How to Change a Wix Template (Without Losing More Than You Need To)

If you've been using Wix for a while, you've probably asked yourself the same question:

Can I change my Wix template without rebuilding my website?

Unfortunately, the short answer is no.

Unlike some website builders, Wix doesn't let you apply a different template to an existing website. Once you've chosen a template and started building your site, its structure becomes permanent.

That doesn't necessarily mean you have to start from zero, though.

While you'll need to rebuild your pages, many important parts of your website can be transferred, exported or reused, including your domain name, Premium plan, contacts and even your blog posts.

In this guide, we'll explain exactly what you can keep, what you'll need to recreate, and how to make the transition as painless as possible.

Why can't you change a Wix template?

A Wix template isn't just a visual theme.

It defines the structure of your website: page layouts, sections, navigation, responsive behavior, installed apps and many design settings.

Because all of these elements become tightly connected once you start editing your site, Wix doesn't offer a way to replace the template later.

Instead, changing your template means creating a new website and rebuilding your pages using a different template.

It may sound frustrating at first, but for most websites it's less dramatic than it seems.

The key is understanding what actually needs to be rebuilt—and what doesn't.

What can you keep when rebuilding a Wix website?

Here's the good news: you won't lose everything.

Several important parts of your website can be transferred or exported before rebuilding.

Website asset	Can you keep it?
Domain name	✅ Yes
Premium plan	✅ Yes
Contacts	✅ Yes
Blog posts	✅ Yes
CMS collections	✅ Yes
Store products	✅ Yes
Orders	⚠️ Export only
Forms & submissions	⚠️ Depends on the app
SEO settings	❌ Mostly no
Website pages	❌ No
Design & layout	❌ No
Installed apps	⚠️ Need to be reinstalled

In other words: your content is often recoverable, but your website itself isn't.

That's an important distinction many articles don't explain.

What takes the most time?

People often imagine they'll have to recreate absolutely everything.

In reality, rebuilding a Wix website usually looks more like this:

Task	Estimated effort
Reassign your domain	🟢 A few minutes
Move your Premium plan	🟢 A few minutes
Import contacts	🟢 5–10 minutes
Import blog posts	🟢 10–15 minutes
Import CMS content	🟡 15–30 minutes
Reinstall apps	🟡 15–30 minutes
Add you branding	🟠 1–2 hours
Replace the demo content	🔴 The longest part

For most businesses, the design work — not the data migration — is what takes time.

What happens to your content?

This is where most people get confused.

When you rebuild a Wix website, there are actually three different scenarios:

• some content can simply be transferred,

• some content can be exported then imported,

• and some content has to be recreated manually.

Let's look at each one.

What can actually be transferred?

The good news is that rebuilding your website doesn't necessarily mean losing years of work.

Some parts of your Wix site can be transferred directly, while others can be exported and imported into your new website.

Here's what you should expect.

Domain name

✅ You can keep it.

If you've purchased your domain through Wix — or connected your own domain — you don't need to buy a new one.

Once your new website is ready, you can simply connect the domain to it.

Visitors will continue using the same web address.

Premium plan

✅ You can keep it.

Your Premium subscription isn't permanently attached to one website.

If you're rebuilding your site within the same Wix account, you can reassign your Premium plan to the new site in just a few clicks. That means you won't need to pay for a second subscription.

Your Wix account needs to be the owner of both websites in order to validate the transfer. You domain will be automatically reassigned to the new website when you transfer your premium plan.

If you switch editor (from Wix Editor to Wix Studio for instance) you will need to update your subscription, as the monthly fees are not the same.

Contacts

✅ You can keep them.

Your contacts can be exported as a CSV file and imported into your new website.

For most businesses, this means you won't lose:

• customer contacts

• newsletter subscribers

• leads

• custom contact fields

If you've spent years building your contact database, that's reassuring.

Blog posts

✅ You can usually keep them.

This surprises many Wix users.

If you're rebuilding your website, your blog doesn't necessarily have to be rewritten.

Depending on your migration scenario, Wix allows you to import blog posts from another Wix website.

That means you can preserve your published articles instead of copying and pasting everything manually.

If your blog is an important source of SEO traffic, this alone can save hours of work.

Your Wix account needs to have access to both websites in order to initiate the import.

CMS collections

✅ Your content can be exported.

If your website uses Wix CMS (formerly Content Manager), your collections can be exported as CSV files.

You'll need to recreate the collections on your new website before importing the data again, but the content itself doesn't have to be rewritten.

The structure requires some work.

The data doesn't.

Note that every Wix app uses hidden CMS collections to store the data. You can display these collection through advanced CMS options and export CSV of all data needed.

Store products

✅ Usually yes.

If you're using Wix Stores, your product catalog can be exported and imported.

For stores with dozens or hundreds of products, this makes rebuilding far less painful than most people expect.

What can't be transferred?

This is where rebuilding becomes a real rebuild.

Your pages

❌ No.

There isn't a button that copies all your pages into a different template.

Every page has to be recreated.

Fortunately, you can usually copy the text from your existing website, so you're rebuilding the layout—not rewriting your business.

Your design

❌ No.

Colors, spacing, sections, animations, page layouts...

These belong to the template itself.

Choosing a new template means creating a new design.

In many cases, that's actually why people decide to rebuild their website in the first place.

If the template is correctly built, do not forget to use the style editor and input your colors & fonts in a few minutes.

SEO settings

Mostly no.

This is one area that's often overlooked.

Things like:

• SEO titles

• meta descriptions

• social sharing images

• structured data

• redirects

should all be reviewed before publishing your new website.

The good news?

If your existing site already performs well in Google, you can simply copy most of these settings page by page.

You don't have to reinvent your SEO strategy.

Is rebuilding really worth it?

At first glance, rebuilding a website sounds like a huge project.

In reality, the answer depends on why you're considering changing templates.

• If your current website feels outdated...

• If it isn't mobile-friendly...

• If it's difficult to edit...

• Or if it no longer reflects your business...

...rebuilding is often faster than trying to fix years of design decisions.

Think of it like renovating a house.

Sometimes replacing the furniture is enough.

Sometimes it's easier—and cheaper in the long run—to start with a better floor plan.

The fastest way to rebuild a Wix website

Once you've accepted that you can't switch templates, the next question becomes:

How can I rebuild my website as quickly as possible?

Instead of starting with a blank page, begin with a professionally designed template that already includes the sections, layouts and responsive behavior you need.

You'll spend your time replacing content rather than designing everything from scratch.

If you're using Wix Studio, you can browse our collection of free Wix Studio templates, designed to be fully customizable for different industries.

And if you're new to Wix Studio, our guide How to Customize a Wix Studio Template walks you through every step after receiving a template, from editing the design to updating your CMS content before publishing.

Before You Rebuild Your Wix Website

Before creating your new Wix website, take a few minutes to prepare. A little planning now can save you hours later.

✅ Before you start

• Export your contacts.

• Export your CMS collections (if you use Wix CMS).

• Export your products if you run an online store.

• Make a list of all the apps installed on your current website.

• Save your SEO titles and meta descriptions for your most important pages.

• Take screenshots of your existing pages to use as a reference during the rebuild.

• Make a note of any redirects you've already created.

✅ While rebuilding

• Recreate your pages using your new template.

• Reinstall the apps you actually need.

• Import your contacts, blog posts and CMS content.

• Check your mobile layout page by page.

• Review your SEO settings before publishing.

✅ Before going live

• Connect your domain to the new website.

• Reassign your Premium plan.

• Test every important page.

• Check all contact forms.

• Verify your navigation menu.

• Test your site on desktop and mobile.

• Publish your new website.

Final thoughts

You can't change a Wix template on an existing website.

Fortunately, you don't have to lose everything you've built.

Most of your important content can be transferred or exported, while the website itself can be rebuilt using a modern template that better fits your current business.

With a little preparation, rebuilding your Wix website is often much simpler than people expect.