{"id":21595,"date":"2023-08-07T11:17:26","date_gmt":"2023-08-07T08:17:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/?p=21595"},"modified":"2026-05-04T14:16:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T11:16:55","slug":"learn-what-site-lock-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/learn-what-site-lock-is\/","title":{"rendered":"Privacy mode"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Protect your website before launch<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Your website may take weeks or months to construct. While it\u2019s being built you probably don\u2019t want visitors poking around your half-built site and certainly don\u2019t want search engines grading you before the site is ready. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Privacy mode – formerly known as Site Lock – blocks your site from search engines and visitors, allowing access only with a four digit PIN code. This enables you to work freely, without the pressure of someone looking over your shoulder (or at your site) without you knowing it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turn on Privacy mode<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To turn on Privacy mode<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Go to the Sites section of your Elementor Dashboard<\/a>.
    Under Hosted sites<\/strong>, click the website card of the site you want to lock.\"hosted<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. In the lower right, toggle Privacy mode<\/strong> to On<\/strong>.\"privacy
    Anyone who wants to view your site will need to enter a four-digit PIN code.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Get the PIN code<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    1. In the Privacy mode area, click the eye icon .\"privacy
      <\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. The four-digit PIN code is displayed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Click the copy icon \"\" to copy the code.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. Click the reset icon \"\" to change the PIN.
      <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Going live<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      When you are ready to go live and make it discoverable, simply toggle Privacy mode<\/strong> off so potential visitors can see it without having to enter a pin code. For more details, see Taking your site live<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      [callout type=”note”]To fully enable search engines ability to crawl your website you must also navigate to WP Admin, Settings > Reading<\/strong> and uncheck the \u201cDiscourage search engines from indexing this site.\u201d[\/callout]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      What is the difference between Privacy mode and Maintenance mode<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Privacy mode is a feature of Elementor hosted websites, which blocks traffic at the server level. It will display a default Elementor page and prompt users to enter a pin code. You cannot customize this page. Elementor also offers a Maintenance Mode<\/a> and Coming Soon<\/a> feature. This allows you to temporarily block visitors to your site by displaying a custom page, while allowing access to editors. You may fully customize this page to feature a countdown timer or collect email addresses for early adopters. Learn more in this blog post<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      When site lock is on, visitors going to the site URL will be blocked by an Elementor designed lock screen and will need to enter a passcode to view the site. If the site lock is on, it is also not discoverable to search engine crawlers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_elementor_kustomer_id":["65b0f1d0a9371e5a285e7c69"],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1456],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-universal-settings"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPrivacy mode | Elementor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn everything about Privacy mode in this article from Elementor's Knowledge Base. Get Elementor tips & more.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/learn-what-site-lock-is\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Privacy mode | Elementor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn everything about Privacy mode in this article from Elementor's Knowledge Base. Get Elementor tips & more.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/learn-what-site-lock-is\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Help\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-07T08:17:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-04T11:16:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/hosted-sites-click.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1019\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"626\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alan Kaler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alan Kaler\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/learn-what-site-lock-is\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/learn-what-site-lock-is\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Alan Kaler\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ebf805be1a1abdd587d4b97e3328f430\"},\"headline\":\"Privacy mode\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-07T08:17:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-04T11:16:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/learn-what-site-lock-is\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":361,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/learn-what-site-lock-is\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/hosted-sites-click.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Universal settings\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/learn-what-site-lock-is\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/learn-what-site-lock-is\\\/\",\"name\":\"Privacy mode | Elementor\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/learn-what-site-lock-is\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/learn-what-site-lock-is\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/hosted-sites-click.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-07T08:17:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-04T11:16:55+00:00\",\"description\":\"Learn everything about Privacy mode in this article from Elementor's Knowledge Base. Get Elementor tips & more.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/learn-what-site-lock-is\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/learn-what-site-lock-is\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/learn-what-site-lock-is\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/hosted-sites-click.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/hosted-sites-click.png\",\"width\":1019,\"height\":626,\"caption\":\"hosted sites\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/learn-what-site-lock-is\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Help Center\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Build with the Editor\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/build-with-the-editor\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Universal settings\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/build-with-the-editor\\\/universal-settings\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Privacy mode\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/\",\"name\":\"Elementor\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Elementor\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/images.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/images.png\",\"width\":225,\"height\":225,\"caption\":\"Elementor\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/elementor.com\\\/help\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ebf805be1a1abdd587d4b97e3328f430\",\"name\":\"Alan Kaler\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7618989d1401c38afe50748601d8dad91fdb8930f53fe037881768b15ab4b108?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7618989d1401c38afe50748601d8dad91fdb8930f53fe037881768b15ab4b108?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7618989d1401c38afe50748601d8dad91fdb8930f53fe037881768b15ab4b108?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Alan Kaler\"},\"description\":\"Alan Kaler is an expert Elementorist at Elementor and a WordPress Magician who thinks that the three most beautiful words in our language are: I told you\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Privacy mode | Elementor","description":"Learn everything about Privacy mode in this article from Elementor's Knowledge Base. Get Elementor tips & more.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/learn-what-site-lock-is\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Privacy mode | Elementor","og_description":"Learn everything about Privacy mode in this article from Elementor's Knowledge Base. Get Elementor tips & more.","og_url":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/learn-what-site-lock-is\/","og_site_name":"Help","article_published_time":"2023-08-07T08:17:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-04T11:16:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1019,"height":626,"url":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/hosted-sites-click.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Alan Kaler","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Alan Kaler","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/learn-what-site-lock-is\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/learn-what-site-lock-is\/"},"author":{"name":"Alan Kaler","@id":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/#\/schema\/person\/ebf805be1a1abdd587d4b97e3328f430"},"headline":"Privacy mode","datePublished":"2023-08-07T08:17:26+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-04T11:16:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/learn-what-site-lock-is\/"},"wordCount":361,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/learn-what-site-lock-is\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/hosted-sites-click.png","articleSection":["Universal settings"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/learn-what-site-lock-is\/","url":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/learn-what-site-lock-is\/","name":"Privacy mode | Elementor","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/learn-what-site-lock-is\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/learn-what-site-lock-is\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/hosted-sites-click.png","datePublished":"2023-08-07T08:17:26+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-04T11:16:55+00:00","description":"Learn everything about Privacy mode in this article from Elementor's Knowledge Base. Get Elementor tips & more.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/learn-what-site-lock-is\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/learn-what-site-lock-is\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/learn-what-site-lock-is\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/hosted-sites-click.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/hosted-sites-click.png","width":1019,"height":626,"caption":"hosted sites"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/learn-what-site-lock-is\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Help Center","item":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Build with the Editor","item":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/build-with-the-editor\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Universal settings","item":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/build-with-the-editor\/universal-settings\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Privacy mode"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/#website","url":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/","name":"Elementor","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/#organization","name":"Elementor","url":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/images.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/images.png","width":225,"height":225,"caption":"Elementor"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/#\/schema\/person\/ebf805be1a1abdd587d4b97e3328f430","name":"Alan Kaler","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7618989d1401c38afe50748601d8dad91fdb8930f53fe037881768b15ab4b108?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7618989d1401c38afe50748601d8dad91fdb8930f53fe037881768b15ab4b108?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7618989d1401c38afe50748601d8dad91fdb8930f53fe037881768b15ab4b108?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Alan Kaler"},"description":"Alan Kaler is an expert Elementorist at Elementor and a WordPress Magician who thinks that the three most beautiful words in our language are: I told you"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21595"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":167785,"href":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21595\/revisions\/167785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}