How to Share Your Squarespace Site Before It’s Live using a Password-Protected Preview Link
TL;DR
Want to let someone view your Squarespace site before launch without making it public or paying for a subscription? Go to Settings > Website > Site Availability > Password Protected, enter a password, save, and share the URL plus password — or send a one-click link that includes the password so they don’t have to type it.
Why You’d Do This
When you’re building a Squarespace site, you often need feedback from clients, team members, or friends before the public launch. A site-wide password lets you share a preview of your entire site without giving editor access or exposing unfinished work to search engines or random visitors. Squarespace won’t show a password-protected site in search results, so your work stays private until launch.
What This Actually Does
When someone visits your site’s URL, they’ll see a password prompt. Once they enter the password you set, they can browse the whole site just like a public site — no account or login needed.
Step-by-Step: Set Up a Password Preview
Open your Squarespace dashboard.
Go to Settings.
Click Website (if shown).
Select Site Availability.
Choose Password Protected.
Enter a password of your choice.
Click Save. This locks your site behind a password prompt that visitors must enter to view anything.
Screenshot placeholder: Site Availability screen showing Password Protected selected with a password entered.
How to Share It
Standard way: Copy your site’s public URL (e.g., yoursite.squarespace.com) and send it along with the password you set.
One-click link (optional): You can append the password to the URL so people don’t have to type it by adding “?password=YourPasswordGoesHere” to the end of the url after the page slug or the .com/org/edu/etc.
For example: yoursite.squarespace.com/?password=YourPasswordGoesHere
This lets someone click the link and skip manually entering the password.
Screenshot placeholder: Example of a preview link with password appended.
Quick Test Tip
Open a private/incognito browser window and paste your shared link. You should see the lock screen (or load the site immediately if you used the one-click link), showing what your preview audience will see.
When You’re Ready to Launch
Once the site is polished and you’re ready to go public, go back to Settings > Site Availability and switch from Password Protected to Public, then save. Now anyone can view the site without a password, and it will be indexable by search engines once live.
Conclusion
Using a password to share your Squarespace site before launch is the easiest way to let selected people preview the whole site without exposing it to everyone or giving them editing access. It’s simple, secure, and helps you get feedback while keeping your work under wraps until you’re ready for the big reveal.
To learn more visit Squarespace’s support documentation on Site-Wide Passwords and Site Publishing.
