How to add reCAPTCHA to your Squarespace forms

This article was first published in 2019, however as the Google reCAPTCHA feature in Squarespace hasn’t changed in that time, we thought we would resurrect this helpful guide from the archives. Here’s how you can add Google reCAPTCHA to Squarespace in 2022.

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reCAPTCHA is a free service that protects your Squarespace website from spam and abuse.

reCAPTCHA is Google's own 'Turing test' to separate humans from bots (malicious software)

If you’re like me, and periodically traverse the internet, then you would be well experienced with Google reCAPTCHA - the gatekeeper between you and your content.

For those that lack reCAPTCHA experience, it is a free service from Google that helps protect websites from spam and abuse. It’s a “Turing test” to tell humans from bots (malicious software); by adding it to your site, you can block bots from spamming and abusing your forms.

“reCAPTCHA is built for security. Armed with state of the art technology, reCAPTCHA is always at the forefront of spam and abuse fighting trends so it can provide you an unparalleled view into abusive traffic on your site.”

— Google

Step 1 - Enable Google reCAPTCHA

Before we can add reCAPTCHA to your Squarespace Form blocks, we need to enable it in the Advanced Settings.

1. Under the main site Settings, click on Advanced, and then External API Keys.

2. Navigate to the GOOGLE RECAPTCHA section.

3. Click on the Google reCAPTCHA API Keys link that is directly underneath the GOOGLE RECAPTCHA heading.

4. A new tab will open, taking you to the Google reCAPTCHA homepage. Click on the Admin console button in the top right corner.

5. Select reCAPTCHA V2, as Squarespace doesn’t support reCAPTCHA V3.

6. Select the “I’m not a robot” checkbox.

7. Type in your built-in domain and click on the + icon. The format of which should yoursite.squarespace.com, excluding the https:// from the beginning.

8. Type in your custom domain and click on the + icon. Repeat this step for any other custom domains that are connected to your site, excluding the https:// from the beginning.

9. Click Submit.

10. Make a note of the Site Key, and the Secret Key.

11. Navigate back to Squarespace, and under the GOOGLE RECAPTCHA section in External API Keys page, enter the corresponding API Keys.

12. Click Save.

“If you’re like me, and periodically traverse the internet, then you would be well experienced with Google reCAPTCHA - the gatekeeper between you and your website content. ”

— Will Hammond, PixelHaze

Step 2 - Add google recaptcha to a form

1. Navigate to a form block on your webpage.

2. In the form block editor, click on Captcha, then check the Add Google reCAPTCHA option.

3. Click on Apply.

4. Repeat these steps for all of the forms on your aite where you want a reCAPTCHA.

I hope you found this useful, Will :)

Need a little extra? You could give Jotform a try…

For those looking for an alternative solution to embed forms in Squarespace, I recommend using Jotform’s Squarespace forms. It is a useful tool with many different features, customisation options, and app integrations that let you create the form that exactly fits your needs. Jotform enables you to embed forms on your Squarespace website without any coding. Also, you can easily add CAPTCHA, hCAPTCHA, and reCAPTCHA to your Squarespace forms.