLs you give it every 30 minutes on Starter and alerts when a directive changes, at most 30 minutes after it does. It is a monitor rather than a crawler: it watches a list you choose and tells you when one of seven things changes. Card first, no trial, and a 30 day refund.
Catching it next time
Fixing it once is the easy half. The setting that caused this can be changed again by anyone with access, and the page will keep returning 200 while it happens.
Other ways Squarespace loses pages
robots.txt blocking pages that should be crawled, on other platforms
Sources
Every claim about Squarespace above is from their own documentation, read on 2026-08-30. Platforms change their settings; if one of these is out of date, their page wins and we would like to know.