You can't change a Wix website template on an existing site. There's no swap button hiding in the editor, even if you haven't added a single word of content yet. To change Wix website template safely, you build a replacement site beside the original, prove it works, and only then move your domain. That's a migration, and treating it like one protects your rankings, bookings, orders, and forms.
Table of Contents
- What Survives a Wix Template Change and What You Rebuild
- Back Up Everything Before You Touch the Live Site
- How to Build the Replacement Site Step by Step
- Protect Rankings With URLs, Redirects and Metadata
- Test, Reconnect Automations and Move the Domain
What Survives a Wix Template Change and What You Rebuild
After a site is created and its template is selected, the template cannot be directly replaced, according to the Wix support article on getting a new template for your site. Wix's workaround is to create a separate site, choose the desired template there, and rebuild or transfer selected materials. You can hold multiple sites in one account, so build the replacement alongside the original and compare them before anything public changes.
That structure changes how you budget time. Pages, elements, and media can be copied selectively, but the complete design, theme, and layout don't transfer as a unified package. Navigation, page structure, responsive layouts, forms, and app configurations are rebuilt by hand. Wix's own documentation on switching your site template names at least two transferable feature categories, Business Email and Wix Blog, and more than ten categories that cannot be transferred directly, alongside the transferable domain and Premium plan.
What Transfers to a New Wix Site and What Needs Checking
| Item | Moves to New Site? | What You Do |
|---|---|---|
| Domain | Yes, reassign after launch | Disconnect from the old site and connect it to the new one |
| Premium plan | Yes, can be transferred | Reassign the plan so billing carries over |
| Pages, elements and media | Copy selectively | Copy by hand, then check layout and links |
| Theme, design and layout | No, not as one package | Rebuild in the new template |
| Business Email | Check separately | Confirm mailboxes still work after the move |
| Wix Blog | Check separately | Check post URLs and categories after the move |
| Premium apps | Check separately | Reinstall and reconfigure each app |
| Contacts and site members | Check separately | Export a copy and re-import where needed |
| Inbox messages and invoices | Check separately | Save copies before switching |
| Wix Stores | Check separately | Validate products, orders and store settings |
| Wix Bookings and Wix Video | Check separately | Rebuild and test each one |
| Email marketing and marketing integrations | Check separately | Reconnect and test sign-up forms |
Don't assume Business Email and Wix Blog move automatically just because they're listed as transferable. Confirm each mailbox, post URL, and category item by item before launch. The same caution applies to premium apps, contacts, site members, inbox messages, invoices, Wix Stores, Wix Bookings, Wix Video, photography apps, email marketing, and marketing integrations.
For broader context on how Wix handles search settings during a rebuild, this guide to SEO with Wix covers the platform controls you'll need to recheck.
Quick test: If you only want new colors or fonts, your current editor's design settings may be enough. If the layout or template itself must change, plan a new site.
That one decision saves people from wasted work. A cosmetic refresh inside the existing site is fast and carries no migration risk. A true template change is a rebuild project with a checklist, backups, staging, and post-launch checks, so only start it when the new layout is worth that effort.
Back Up Everything Before You Touch the Live Site
Many items can be copied or reassigned, but that doesn't mean you should trust the old site as your only copy. If an app doesn't transfer cleanly or a setting resets, an outside backup is what lets you rebuild without guessing. Work through this list before you create the replacement.
The Backup Checklist
- Save every page: Export or copy each page's text, images, and layout notes so you can rebuild sections in the right order.
- Download original media: Keep the highest quality files, not the resized versions displayed on the site, so images stay sharp in the new design.
- Record URLs and metadata: Put every page's URL slug, page title, and meta description in a spreadsheet, because that's what search engines already know.
- Export the sitemap list: Save the full URL list and note which pages are indexed in Google Search Console.
- List apps and forms: Write down every installed app, integration, and form, plus its settings and the account it connects to.
- Save customer records: Export contacts, form submissions, and inbox messages, and download invoices and billing details.
- Export store data: If you run Wix Stores, save the product catalog, tax and shipping settings, and order history.
- Note domain details: Record your registrar and keep a note of the current connection so the later domain move is deliberate, not rushed.
Record Your Baseline
Pull baseline traffic and your top landing pages from analytics before you start. Without a before picture, you can't tell whether a dip after launch is a migration problem or normal variation. Note which pages earn the most visits, leads, and sales, and mark them for extra testing.
Finish with a go or no-go date and a named person responsible for each backup item. A checklist with no owner drifts. One owner per category, such as media, store data, and Search Console, keeps gaps visible before they become launch-day surprises.
How to Build the Replacement Site Step by Step
Build the new site as a controlled copy first and a redesign second. If you change layout, wording, and URLs all at once, you won't know which change caused a drop in traffic or enquiries. Match the old site's content and structure in the new template, prove it works, then improve it after launch.
The Build Sequence
Create a new site in the same account and choose the target template. Your old domain and Premium plan stay attached to the live site while you work, so visitors see no half-finished pages. The common slip is editing the live site and calling it progress.
Match the site settings to the original. Set the language, business name, contact details, and currency exactly as they are now. Leaving default business info in place is a frequent error, and it can show up in your footer, invoices, and local listings.
Copy pages across one at a time, keeping every URL slug identical. Page order and slugs carry your existing search visibility. Changing a slug here, even to something tidier, is the most common cause of ranking loss in a rebuild.
Upload original media files. Fresh uploads keep images sharp at the new template's display sizes. Re-enter alt text as you go, because copied elements don't always bring it with them, and blank alt text is easy to miss later.
Rebuild the header, footer, and menus to match the old structure. The layout doesn't transfer, so recreate menu order, footer links, and contact details by hand. Check that every menu item points to the corresponding new page, not a template placeholder.
Reinstall and configure each app. Start with the ones that earn money or capture leads, such as forms and bookings, then work through the rest. Don't assume settings survived, because an installed app with default settings looks finished while doing nothing useful.
Rebuild forms and send a test submission. Confirm the message reaches the right inbox and any notification or automation fires. A form that displays correctly but sends nowhere is the quietest failure in a migration.
Set up the store, if you have one, and place a test order. Recreate products, taxes, shipping, and payment methods, then buy something yourself. Check the confirmation email, order record, and refund path before real customers test them for you.
Review every page on desktop and phone, side by side with the old site. Look for missing sections, broken buttons, cropped images, and text that overflows on small screens. Fix differences now, while the old site is still live for comparison.
The Content Match Check
Before any SEO or publishing work begins, confirm the new site matches the old one in content and navigation. Every page you intend to keep should exist, sit in the same place in the menu, and carry the same core text. Pages you're deliberately dropping go on a separate list, because they'll need redirects rather than silence.
