Not every post is meant for everyone. WordPress lets you make a post public, keep it private to your site's team, or lock it behind a password you share yourself — and you choose which one before the post goes live.

## Before you start

- A post open in the editor, ready to publish.
- A password in mind, if you'd rather protect the post than hide it.

## Steps

### Step 1: Open the post's status settings

Open the post in the editor. If the sidebar isn't showing, click **Settings** in the top right corner. In the **Post** tab, find the **Status** row and click it to open the **Status & visibility** panel.

![Open the post's status settings](https://wordpress.supportpages.io/rails/active_storage/blobs/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6OTAxNywicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--c0349bc8ac499704c156d2f4c72a41085f8115d3/block_open-status.png)

### Step 2: Choose who can see the post

Pick **Private** to keep the post to you and your site's admins and editors. Leave the status on **Published** if the post should be open to everyone.

![Choose who can see the post](https://wordpress.supportpages.io/rails/active_storage/blobs/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6OTAyNywicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--92ce03fbfa10c57baf9375edcf0279045eb1416a/block_choose-visibility.png)

### Step 3: Or protect it with a password

If you want the post to stay in your site's list but only open for people you tell, tick **Password protected**, then type your chosen password into the **Password** field. Readers will need that password before they can see the post.

![Or protect it with a password](https://wordpress.supportpages.io/rails/active_storage/blobs/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6OTAyOCwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--7f5ea2e56081e6c49ab934beb1b1419fe440f7ea/block_protect-with-password.png)

### Step 4: Publish the post

Click **Publish** in the top right of the editor. Your choice is saved along with the post, so it stays exactly as you set it.

## Tips

- You can change a post's visibility at any time — set it back to **Published** and it becomes public again.
- **Private** hides the post from visitors completely. **Password protected** keeps it in your site's list of posts, but nobody sees the content until they enter the password.
- Choosing **Private** clears any password you've set, so pick one or the other rather than both.

## Summary

The **Status & visibility** panel is where a post's audience is decided. Set it to **Published**, **Private**, or **Password protected**, then publish the post and you're done.