How do I publish a Lovable website?

Click Publish in the top-right of the Lovable editor; it deploys your current version to a live `*.lovable.app` URL (or your connected custom domain) in under a minute.

How do I connect my own domain to Lovable?

In Project settings, go to Domains, add your domain, and create the DNS records Lovable gives you (usually an A record or CNAME) at your domain registrar or DNS host — then wait for verification, which can take anywhere from minutes to a few hours.

Can I use a .com.au domain with Lovable?

Yes — Lovable's custom domain feature works with any domain you own, including .com.au, as long as you can add DNS records at wherever the domain's nameservers point.

How do I connect a Cloudflare domain to Lovable?

Add the DNS records Lovable gives you in Cloudflare's DNS panel, and set the proxy status to 'DNS only' (grey cloud) rather than proxied (orange cloud) so Lovable can verify and serve the domain correctly.

What DNS records does Lovable need?

Lovable shows the exact records to add when you connect a domain — typically an A record for the root/apex domain and a CNAME for `www` (or a subdomain), plus any verification record it asks for.

Why isn't my custom domain connecting?

Most failures come down to DNS records that don't exactly match what Lovable asked for, edits made in the wrong place, or not waiting long enough for DNS to propagate — check the records first, then give it time.

How long does a Lovable domain take to connect?

Usually a few minutes to a couple of hours once the DNS records are correctly added, but full global DNS propagation can technically take up to 48 hours in rare cases.

Why does my domain show a 404 or 403 error?

A 404/403 on a connected domain usually means DNS is pointed correctly but the app hasn't been published, the domain is linked to the wrong project, or the SSL/routing hasn't finished setting up yet — it's a different problem from DNS not resolving at all.

How do I connect www and non-www versions?

Add DNS records for both the root domain and the `www` subdomain in Lovable's Domains panel, then choose one as your primary — Lovable typically redirects the other to it automatically.

How do I choose my primary domain?

In Project settings → Domains, set which connected domain (e.g. root vs `www`, or which of several domains) is primary; Lovable serves and redirects other connected domains to that one.

Does Lovable provide SSL?

Yes. Every Lovable-published site gets HTTPS automatically, including the free lovable.app subdomain and any custom domain you connect through Lovable.

Why aren't my latest changes appearing live?

Most likely you haven't clicked Publish since the last edit, or you (or a viewer's browser/CDN) are looking at a cached copy of the old page.

How do I unpublish a Lovable project?

Open the Publish panel in your project and choose the unpublish/take-down option — this removes the live site while keeping your project and its code intact in Lovable.

How do I change the favicon?

Ask Lovable in chat to update the favicon, and upload or link the image you want — Lovable will swap the icon file and reference it in the page head for you.

How do I change the website title?

Ask Lovable to change the page title, or edit the tag in index.html directly in the Code editor — this is the text shown in the browser tab and search results.

How do I change the social sharing image?

Ask Lovable to update the Open Graph image, or edit the og:image meta tag in your page head and upload the image asset — this controls the preview card shown when your link is shared on social platforms.

Why does my published site look different from preview?

Last checked 31 Aug 2026

Short answer

Usually it's a stale cache — your browser or a CDN is showing an older published version. Hard-refresh, check you actually clicked Publish, and confirm you're viewing the live URL, not a cached preview link.

Preview and Publish are separate

The Preview pane shows your latest chat changes instantly. Your published site only updates when you click Publish (or ask Lovable to publish). If you've been iterating in chat without publishing, the live site is still running whatever you last published — that's the most common cause of a mismatch.

Checklist to work through

Did you actually publish the latest version? Open the Publish panel and check the timestamp of the last deploy against your latest chat edit.
Hard-refresh the live URL (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+R) or open it in a private/incognito window. Browsers and some CDNs cache aggressively.
Check you're on the right domain. If you have both the lovable.app subdomain and a custom domain, make sure you're comparing the one you expect — they can be updated at slightly different times right after a domain change.
Look at Version history. If a recent change was reverted or a bookmark restored, the live build might reflect an older version than what you're currently viewing in the editor.

What usually goes wrong

Editing in chat, checking Preview, and forgetting Publish is a separate step — this is the single most common cause.
CSS/animation differences: Preview sometimes runs slightly different conditions (viewport size, dev-only states) than a real browser hitting the production build, so pixel-perfect matches aren't guaranteed for every edge case.
Environment variables or secrets set only for one environment — if a feature depends on a key that isn't configured for the published app, it can behave differently live than in Preview.

Fixing it

Republish after confirming the chat state is what you want, then verify on the live URL in a fresh browser tab. If a specific visual difference persists after a clean republish and hard refresh, describe it precisely to Lovable in chat (e.g. "the hero image is cropped differently on the published site than preview") so it can inspect the built output.

See also why your latest changes aren't appearing live for the closely related caching issue.

Sources

Publish your Lovable project

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GuideHow to Connect a Custom DomainPoint your own domain at a published Lovable project, with the DNS records explained in plain terms.