Question

How to Unpublish a WordPress Website: Step-by-Step Guide

Posted on by William Zheng

Thinking about taking your WordPress website offline—temporarily or for good? You’re not alone. Whether you’re rebranding, redesigning, or simply need a break, knowing how to unpublish a website is essential for maintaining control over your online presence.

Unpublishing isn’t as simple as hitting “delete” and can impact your site’s visitors and search rankings. In this article, we’ll walk you through clear steps, smart tips, and key options to safely and effectively unpublish your WordPress site.

Related Video

How to Unpublish a WordPress Website: A Complete, Step-by-Step Guide

Unpublishing a WordPress website might sound intimidating, but the process can be straightforward once you know your options. Whether you want to hide your entire site, take down a few pages, or temporarily make your blog private, WordPress makes it easy to control who can view your content.

Below, you’ll discover different ways to unpublish your WordPress website, the benefits and challenges involved, and best practices to ensure a smooth transition. Let’s get started!

Understanding “Unpublishing” in WordPress

Before diving into the details, it’s important to clarify what “unpublishing” means in WordPress:

  • Unpublishing a website hides your entire site from public view. Visitors cannot access your posts, pages, or media unless you allow them to.
  • Unpublishing a page or post removes specific pieces of content without affecting the rest of your site.
  • Temporary vs. Permanent: You can unpublish your site temporarily (for maintenance or redesign) or permanently (closing down the site for good).

Let’s explore the main methods to unpublish a WordPress website.

1. Unpublish an Entire WordPress Site

Depending on your goals, there are several effective ways to unpublish your entire WordPress site.

Method 1: Make Your Website Private

Making your website private is a great option if you want to restrict access but plan to relaunch later.

How to do it:

  1. Use a Maintenance Mode Plugin
  2. Install a maintenance or coming soon plugin from the WordPress dashboard.
  3. Activate the plugin and customize the message your visitors will see.
  4. Only you (or logged-in users with permission) can access the site while it’s in maintenance mode.

Popular plugins:
– Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode
– SeedProd
– WP Maintenance Mode

Benefits:
– Keeps your site live for admins and editors.
– Professional “Coming Soon” or “Under Maintenance” pages keep your visitors informed.
– Easy to revert when ready to go live.

Challenges:
– Some plugins may not block all pages or certain types of visitors.
– Free plugin versions may offer limited customization.

  1. Set Your Site to Private (WordPress.com only)
  2. Go to Settings » Privacy.
  3. Set site visibility to “Private.”
  4. Only invited users can view your site.

Note: This native setting is available on WordPress.com, not self-hosted WordPress.org sites.

Method 2: Disable Search Engine Indexing

If you want to hide your site from Google and other search engines but not block direct access, use this approach.

How to do it:

  1. Go to Settings » Reading from your WordPress Dashboard.
  2. Find the “Search Engine Visibility” option.
  3. Check the box labeled “Discourage search engines from indexing this site.”
  4. Save changes.

Benefits:
– Keeps your existing visitors’ access intact.
– Prevents new visitors from discovering your site through search engines.

Challenges:
– Not guaranteed to immediately remove your site from search engine results.

Best for: Temporary hiding from new web visitors, e.g., during site redesigns.

Method 3: Password Protect Your Whole Site

Password protection adds an extra security layer.

How to do it:

  • Use a plugin like Password Protected.
  • Activate the plugin and choose “Enable” password protection from your WordPress dashboard.
  • Set a strong password and decide which user roles can access the site.

Tip: Always share the password securely with team members who need access.

Benefits:
– Only authorized users can see the site.
– Simple process and reversible.

Challenges:
– May affect site performance if not configured correctly.
– Some bots might still be able to access your site unless properly blocked.

Method 4: Remove or Replace Your Content

If you want to take your site down permanently:

  1. Delete All Content
  2. Delete posts, pages, and media through your dashboard.

  3. Optionally, reset your WordPress installation for a clean slate.

  4. Delete or Move Website Files

  5. Use your web host’s File Manager or FTP to remove all files.

  6. This action is permanent—be sure to create a backup first.

  7. Delete the Database

  8. Go to your web hosting control panel.
  9. Locate and delete your WordPress database.

Benefits:
– Permanently wipes out your content and site presence.
– Useful for projects you don’t intend to relaunch.

Challenges:
– Irreversible without backups.
– No warning for users—site will appear broken or missing if not replaced with a message.

2. Unpublish Specific Pages or Posts

If you want to remove only a page or a post from public view without affecting the whole site, WordPress provides easy controls.

Quick Steps:

  1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
  2. Go to Pages (or Posts) and find the one you want to unpublish.
  3. Hover over the title and click Edit.
  4. On the right, find Publish (or Status & Visibility).
  5. Change the status:
  6. Set to Draft if you might update or republish later.
  7. Set to Private if you want only site admins or editors to access it.

  8. Use the Password Protected option to share selectively.

  9. Click Update or Save as Draft.

Benefits:
– Let’s you make selective changes without affecting your whole site.
– Simple and reversible.

Challenges:
– If the page/post had external links or indexed URLs, users may encounter broken links or 404 errors.

3. Temporarily Unpublish with Maintenance Mode

When updating your site, you might not want visitors to see unfinished pages.

To enable maintenance mode:

  • Install and activate a maintenance mode plugin.
  • Design a simple message (“We’ll be back soon!” or “Site under construction”).
  • Only logged-in users see the actual website.

Best practices:

  • Customize your maintenance/coming soon message so visitors know when you’ll return.
  • Provide contact details or a sign-up for updates, if appropriate.

4. Take Down Your Website Permanently

If you have fully moved on from your site, a permanent removal may be necessary.

Steps:

  1. Back up your website in case you change your mind later.
  2. Inform frequent visitors or customers about the site closure.
  3. Remove your domain or let registration lapse.
  4. Delete all files from your hosting provider.
  5. Cancel any active hosting or domain subscriptions to save costs.

Tip: Some hosting providers automatically charge for annual renewals—cancel those services on time to avoid surprises.

Benefits of Unpublishing Your WordPress Website

Unpublishing isn’t just about hiding content. Consider these benefits:

  • Privacy: Protect unfinished or confidential work from public view.
  • Reputation Management: Hide outdated, inaccurate, or problematic content.
  • Website Redesigns: Update the look and feel of your site without confusing your audience.
  • Security: Lock down your site if you suspect a hack or data breach.
  • Resource Savings: Stop paying for traffic, bandwidth, or hosting you don’t need.

Challenges and Things to Watch Out For

Unpublishing your WordPress website is simple, but there can be a few bumps:

  • Search Engine Lag: Even after unpublishing, your site may appear in search results for a while.
  • Lost Traffic: Users with bookmarks, direct links, or search engine listings may see error pages.
  • SEO Impact: Unpublishing large parts of your site can affect your site’s ranking if you plan to relaunch.
  • Plugin Compatibility: Not all plugins play well with maintenance or privacy modes.
  • Database & Backups: Permanent deletion is final unless you’ve made and stored backups.

Practical Tips & Best Practices

  • Always Back Up: Before unpublishing, make a backup of your site, even if you think you won’t need it.
  • Inform Visitors: Use friendly messages to explain what’s happening or when to expect your return.
  • Test Access: After unpublishing, test your site in different browsers and devices to ensure it’s really hidden.
  • Monitor Hosting Costs: If you’re permanently closing the site, cancel related services to avoid unnecessary charges.
  • Check Legal or SEO Obligations: If you have privacy or data requirements, make sure you’re following them during the transition.
  • Redirect Old Pages: Use 301 redirects for deleted pages to send users to new sites or friendly closure messages.
  • Update Your Sitemap: If you plan to republish or alter your site, update your XML sitemap to reflect those changes.

Saving on Costs When Unpublishing

While unpublishing is mostly a technical process, you can also save money:

  • Cancel Paid Plugins or Themes: Deactivate and cancel subscriptions for products you no longer use.
  • Downgrade Hosting Plans: If you’re keeping backups but don’t need full features, consider downgrading your hosting until you’re ready to return.
  • Let Your Domain Expire (if you don’t need it): Just remember, domains rarely have refunds and once expired, someone else can claim them.

Summary

Unpublishing your WordPress website is a manageable process with many options to suit your needs—be it a quick redesign, improving privacy, or closing up shop. Whether you choose maintenance mode, password protection, deleting content, or hiding individual pages, the right method depends on your specific goals.

Always back up your site, clearly communicate changes to your audience, and monitor for any lingering public access. Done correctly, unpublishing helps you protect your brand, prepare for bigger changes, or ensure your online presence matches your current needs.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Can I unpublish my WordPress website without deleting any content?
Yes! Use maintenance mode plugins, set your site to private, or disable search engine indexing to temporarily hide your site without deleting pages or posts.

2. What happens to my site on Google if I unpublish it?
Your site may still appear in search results for a while. Use the “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” option and consider submitting a removal request in Google Search Console for quicker results.

3. Is it possible to only unpublish certain pages or posts?
Absolutely. Edit the specific page or post and set it to “Draft”, “Private”, or use password protection. This way, only selected content is removed from public view.

4. Will my plugins and themes be affected if I unpublish my site?
No, your plugins and themes remain installed and configured. However, some maintenance mode or privacy plugins might temporarily override the appearance or functionality of your site for public users.

5. How can I republish my WordPress website after taking it offline?
Simply reverse the changes—disable maintenance mode, make private pages public, or restore deleted content from your backup. Always test your site before fully relaunching to your audience.

Unpublishing your WordPress website puts you in full control of your content’s visibility. Choose the method that fits your needs, act carefully, and your website’s privacy, reputation, and future plans are secure.

Post Views: 9