Export GoDaddy Website Builder: Full Backup Checklist

There is no button to export GoDaddy Website Builder sites as HTML or move them to another platform. GoDaddy Websites + Marketing keeps your pages inside its own system. You can still save everything that matters, though. Download a complete offline copy of the public pages with their images, export store products and orders as CSV files, keep your form emails, and keep or transfer your domain. This guide covers each of those steps. It also shows how to check that the copy really is complete, and what it takes to turn that copy into a working site somewhere else.

Can you export a GoDaddy Website Builder site?

Not in the way most people hope. Websites + Marketing (formerly GoCentral) is a hosted builder. Your pages are stored as blocks and settings inside GoDaddy's platform, not as HTML files you can download. Some things GoDaddy does not offer:

• No HTML or ZIP export of the site
• No export to WordPress or any other builder
• No downloadable backup file of the design

GoDaddy's backup and restore features you may find in its help pages are for its hosting plans (cPanel, Managed WordPress). They don't apply to the builder. On the builder side, GoDaddy offers partial exports: the online store lets you export orders and products as CSV files.

That leaves a gap. Nothing in the builder gives you the pages themselves, the text and the images as visitors see them. You close that gap by downloading the live site from the outside, the same way you would with any other website.

What you need to save before you leave the GoDaddy builder

Use this as a checklist. Each item has a different source, and no single export covers them all.

Also write down anything that only exists as a setting: your page URLs, SEO titles and descriptions per page, your menu structure, and any third-party embeds (booking widgets, maps, newsletter forms). Most of the visible text ends up in the offline copy. The configuration behind the features does not.

How to download a GoDaddy website as a complete offline copy

An offline copy captures every public page the way a visitor sees it, with the files it needs to display. With Website Downloader it takes three steps:

1. Open the download form and enter your site's address, for example https://www.yourbusiness.com. Use the published domain, not the editor preview.
2. Start the download. Progress is shown live as pages are found and saved. You can close the tab. Your computer doesn't need to stay on.
3. Download the ZIP file when it's ready, unpack it and open index.html in any browser.

Most GoDaddy builder sites are small. A typical business site with a home page, services, about, contact and a few blog posts fits easily in the free plan's 100 subpages, and you don't need an account. Larger sites, or stores with many product pages, need the Single Site option (a one-time 7.99 EUR for up to 5,000 subpages, kept 30 days). See pricing for all plans. For a general walkthrough of how ZIP downloads work, read Download a Website as ZIP Online.

Check that nothing is missing, especially the CDN images

GoDaddy doesn't serve your images from your own domain. They usually come from GoDaddy's separate image servers (addresses on wsimg.com). A copy can look complete while you're online and still be missing images. The pages simply keep loading them from GoDaddy, and they will break once your plan ends. Don't take any tool's word that the copy is complete, including ours. Test it:

1. Go offline. Turn off Wi-Fi or unplug the network cable, then open index.html. Anything that still shows up is genuinely in the archive.
2. Click every menu item, including dropdowns and footer links. Compare what you find with your page list in the GoDaddy editor.
3. Look at the images closely: logo, header backgrounds, galleries, sliders and product photos. Background images and galleries are the ones most often missed.
4. Search the files. Open a few HTML files in a text editor and search for wsimg.com. If image addresses still point there instead of to a local images/ folder, those images are not in your copy.
5. Use the browser's developer tools (F12, Network tab) while back online. Requests to outside servers show which files the copy still depends on.

If a whole section appears empty offline, the builder probably creates that content with JavaScript in the browser. That can't always be captured as static HTML. In that case, save those parts by hand (copy the text, download the images) so nothing is lost.

How do I get products and orders out of a GoDaddy online store?

If you use GoDaddy's online store, export the commerce data from the dashboard before anything else:

• Products: in the store's product list there is an export option that produces a CSV file with names, prices, descriptions, SKUs and similar fields. Menu labels change from time to time, so search GoDaddy's help for "export products" if you can't find it.
• Orders: the orders section offers a CSV export too. Export the full date range, not just recent months. You may need these records for taxes and refunds.
• Product images: open the CSV and check the image columns. If they contain links to GoDaddy's servers rather than files, those links may stop working once you leave. The offline copy of your product pages saves the images as displayed, which is one more reason to run it.

A CSV file is the raw material for a new store. Shopify and WooCommerce both import products from CSV, but their column names won't match GoDaddy's, so expect to rename and reorder columns in a spreadsheet first. Customer accounts, saved payment methods, discount rules and shipping settings generally have to be set up again. Our guide to backing up a Shopify store explains the same problem from the other side: store exports cover data, not the shop.

What works in the offline copy, and what doesn't

An offline copy is an archive, not a working website. Everything that runs in the browser is preserved. That covers the pages, text, images, fonts, styles, most menus and embedded PDFs or videos. Anything that needs GoDaddy's servers stops working:

• Contact forms display but can't send. Submissions have nowhere to go.
• The online store shows product pages, but the cart and checkout don't work.
• Appointments and bookings (GoDaddy's booking feature) need the server and won't work offline.
• Site search, member areas and anything behind a login aren't downloaded or don't function.

That's fine for the jobs an archive does well: a permanent record of the site, proof of what was published, a reference for a redesign, or a source for text and images. It's not a drop-in replacement for the live site.

How to move a GoDaddy website builder site to WordPress or another host

Because there's no export, every move away from the GoDaddy builder is a rebuild. The offline copy makes that rebuild much faster. You have every page, every paragraph and every image in one folder instead of copying them from a live site that might disappear halfway through.

You have two realistic routes:

Route 1: Rebuild in WordPress or another builder (recommended for most)

1. Set up WordPress (or Squarespace, Wix, Webflow) on your new host.
2. Recreate the page structure using the same URLs where possible (/about-us, /services). This keeps your search rankings and inbound links intact.
3. Copy text from the offline HTML pages and upload images from the ZIP's image folder.
4. Rebuild forms, booking and the store with the new platform's tools, and import products from your CSV.
5. Recreate page titles and meta descriptions. You can read them from the <title> and <meta name="description"> tags in the downloaded HTML.

This is the route the WordPress tutorials describe. The difference is that you start from a complete archive instead of a browser tab.

Route 2: Host the static HTML (GoDaddy website builder to HTML)

You can upload the unpacked ZIP to any static web host and the pages will display. For a site that never changes, this can work. But the HTML a builder produces is hard to edit by hand. Forms and the store won't work without replacements such as a form service or an embedded shop. Treat this as a stopgap or a frozen archive, not a long-term home. The same trade-off applies to other builders. See How to Download a Wix Website for a closely related case.

Keeping your domain and redirects when you leave GoDaddy

Your domain is a separate product from the builder. Cancelling Websites + Marketing doesn't cancel your domain registration, and you can keep your domain either way:

• Keep the domain at GoDaddy, point it elsewhere: change the DNS records (usually the A record and the www CNAME) to the values your new host gives you. This is the quickest option and needs no transfer.
• Transfer the domain to another registrar: unlock the domain, request the authorization (EPP) code in GoDaddy's domain settings, and start the transfer at the new registrar. Domains generally can't be transferred within 60 days of registration or a previous transfer.

Email is easy to break during a move. If you use an email address on your domain, note your MX records before you change anything, and make sure they stay in place.

For redirects: if a URL changes on the new site, set up a 301 redirect from the old address to the new one on your new host. You'll find the full list of old URLs in your offline copy, because the folder structure in the ZIP mirrors the site's pages. Switch DNS only when the new site is finished, and keep the GoDaddy plan running until the new site is live and checked.

If you've already cancelled and the site is gone, you may still be able to recover it from the Internet Archive. See the Wayback Machine downloader and our guide to restoring a website from the Wayback Machine.

FAQ

Can I export my GoDaddy Website Builder site as HTML?

Not from within GoDaddy. The builder has no HTML or ZIP export. You can get the HTML by downloading the published site from the outside with a website downloader. The result is a static copy that displays offline, but forms, the store and bookings won't function.

Does HTTrack work on a GoDaddy builder site?

It can, but by default HTTrack stays on your domain and skips files hosted elsewhere. That includes the images GoDaddy serves from its own CDN servers. You need to add scan rules that allow those hosts, then verify the result offline. If you'd rather not configure a desktop tool, see our HTTrack alternative guide.

Do stock images from the GoDaddy library come with the copy, and may I reuse them?

The offline copy saves the images exactly as they appear on your pages, stock photos included. Whether you may use GoDaddy's library images on a new site is a licensing question. Those images are typically licensed for use within GoDaddy's products, so check GoDaddy's terms. If in doubt, replace them with photos you own or license separately. Your own uploaded photos and logos are yours to reuse.

What happens to my site content if I cancel my GoDaddy plan?

Ask GoDaddy directly before you cancel. How long content is kept after cancellation, and whether it can be restored, isn't something you should assume. The safe order is: download the offline copy, export products and orders, save form emails, set up the new site, and only then cancel.

Can I keep my domain when I leave the GoDaddy builder?

Yes. The domain is registered separately from the builder plan. You can keep it at GoDaddy and point its DNS records to your new host, or transfer it to another registrar with the authorization code. Either way, check your email (MX) records before switching.