Shopify Password Protected Page: Store, Page and Collection (2026)

A Shopify password protected page is the landing page visitors see while your store is in Private mode. Turn it on under Online Store, Preferences, Store access. It locks the whole store, not one page. To protect one page or collection, use a passcode, login or secret link in an app such as BSS B2B Lock.

Last updated October 9, 2026. We rewrote this guide to follow the current Shopify admin and to separate three jobs that people mix up: the store password, a password on one page, and access for wholesale buyers. BSS B2B Solutions makes BSS B2B Lock, so we say plainly where the free Shopify feature is enough. To hide prices only, read our hide price guide. For the full access picture, see the access control hub and the complete Shopify B2B guide.

What is the Shopify password protect page?

Shopify calls it the password page: the landing page a customer sees when they visit your website while private mode is on. It has a password header, a footer and an optional email signup banner (Shopify password page). Visitors who know the password enter the store. Everyone else sees the page, and nothing else.

The password page includes an email signup banner, so visitors can subscribe while the store is private. Private mode is not built to give some pages to some people. That is why the options below differ so much.

Which password option fits your store?

Need	Shopify store password (Private mode)	Restrict access to B2B customers only	App lock (for example BSS B2B Lock)
What it protects	The whole online store	The whole store, for B2B customers only	The whole store, a page, a blog, a URL, a product, a collection, prices or Add to cart
Who gets in	Anyone with the one shared password	Logged-in B2B customers	Passcode holders, logged-in customers, customer tags, specific customers, secret link holders or approved requests
Different access per group	No	No, one group	Yes: separate rules for separate groups
Revoke one person	Change the password for everyone	Not described on Shopify’s page	Remove a tag, an approval or a passcode; the passcode list can have many
Where you set it	Online Store, Preferences, Store access	Same place, an optional setting	The app’s Locks page
Best for	Pre-launch, closed periods	A dedicated B2B-only store	Private pages, wholesale areas, invite-only offers

How to password protect your Shopify store

Follow Shopify’s current steps (Shopify password page). Labels can differ slightly by admin version, so check your own screen.

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store, then Preferences.
2. In the Store access section, switch Private mode on. You can also click the Private or Public label on the Online Store page to change the mode.
3. Enter a Password. Shopify says not to reuse the password you use to log in to your Shopify admin.
4. Optional: write a Message to your visitors. This text appears on the password page.
5. Click Save, then open your store in a private browser window to see the password page as a visitor does.

Tell the people who need access. Send the password by email, not on a public page, and give the date you plan to open the store. If you want only your wholesale buyers to enter, read the B2B section below first.

How to customize or edit the password page

Open Online Store, choose your theme, click Edit theme, then open the page dropdown at the top (it starts on Home page) and select Password. You can edit the sections on the page, add blocks and change theme settings (Shopify password page).

Part	What to change	Tip
Password header	Header content and design	Use the same logo as your header so visitors trust the page
Email signup banner	Banner content and design	Ask for the email only; the page’s job is to collect interest while you are closed
Password footer	Footer content and design	Keep contact details visible for buyers who lost the password
Message to your visitors	Custom text from Preferences	Say when the store opens or whom to contact
Theme code	The password-header and password-footer sections in the code editor	Edit code only if you are comfortable with Liquid; keep a theme copy

If you search for a password page template, start with your own theme. The password page is part of the theme, so the best template is the one that ships with it. A page builder app can restyle it, but test the page on a phone.

How to remove or change the Shopify store password

• Remove it. Go to Online Store, click Private, select Public, then click Update.
• Change it. In the same section, type a new password and save. Everyone who knew the old password has to enter the new one.
• Trial stores. Shopify says that in the Shopify mobile app, a trial store or a store without a business address is asked to complete that step before the password can be removed (Shopify password page).

Do this early. A store left in private mode is hidden from search engines, so launch day starts with a visibility gap. Shopify’s help page says all of your pages are hidden from visitors and search engines while private mode is on.

How do you password protect a wholesale store?

Shopify’s private mode has an optional setting, Restrict access to B2B customers only, in the same Preferences section (Shopify password page). It only fits a dedicated B2B store. Shopify says you can gate a dedicated store so the URL and login page are accessible only to B2B customers, and that a blended store cannot be gated to B2B customers only, because your D2C customers could not place orders (Shopify store types). The setup checklist for dedicated stores lists the restriction as an optional step after you activate customer accounts (Shopify dedicated store checklist).

If you sell retail and wholesale from one store, you need a different tool. Shopify’s checklist for blended stores points to third-party apps that lock parts or all of the store from visitors who are not logged in (Shopify blended store checklist). Read our guide to Shopify B2B login for login-based access and the blended store use case.

How to password protect a single page or collection

This is the case Shopify’s store password does not cover. The steps below use a passcode in BSS B2B Lock. The full guide with every screen is in the BSS passcode guide. The Free plan locks only the entire website. Page, collection and product locks need a paid plan or the 7-day trial.

Step 1: Start a lock and pick the target

Go to Locks, then Add lock rule. In the preset window choose Require passcode to view pages, or Create my own lock. In Step 1, name the lock and open What do you want to lock?. Pick Pages, blogs and URLs for a page, or Collections for a collection, then choose the page or enter its URL, such as /partner-offer.

Step 2: Add the passcode

In Rule 1 click the Passcode condition. Type a passcode and click Add passcode, or leave the field empty to generate a random one. You can add several, or import a CSV with one passcode per line (up to 2 MB, each up to 255 characters). Set Passcode case-sensitive and choose how often visitors enter it: once for all pages, once for each page or each time. See how passcodes work for the term.

Step 3: Exclude pages, save and test

In Step 3 you can exclude pages that must stay open. Save, then open the page in a private window. A correct passcode unlocks the content and a wrong one shows an error. Edit the title, description and error text with Customize message.

For a worked example, see our passcode access use case.

Passcode, login, secret link or request access: which one?

Method	How a visitor gets in	Best for	Watch out for
Passcode	Types a shared code	Invite-only campaign or partner pages	No expiry or usage limit per passcode; remove the code to stop it
Login or customer tag	Logs in; a tag decides who sees what	Wholesale areas with many buyers	Needs customer accounts and a tagging process
Secret link	Opens a link that carries a token	A private collection shared by email	Anyone with the link gets in, so it is not a security control
Request access	Asks, then you approve	Buyers you want to vet	Approval syncs through a queue and is not instant; it does not add a tag

More recipes: share a private collection with a secret link, add a request access button and lock the entire store for approved buyers. Terms: secret link and gated catalog.

Does a password protected page hide content from Google?

With Shopify’s store password, yes: Shopify says all of your online store’s pages are hidden from visitors and search engines while private mode is on, so a store left in private mode will not rank. With an app lock on a page, product or collection, the locked content is replaced by the lock message in our code review, but we do not promise removal from search results. A noindex setting is a separate option, and a secret link does not hide a page from search on its own. If your goal is to keep prices out of Google, that is a different job: see the hide price guide, which also explains why prices can stay reachable through public endpoints.

Best practices and limits

• Use a unique password. Never reuse your admin password, as Shopify warns. Use a long phrase from a password manager and rotate it when staff leave.
• Share on a private channel. Email it to the person. Do not post it on social media or a public page.
• Do not call it security. A shared password or passcode controls who sees storefront content. It does not protect customer data and does not replace accounts. BSS B2B Lock restricts storefront access through theme code; headless storefronts are not supported.
• Know the app limits. Free covers the whole website only. IP, region and country conditions can be spoofed from the browser, so do not treat them as secure geo-blocking.
• Test on a phone and logged out. Check the locked page, the wrong-passcode message and the unlock path before you send the link or code.
• Plan the end date. Remove the passcode or switch the lock off when the campaign ends, and write down who had access.

Why does my password page not work?

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
Visitors still see the password page after launch	Private mode is still on	Go to Online Store, click Private, select Public, then click Update
The wrong password is rejected	Case or space typed differently	Resend the password; for app passcodes check the Passcode case-sensitive setting
A page lock does not show	The theme code was not installed or a theme was changed	Reopen the app’s setup, and check the app’s troubleshooting checklist
Buyers are asked for the password again and again	The unlock setting is Each time	Use Enter passcode once to access all pages
Your launched store is missing from Google	Private mode is still on	Remove the password at launch

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Shopify Help Center: Password page and private mode, read October 9, 2026.
• Shopify Help Center: Blended and dedicated B2B stores, read October 9, 2026.
• Shopify Help Center: Setup checklist for dedicated B2B stores, read October 9, 2026.
• Shopify Help Center: Setup checklist for blended B2B stores, read October 9, 2026.
• BSS B2B Lock docs: Protect pages with a passcode and the BSS B2B Lock App Store listing (4.9, 651 reviews, October 4, 2026).

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